The Mission

GIM's Mission Statement:  “To spread a passion for the praise of the glory of God’s grace revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ, through the urgent evangelization of the Indigenous Maya of the Guatemalan interior and through equipping national and indigenous evangelists, pastors, and teachers toward this end.” 

By missions we speak of that unique deliberate Holy Spirit empowered work of laboring in the distinct proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ—the counsel of God concerning the salvation of mankind from sin and its consequences for the express purpose of making disciples—baptizing them, gathering them together into local assemblies, teaching them to observe all that Jesus has commanded us, and organizing them into Churches—and for the purpose of worshiping and reproducing themselves in like manner. Thus, we define missions and the work of missionaries as primarily Gospel preaching and teaching, while seeing compassion and mercy ministries as the natural byproduct of the Christian life which ought to spring forth as fruit—in the wake of missionary labors—from disciples and their newfound life in Christ. 

In light of this understanding of biblical missions, we will primarily labor in four related, progressive tasks:

1. Evangelism unto conversions.
2. Discipleship of converts unto the establishment of local churches.
3. Organization of local churches unto an association of local churches, demonstrating a cooperation in benevolent purposes and missions (2nd Cor. 8:16-19) and unity in fellowship and doctrine (Col. 4:16).
4. Equipping of local churches through a church-based Bible institute(s) that trains and equips Guatemalan nationals who aspire to the office of overseer, who are given by God to the church to serve in their respective giftings; either as evangelists, pastors, or teachers—these three being co-laborers.

In short this is evangelism > conversions > discipleship > church planting > sending > repeat! We see the plenitude of this Great Commission task, and more specifically the fullness of the context of Ephesians 4:11-16, as the basis of God's design for the harmonious co-laboring of Christ's gifts of evangelists, pastors, and teachers being expressed through the churches' elderships/overseerships.