Embrace Expectations
What expectations are involved in an Embrace partnership with the IMB among European peoples? Our desire is to work to make these known. Successful partnerships are born out of understood and met expectations. Here and at the upcoming Embrace conferences we hope to express our expectations and to assure you that we are listening for yours as well.
Please read through the following to gain a brief understanding of our expectations (and please don’t hesitate to contact us with questions). More will be discussed and explained at the Embrace conferences.
Minimum 8-year commitment
Full engagement of a UUPG with the Gospel will take years, possibly a lifetime. Patience and steady work without immediate results should be expected. Doing “whatever it takes for as long as it takes” should be your impetus.
Minimum of 8 weeks annually among a UUPG
In order to develop an incarnational presence, keeping a presence on the ground at regular intervals is vital. Various options of how to make this happen will be discussed at the Embrace conferences and other training times.
National partnerships and possibilities with Baptist Global Response
Culturally-sensitive strategies that use all available resources is a key element to embracing a people with the Gospel. The best strategies are developed and advanced with input from national or near-culture partners in order to promote cultural effectiveness.
Also, Baptist Global Response (BGR) stands as a great asset to any strategy. We believe they should be taken into account in almost every Embrace plan.
Regular communication
Monthly contact with the EURO UUPG Coordinator, as well as quarterly conference calls, will greatly help in keeping expectations known and assist in tackling issues that might arise. Also, quarterly conference calls with other Embrace churches in the Euro Embrace Network will begin March 1st.
Celebration covenant
Each EMBRACE church will be asked to sign a celebration covenant that represents the commitment that the church and IMB are making to each other in the church’s calling to embrace an unreached and unengaged people. To join the first Embrace Network, a covenant needs to be signed by December 31, 2011. A second group will be scheduled later in 2012.
Join the Euro Embrace Network
The Euro Embrace Network will be made up of Embrace churches with the goal of peer learning, sharing, collaborating, celebrating and encouraging. The launch of the network will be January 15, 2012. The goal of this network is to have six hub churches with five or six churches in each Embrace Network group.
Have you indicated your commitment?
If you have not previously indicated your church’s commitment to embrace or to explore the possibility of embracing an unengaged, unreached people group, please do that here. This is not the same as the celebration covenant (see expectations). This is only making a commitment to explore the possibility.
Still have questions?
Please don’t hesitate contacting us. We’ll help walk you through what it might mean for your church to embrace an unreached and unengaged people among Europeans.
Equip
