Ministry and Deputation Approch

We want to be sure to document our approach to ministry as we find it supported through God’s word. We are not interested in using man’s reasoning and strategies but to bring God glory by ministering His way for His names sake.

1Co 2:4-5 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

The great commission as recorded in the four gospels and Acts 1 apply to every Christian and it includes evangelism to all as well as baptism, discipleship and establishing of local churches among the believers.

Evangelism

God makes it clear that He came to seek and to save and we are now His ambassadors to preach of His resurrection and gift of eternal life through repentance and faith. Mk. 16:15

We desire to be obedient to any opportunity to present the gospel. From door to door, schools, jails, public ministry and more; there is a great need and many possibilities.

Discipleship

We have been trained by a strong discipleship church. It is imperative that we multiply people to go preach the gospel and this will be done by teaching them the word of God, good doctrine and disciplines as well as encouraging them to identify and exercise the spiritual gifts that God has given them for His glory. 2 Tim. 2:2

Church Planting

New churches that are planted within any culture should be appropriate for that area while not worldly or conforming. The responsibility of a missionary is not to westernize the people but to bring them the gospel, teach them the Bible and trust the Holy Spirit to work in their lives as the church is established. In this we desire to adapt to their culture through language learning and practices that do not violate the holiness of God. The churches should be fitting for their location and class and should be self sustaining. The missionary should be perceived as a church planter rather than a long term pastor or administrator. It is God’s church that is put in their care. The church is to be taught the principles of the Bible and the people must then be responsible as stewards of God to administrate and build the church as God provides. They also must exercise their God given gifts to form the body of Christ in that area that is fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, under the headship of Jesus Christ. It should be Filipinos that support and lead the church enabling them to then reproduce their churches on their own upon the departure of the missionary to another area.

Source of power

Not a single thing will be accomplished by our might, power, talents or wisdom but by the Spirit of God through the weapon of prayer. God has promised to hear and answer what is asked in faith according to His will. We desire nothing more than to see God receive glory for changed lives and souls that only He can bring about. It is a blessing to know that we are equipped with the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is the power of God unto salvation and the perfect words of God in the King James Bible.

Humanistic Endeavours

Depending on the location you can easily find many poor, hungry, homeless and sick in the Philippines. These range from very young children that are orphans on the streets and surviving in any way they can through begging, stealing or worse up to the elderly that can no longer provide for themselves and have no one to look after them. There is certainly biblical support for helping the fatherless, widows, poor and hungry meaning we will not deny the opportunity to help as the Lord leads and provides. This being said, our primary goal is not one of meeting physical needs but rather offering a hope that has far greater benefit than a supply of food - the salvation offered through the shed blood of our loving Saviour, Jesus Christ. With this as the primary focus, we will present the gospel in sincerity and truth to all that will listen.

Summary
The souls of men are of utmost importance to God. A man’s soul is worth more than all the wealth of the world according to God. Souls are so important that He gave His only begotten Son to suffer and die at the hands of His own creation while we were yet sinners because of His great love. The resurrection of Jesus Christ then brought victory over death and hell and completion of the redemptive plan for mankind. He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, He is not willing that any should perish, He would have all men to be saved and there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. God receives His due glory when a soul is saved, the Lamb of God receives the reward of His suffering and an unworthy sinner receives not only a merciful pardon from hell but a place in the family of God for all eternity through His grace. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts nor are His ways our ways. God ordained that these redeemed individuals should then be His ambassadors to every creature throughout the world. We are to take the warning of the righteous judgment of God and the good news of His redeeming grace unashamedly to any and all. Beyond this commission to all who are saved, God calls and equips His children for specific tasks and gifts them according to their call. He orders our steps in His word and directs us to what He would have us to do. While we have nothing to offer of ourselves, we can be confident in our Saviour to equip and empower us to fulfill His call for our lives. That call for the Putney family is to the Philippine Islands.

Our Approach to Deputation
Should we visit your church, our practical objectives are to be punctual, prepared, orderly in our family presence, considerate of the time allotted to our ministry and endeavour to bless others.
Thank you for your consideration

Stewardship and Accountability
God has called all Christians to be wise stewards and to be missions minded. There is additional responsibility and accountability required of the foreign missionary and of the local church as they are entrusted to be stewards of money given for the work of the ministry. When God’s people give God’s money for the work of the ministry, both the supporting churches and the family sent should be certain that good stewardship is being exercised. Galatians 2:20 speaks of being crucified with Christ and crucifixion denotes death. Yielding to God and dying to self means that no reserves are kept as “untouchable” in the service of God as it all belongs to Him in the first place. We pray that we will never take lightly what the Lord provides to be used through us for His service. We are to be stewards in all respects and never take for granted or abuse the privilege to be entrusted with the gospel (1 Thes. 2:4), the gifts of God’s people as they obey God’s commission through support (Phi. 4:10-17) and the time that God allows us to serve both in the US and the Philippines (Eph. 5:16-16; 1 Cor. 15:58). For this reason we are open in our communication and accountability, knowing that no person or church could ever hold an individual accountable to the extent that we will ultimately answer for to our Lord Jesus Christ concerning our stewardship. We know that time on deputation will also require the support of God’s people and of course we intend to be active in God’s work wherever we may be. This time is a testing ground for missionaries that if accompanied with the faith and desire to learn and grow that it needs, can be invaluable on the field.

Biblical Support for Deputation?

Although there is no clear model for deputation in the Bible we do know that Paul did receive support from various churches like those in Philippi and Macedonia during his travels and that they met his needs often times while he was ministering in a place that was not willing or able to at the time (2 Cor. 11:8). More importantly than the financial aspect was the prayer that was exchanged for each other and the encouragement and investment in one another as Paul often spoke of his prayer for the churches as well as their support and encouragement of him. It is a delight to consider the relationships and prayer support that can be built up in this process. Our motive must be the glory of God alone. Deputation is representing Jesus Christ and His commission to various churches. In that process we also represent our sending church and need to take that seriously. If our motive is anything but glorifying God and representing Christ, missions and our sending church, there is a problem.

Differences

Our desire is to share the burden God has given us to make His glory and gospel known in the Philippine Islands (Isa. 42:12). God has worked in our hearts over the years and led us to standards of separation that we now hold in our family to draw a line against the subtle devices of the enemy (2 Cor. 2:11) and to be salt and light to the world around us. The standards of separation that we hold will never be the same as every family or church that we have the privilege to visit. While we stand firm on the importance of standard and are established with them for our family, our objective is not to press our standards on others nor change what God has directed us to personally as we travel church to church. Our desire is to educate those that we meet about the need in the Philippines and our intentions for service there. We are happy to fellowship with our brothers in Christ that are likeminded in the key doctrines of the faith although they may stand differently than we do in some areas. As far as on the field, too often a missionary will attempt to duplicate the western church and practices to mimic almost to a tee what is done in the churches that send or support them. To teach that the church must be western in tradition and custom would be to indict the culture and customs of the people in that land as being the problem. Sin is the problem and it is as prevalent in the west as it is in the east. Holiness and separation are commanded in the Bible and that is what should be taught, being American in your dress, décor and services is not.