Dr. Jerry D. Porter, jurisdictional general superintendent for all districts on the Southwest USA Region, recently collaborated with district superintendents and leaders there to create a strategic plan to accomplish shared missional initiatives during the next two years.

The Mission Vision Objective is local church transformation with increased personal passion for four initiatives:


Four regional task forces are being formed to advance these missional initiatives. Each district will select a person to serve on the regional team for each task force, along with resource persons from Point Loma Nazarene University and USA/Canada Mission/Evangelism department. Their purpose will be to design and implement a strategy to facilitate a region-wide renewed commitment to these initiatives. Activities that may spring from the four task forces may include regional events; presentations at district assemblies, district zones or mission areas, pastors’ meetings, and local churches.

Persons from each district who serve on the regional task force may lead the initiative on that district as well. To strengthen prayer, evangelism, discipleship, and church multiplication on each district, district assembly options include showing specially prepared video presentations on the initiatives, personal testimonies, a survey to benchmark the current commitment to these initiatives, a seminar presentation on each initiative, a personal covenant card to encourage embracing the mission initiatives, and messages on prayer and evangelism in each district assembly by Jerry and Toni Porter. (See Faith Covenants below.)
 
“I am honored to serve the USA SW Region during these two years, and I celebrate the collective missional vision that has led these districts to embrace these particular missional initiatives," says Dr. Porter. "We rejoice to see almost 70 leaders serving on these four task forces who are committed to facilitating a region-wide renewed emphasis on these Kingdom callings.”

Laity Faith Covenant

With God’s help, I covenant . . .
• To pray daily for at least three lost friends or family members.
• To frequently share my story of faith and to help lead at least one person to Christ during the next twelve months.
• To ask someone to disciple me as I invite one or more faithful and fruitful believers to allow me to disciple them and equip them to disciple others.
• To become a new church partner by praying, giving, and possibly joining a church planting team. 

Pastor's Faith Covenant

With God’s help, I covenant . . .
• To pray daily for at least three lost friends or family members.
• To intentionally invest more creativity and energy in the corporate prayer life of the church.
• To frequently share my story of faith and to help lead at least one person to Christ during the next twelve months.
• To schedule a monthly or quarterly friendship event with an evangelistic appeal and to
challenge the church to bring their lost family and friends.
• To ask someone to disciple me as I invite one or more faithful and fruitful believers to allow me to disciple them and equip them to disciple others.
• To inspire and guide every believer to be a disciple and to intentionally select and disciple others.
• To launch, or partner in launching, a new ethnic congregation, a new congregation in a
nearby community, or a new worship service or site this year.