Forgotten Missionaries ready for 2016

International (MNN) — A Forgotten Missionaries International (FMI) team is ready to set sail in order to accomplish a number of goals in several nations and areas, including in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

FMI’s Bruce Allen explains that the trip is necessary to see how indigenous church and organization partners are holding up.

“FMI is unique in that we are not a sending organization. We don’t raise up Christians from the pews of our churches here in the West and send them to live in another country. We’re an empowerment organization…. So we are identifying and mobilizing the Christian leaders who are indigenous to their own country.”

The number of advantages to having local church leaders as partners goes on and on, but they’re all centered on the fact that the people are already acclimated. They are fluent in the areas language. They’ve grown up in and adapted to the culture, and they have significant relationships in the community.

But, they still need supplies and training. That’s where FMI comes in.

With help from donors, FMI is able to provide almost everything partners need. But, in order to stay true to donors and make sure the best work is being done, FMI visits partners at least once a year.

“We need to go in physically and make sure that the work that we are telling donors is being done, that yes, it is. We want to go in and encourage the church planters, to pray with them, to let them know that they are not forgotten, that they are being remembered.”

At the annual executive board meetings, partners from across the nation are able to gather, network, and come up with new techniques of outreach. Church leaders can get ideas from each other, share their testimonies and how God has worked in their church.

With trainings from FMI, the church has become stronger, but not quite unified. That’s why FMI is revolutionizing societies by introducing a new tactic of outreach: training sessions for pastor’s wives and women in the church.

“The plight of women gets overlooked,” Allen says. “And if you’re a Christian woman, it’s even worse. Women tend to be invisible segments of their population. So to have seminars that are designed specifically for the enrichment of women is a real treat.”

FMI has hope that women will bring new inspiration and ministry to communities.

“If we can equip the stronger female believers in the congregation to disciple other women in the churches, that will tremendously help the church mature.”

As FMI’s influence continues to spread, they want to scout out new partnerships during this trip in three countries unreached by FMI.

Be praying that God will bring the right partners along and will use FMI as an encouragement to connect the global church.