FBC will be an Encourager Church again!
First Baptist Church Missions Committee with FBC will enter into an Encourager Church partnership with one of our Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Field Personnel – for the next three years.
This partnership will support this field personnel for a period of three years with prayer, encouragement, and financial support (FBC Missions Committee has pledged $500/year for three years for this field personnel, and there will be other opportunities to support him as a church as we build this relationship). And the benefits are mutual! Our church will benefit from learning more about his ministries, hearing from him directly on a regular basis, and being a part of the world-changing work he is doing.
In a few weeks, we will hold a place in our worship service to sign our covenant with him, including a visit from the CBF Global Missions team to join us for this momentous occasion. More information on that date will be forthcoming.
See below to meet our field personnel and learn more about what it means to be a CBF Encourager Church!
Meet our Field Personnel
Eddie Aldape, CBF Field Personnel in Almeria Spain
Eddie and his wife Macarena Aldape were commissioned in 2001 to serve among the Banjara people in India. In 2015, they relocated to Almería, Spain where they serve among immigrant, refugee and student populations through Centro de Esperanza (The Hope Center). Eddie builds relationships with individuals as he walks alongside these communities in their times of need, equipping them with the tools to adapt to their new home as he bears witness to Jesus Christ by loving and caring for those he meets.
Click Here to Learn More About Eddie’s Ministry
What’s an Encourager Church?
Encourager Churches are critical to the work of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions field personnel around the world. Such relationships play a unique and intimate role in God’s mission by engaging congregations directly in established work in three primary contexts: global poverty, global migration, and the global church. Encourager Churches join the storied history of sending and supporting people Christ has called from our midst to cross cultural borders to cultivate beloved community, bear witness to Jesus Christ, and seek transformational development.
A congregation becomes an Encourager Church when it enters covenant with specific field personnel. The congregation has great flexibility to shape the details of its covenant with field personnel to address their mutual needs. CBF suggests that Encourager Churches include four areas of encouragement in their covenant: prayer support, program support, short-term engagement, and financial support.
Encourager Areas
Prayer Support – Encourager Churches covenant to pray without ceasing. They integrate prayer requests from the field personnel into the prayer life of the congregation back home, and field personnel bring your joys and concerns before the global church.
Program Support – Some aspects of developing and maintaining partnerships that work well at the local level include printing and mailing newsletters, hosting video missions moments, and providing missionary housing and vehicles when field personnel visit home Your congregation becomes an advocate in your community and at regional events. Because each ministry is different, be sure to contact your field personnel about ways in which you can empower them on the field.
Short-term Engagement – Short-term missions with CBF follows a partnership model working alongside CBF field personnel and indigenous mission partners. You will be joining our ongoing work, which is designed to be relational, sustainable, and reciprocal. These experiences aim to bless your congregation both with opportunities to serve and to create opportunities to learn from your field personnel’s community. To learn more about short-term service with CBF, visit www.cbf.net/serve
Financial Support – Encourager Churches financially support ministry on the field in various ways. You commit to support the long-term presence of field personnel through gifts to the Offering for Global Missions as well as direct support of your field personnel’s mission programming budgets. We ask that each Encourager Church make a commitment of 3-5 years in order to make long-term transformation possible in an era of short-term missions.
The Benefits of Becoming an Encourager Church
Expanded Mission – The Encourager Church commits to including the work of the field personnel into the lives of the congregation and community. This partnership not only benefits the field personnel but also the church. This helps the church to grow their mission involvement by being personally involved in a mission as well as growing in new missional ways.
Deeper Relationships – The Encourager Church ministry helps create deeper relationships with a specific field personnel team. This relationship is mutual because the field personnel also wants to be with the church community when they are available. The field personnel can also help the church discover new ways to partner with their local community.
Richer Discipleship – The Encourager Church ministry encourages deeper personal spiritual growth through prayer, engagement, and financial commitment. The discipleship aspect helps us understand the call of Christ, not only to serve but to be present through prayer by committing to the call of the Great Commission to serve and love all.