Administration is Ministry

I've been thinking about our team's need for administrative personnel. We have three crucial administrative positions that need to be filled by self supporting, skilled, gifted and passionate missionaries right away. They are: *business manager, *personnel director and *assistant to the field director. Any ministry, (and business for that matter) whatever it's size or type, needs people working in roles like handling funds, communications, information and personnel management and planning. The administrative aspect of ministry *must* be handled or ministry could become chaotic and other people will need to be pulled from their primary passions of evangelism, discipleship and development to fill the gaps. An illustration would be athletes playing out of position and not in their natural and trained positions. The result is the ministry and athletic teams are not performing at their top level of efficiency and frustration occurs because everyone knows they could do better if the right people were performing in their proper positions for the success of the team.

The ACTION Philippines team is a hard working bunch with lots of vision, drive and passion to see God glorified, people turning from sin to the Savior, being taught to follow Jesus, becoming fruitful members of a local church and being salt and light in their areas of influence. You'll certainly catch our passion if you read our team's newsletters, blogs, brochures and browse the photos but we NEED help! We can do better by God's grace. We're beseeching the Lord of the harvest to send us people to serve the team in the vital administrative positions I've mentioned.

But what I don't understand is the misconception by some senders of missionaries (which by the way is an administrative role) that there are "front-line" missionaries who are doing "real" mission work by working among street kids, ministering in a disaster zone, preaching the Word of God or church-planting, while those doing the ministry of administration or support roles are somehow unnecessary and doing unimportant work.

I'm telling you as one who has served in Manila with ACTION as a street kid worker, disaster relief and development worker and field director since 1985 that that view is simply wrong and un-biblical. Read about the use and interconnection of God's gifted people in Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12 and 1 Peter 4:8-11 and you'll see what I'm saying. Join with us in praying for people to join us who love God and the nations passionately with the skills and desire to serve others and see them producing eternal fruit. I think God is greatly magnified by servant-leaders whose sole desire is to see their ministry team performing at their God-intended best.

See the job descriptions for these positions if the Lord is moving you into ACTION and contact us to know more about how you can serve with us.

Sincerely in Christ,

Jeff Anderson

Field Director, ACTION Philippines