International Mission Ministry

Mission

The International Mission Committee seeks to enable members and friends of Immanuel to become personally involved with Presbyterians and others abroad by learning about their faith, culture, history, economics and politics.

To accomplish this objective, the committee will:
• educate the congregation about the cultures of and issues faced by people in other parts of the world, with an eye towards how we might compassionately respond to these issues in Christ’s name;
• endorse and/or organize mission trips to different mission arenas;
• establish and maintain partnerships, both large and small, based on mutual respect with a variety of international churches, schools, and/or organizations;
• enable mission in other parts of the world by disbursing money through Immanuel’s benevolence budget to individuals and/or organizations doing mission with whom we have developed a trusted relationship.
Vision

The International Mission Committee envisions Immanuel as the one Body of Christ, undivided by race, culture, nationality, social class or economic status. We want to build relationships with other cultures in which we meet one another as equals and we learn from one another.

Values

We believe international educational and cultural exchange further ensures long-term relationships and understanding.

We believe if people can better understand other cultures, they are more tolerant and accepting of differences.

We believe that greater understanding between individuals and peoples, worldwide, reveals universal values and aspirations.

We believe we should express Immanuel’s tradition of social compassion through support for organizations that share our values. 



Mission Activities

• Education

Through education, we offer cultural interchange wherein the congregation can learn and share experiences with other cultures.

For adults, we offer lectures and discussions during the education hour in the Current Issues class and special congregational forums on topics that further our mission objectives.

For youth, we offer opportunities to select Presbyterian mission workers and form a relationship that is supported through Directed Basic Mission Support of the PCUSA.

For children, we offer classroom activities through Immanuel’s Incredible Quest (IIQ) that focus on mission work and collections to provide support through such organizations as Heifer and the Copprome Orphanage in Honduras.

• Mission Trips

We will plan at least one mission trip per year.

So that everyone will have the opportunity to participate, we will conduct drives to collect goods or whatever is needed to make the mission trips successful.

We support global youth mission by offering a small scholarship to assist youth in their travels or their sponsoring organization. 

• Partnership Development

We continually seek and are currently engaged in several partnerships through faith-based missions that mutually expand our spiritual understanding and establish personal relationships as exemplified by Christ’s love.

The Committee may recommend to the congregation the establishment of a deeper, longer term partnership based on sharing and mutual respect if and when we feel we have met the criteria we have established.

• Benevolences

We have developed relationships through shared values and objectives with several organizations, including Genocide Watch, Plowshares and CEDEPCA. We work with validated mission support groups of PCUSA, such as Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship and the Outreach Foundation. These are reviewed annually to determine the list of organizations we support. Our contributions are having an impact in Guatemala, Honduras, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Guyana, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi and the Middle East.

Our benevolence budget is 10 % of Immanuel’s total benevolence budget.

The IM Committee partners with CS&A to hold the auction every year to raise supplemental benevolence funds. This partnership results in providing approximately 10% of the auction proceeds to international giving.