Venture www.teamexpansion.org info@teamexpansion.org 4112 Old Routt Road, Louisville, KY 40299
glad to meet you We are really glad you are interested in learning more about Team Expansion. We are glad because we see this as an opportunity to partner with you to spread the news of Jesus worldwide! We invite you to read over this short booklet and get to know us. We hope you see that Team Expansion can function as an extension of your church. Our desire is not to replace the local church, but connect people with Jesus. Partnership with YOU is built into how we operate. Our primary goal is to launch healthy church planting movements. Each of the ministries you will learn about in this booklet provides the opportunity to venture with us. By 2015, we hope to have started 80 church planting movements in areas where less than 5 percent have heard the Gospel. We pray that God invigorates your heart for reaching the least reached. If you have any questions, please give us a call or visit our website. We are eager to encourage you in any way possible! Doug Lucas President, Team Expansion
our purpose Throughout the history of Team Expansion, our purpose has remained the same to work together in teams in order to establish viable, multiplying communities of believers in some of the least reached places on the earth. Simply put - we are church planters. What does a church planter look like? Every church planter looks different depending on the location, culture and spiritual readiness of the people. Some operate a physical therapy center for kids. Others teach English. Still others work on farms, in hospitals, or with business leaders. Do you want to do something significant with your life? If so, then church planting could be a natural expression of your faith. We are constantly looking for families and individuals who long to use their gifts to touch lives around the world. Since the world is unevenly matched in exposure to the gospel message, Team Expansion is driven to take that message to those who have never heard. Every tribe, tongue and nation deserves to know the unsurpassing peace that flows freely from Christ. As Americans, God has tremendously blessed our families, churches and communities. With those blessings and freedom comes responsibility. Pray with us as we seek to build up the Kingdom. Celebrate every chance we are given to impact the nations. Realize that God has created you for such a time as this. Will you venture with us? How can they hear without someone preaching to them? How can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news! ~Romans 10:14 & 15
ministry locations Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. ~Matthew 28:19-20 Transforming communities by planting churches among the unreached.
emerald hills What s the ultimate purpose of Team Expansion, your local church, or your own individual life? The Bible is clear. We all exist to exalt the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and declare his glory among all nations. We are building Emerald Hills, our new mission campus, so that we can partner together with you and other believers to: n n n n n n Provide missionaries a place to retreat, retool, reconnect and rekindle Mobilize prayer for the harvest Empower many to engage in His mission Enlist and train up those whom He calls Facilitate new projects among the unreached Provide a home base for International Services staff Walking Trail A member of Shively Christian Church (Louisville, Kentucky) recently observed, In this country, a lot of us talk about prayer, but very few of us actually do anything about it. Emerald Hills gives us a chance to do something about prayer and world missions. We can serve the church, glorify God, engage in prayer for His great global plan and work toward expanding His kingdom throughout the planet. Bridge Prayer Shelter For those reasons and more, we are excited and passionate about Emerald Hills.
the PACE strategy Making a difference around the world and around the block. Pray for renewal among all God s people and for His message to spread worldwide. Activate all church members to share Christ around the block and around the world. Commit to plant a vibrant church in a piece of the least reached world. Enlist the help and discover the potential of others in the expansion of God s kingdom. It is estimated that nearly 3 billion people, over one third of the world s population, has never heard the gospel. By using the PACE strategy American churches can initiate a Church Planting Movement in a part of the world that is currently unreached. A PACE Project not only fulfills the command of our Lord (to reach all nations) but it also changes the local congregation as they connect with God s heart for lost people. A PACE Project requires a major commitment on the part of a local church. Team Expansion is committed to partner with the church until the project is complete. For information contact: pace@teamexpansion.org www.teamexpansion.org/pace
educate excite empower serving you Prayer We believe that prayer is the essential ingredient in launching church-planting movements and reaching the unreached with the Gospel. Each Team Expansion missionary is encouraged to have a strong prayer base who will pray daily for their ministry. Team We passionately believe that by working in teams, we can accomplish more together than we would have accomplished if we all were to have worked separately. It s biblical, more economical, more accountable and more efficient. Teamwork maximizes the likelihood of success by creating a virtual pool of gifts and skills from which God can draw to bring success in the project s final outcome. Training Our equipping department seeks to provide comprehensive education and training for all of our cross-cultural workers and their ministry partners. Our goal is for each missionary to be thoroughly equipped for effective cross-cultural life and ministry. Member Care Team Expansion counts missionary member care as central to on-field success. Sustaining our missionaries by helping them thrive spiritually, emotionally and physically is of the utmost importance.
dedicated to excellence Team Expansion s Seven Core Values 1. Team Expansion commits to holding a firm Biblical foundation. 2. We work among the most unreached, where fewer than 5 percent are evangelical Christian. 3. Team Expansion holds church planting as its primary goal. 4. No one goes alone; everyone is sent on a team. 5. Unity is key; we are a light not a judge, a model not a critic. 6. We desire and provide coaching by experienced missionaries and consultants for our workers. 7. Everyone provides supporters with monthly updates and financial reports.
Imagine if you will a large field, over 5,000 acres ready to be harvested. Imagine attempting to harvest it all by yourself using only your hands. Within hours your muscles are screaming in pain, your clothes are drenched with sweat, disillusionment and discouragement set up shop on main street of your mind. Now imagine the stream of tractors, trucks and cars from your community pulling up and surrounding your field. See the smiles. Hear the laughter. Feel the boost of energy as everyone rolls up their sleeves and engages the work at hand. The harvest will be reaped today, and you can already taste, smell and see the celebration. Jesus said Lift up your eyes to the fields white unto harvest. Now imagine all of God s people joyfully amassing and uniting to engage the unreached peoples of the world. Here are some of the most effective tools that we are utilizing as we partner with the global church to mobilize, train and coach qualified workers to implement the fruitful practices of church planting movements. High Impact involvement@teamexpansion.org Team Expansion uses this model to recruit because reaching 2 billion people requires a vast mobilization of volunteers who love Jesus and give themselves joyfully and willingly to the greatest cause in history. It has an incredible proven track record of mobilizing thousands of volunteers with organizations who embrace these principles.
connecting God s people to His plan for the nations DSOTO dsoto@teamexpansion.org Discipleship School of the Outdoors is a hands on approach to learning in an outdoor environment for the purpose of biblical discipleship, spiritual formation, team building and leadership development. As a part of this adventure based program we use hiking trails and a ropes obstacle course as our classroom tools. We offer our programming for schools, organizations, colleges, universities, churches and corporations, in addition to the programs facilitated for Team Expansion teams, interns and candidates. Jonathan Training equipping@teamexpansion.org Jonathan Training is a two-week course designed to reveal the fruitful practices of starting Indigenous Church Planting Movements among unreached people groups. This training is all about disciples making disciples and churches planting churches. It includes proven principles and methods for reaching an entire people group with the Gospel. This training includes indigenous church planting training and coaching provided by effective church planters who come together periodically to share their best practices and lessons learned on the pioneer fields of evangelism. Kairos kairos@teamexpansion.org The Kairos course is a study of the purpose and plan of God from Genesis to the end of the age! The goal of the course is the formation of a truly biblical worldview and the mobilization of the church into strategic cross-cultural mission. Kairos is a 40-hour course specifically for any Christian looking to deepen his/her relationship with God. Kairos aligns the desires of God s heart with every believer s heart. Ultimately, Kairos is designed to transform every believer s worldview. It is not a missions course solely for missionsminded people.
frequently asked questions When and where did Team Expansion begin? Team Expansion was founded in 1978 on the campus of what was then called Kentucky Christian College. From the beginning, Team Expansion has been a prayer and church planting movement. Do you need a Bible college degree to be a Team Expansion missionary? Absolutely not! While having a Bible college degree can be very helpful, sometimes the best option is a secular degree because of the nature of the work. Regardless of your degree status, we ll work with you to ensure you have an effective ministry with a solid training foundation. Every Team Expansion worker is ordained or commissioned by a sending church. What is Team Expansion s association with the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ? The majority of our missionaries are associated with and supported by Christian Churches and Churches of Christ. However, like the churches found in the New Testament, we are non-denominational. What percentage of a donation reaches the project for which it was designated? 100%. Period. This unique fund-raising approach translates into very direct involvement between the giver and the project itself. If you give a gift toward the work in Ecuador, 100 percent of that gift goes toward that ministry. How does Team Expansion cover the cost of international expenses that are common to all teams? All Team Expansion workers contribute $100 per month toward a Mission Share fund at International Services in Louisville designed to help cover common mission-wide expenses. However, these contributions fall far short of covering actual budgeted expenses. As a result, International Services team members have to raise support for the expenses of the projects they tackle (including funds for their salaries), as well as their travel costs to visit fields or speak on behalf of workers. One and only one salary is paid from the general Team Share fund and that is the salary of the Secretary/Receptionist. How does Team Expansion prepare its workers? All new workers attend a variety of training programs. Through these programs, our goal is to: New workers will understand the core values of Team Expansion. They will be able to share their story with potential prayer and financial supporters. They will be able to track and follow-up with potential supporters. They will have the media they need such as prayer cards, blogs and commitment forms. They will develop a personalized plan for further training and spiritual development. They will be confident of the support of the International Services staff in helping them reach their goals. The Equipping Team supports workers long-term with special seminars and various resources.
Volunteer I want to volunteer with Team Expansion. Program Facts Orientation, training, ongoing encouragement and accountability are built in to all volunteer roles. Service Opportunities Administration Creative Arts Event Coordinator Food Preparation Forwarding Agent Friendship Family Fund Raiser Homestay Host KAIROS Facilitator Mentor Missionary Advocate MK Worker Pathways Coach People Group Advocate Prayer Mobilizer Regional Mobilizer Short-Term Trip Leader...and many, many more Contact volunteer@teamexpansion.org Connections Pathways Quest I want to serve on a short-term mission trip with Team Expansion. Program Facts Our Connections Leaders are committed to excellence in the following areas: Effective & thorough pre-field training/preparation (Core Training, Field Specific Cultural and Practical) Quality partnership development (Prayer Coverage, Resource Mobilization) Financial integrity (We are honest, open and accountable to every penny) Discipleship (We train others to train others in everything we do) Spiritual formation (We embody and grow in Christ-like character) Do no harm (We commit to avoid known short-term missions pitfalls) Post trip debriefing (We always review, learn from and integrate experiences) Next step planning (We always expect, challenge and facilitate further involvement) Contact us for more info on how to join a current Connections Trip, or to learn how to turn your church s short-term mission trip into an official Connections Trip with Team Expansion. Contact connections@teamexpansion.org I want to serve on a life-changing summer-long internship with Team Expansion. Program Facts Since 1984, Pathways has embraced the same core values as our Connections trips but they go deeper, longer, higher and broader in all aspects. Pathways interns build lifelong cross-cultural relationships among unreached peoples. They help open new fields, launch new projects and embolden current teams. Many career missionaries today first experienced missions as a Pathways intern. Cost Total budget varies based on field location, ministry and travel expenses. Contact pathways@teamexpansion.org I want to be mentored by an experienced Team Expansion worker serving in the harvest fields of unreached peoples. Program Facts College credit can be worked out with your learning institution. Fits well with required crosscultural apprenticeships. Quest leaders match skills, passions, talents and career plans to best available opportunities and mentors. Please contact us for more information regarding locations, objectives, qualifications and core values. Cost Total budget varies based on field location, ministry and travel expenses. Contact quest@teamexpansion.org 1 day + 1-9 weeks 10 weeks 6-18 months
Discovery Full-time I want to pioneer a new field or assist in a partnership with Team Expansion. Program Facts Pioneering Help Team Expansion do all the ground work required to establish a new field and church planting movement. Partnership Assist on-field workers in a specific project that could range from constructing a camp dormitory, developing a business platform, establishing a new church plant, or raising awareness for mission opportunities. Cost Total budget varies based on field location, ministry and travel expenses. Contact discovery@teamexpansion.org I am interested in full-time crosscultural work and desire to share Christ with a specific unreached people group. Program Facts Philosophy Team Expansion is a large family of mission-minded believers who desire to impact least reached people groups by starting church planting movements. Training & Preparation You will participate in a two week long training session called Launch. During this time, you will receive valuable tools and one-on-one insights. You will also attend an additional pre-field orientation program and complete any additional activities determined by the Equipping Department. Benefits You will be joining a team that is dedicated to helping you fulfill your God-given dream to share Christ s love with those who need Him the most. Contact fulltime@teamexpansion.org 2-3 years 3 years + unreaced the planting Transforming Communities among churches get started today Step 1: Fill out a profile on our website www.teamexpansion.org
Venture www.teamexpansion.org info@teamexpansion.org 4112 Old Routt Road, Louisville, KY 40299