This is an article from the March-April 2018 issue: Movements: Learning to Cross the “Bridges of God”

Stewarding Resources Unto Greater Fruitfulness

A ministry update from Francis Patt, General Director of Frontier Ventures

Stewarding Resources Unto Greater Fruitfulness

We at Frontier Ventures, together with William Carey International University, are moving forward with continued passion and vision for the Unreached. We are pursuing a future of increased focus and collaboration around the kind of complex problems in mission that got us started 40 years ago. How do we continue turning the church’s attention to the pressing needs and pioneering contexts of the “least of these?” How do we address barriers to the gospel that are bigger than any one organization, campus or even the western mission movement? 

An important part of our work continues to be seeing kingdom insights sown back into the work of the harvest, unto greater fruitfulness—much of it happening through Mission Frontiers and the Int’l Journal for Frontier Missiology

By now you may have heard that we at Frontier Ventures and WCIU are in the midst of a potential sale of a portion of our respective properties in Pasadena. I wanted to give you some background on why we are considering a sale. 

Much in the world has changed through globalization, mobile technologies, and the rise of Global South sending movements. As we have considered our next 40 years of ministry, we have asked ourselves how we can best utilize the resources we have for the purposes God has given us, in light of these changes. In doing so, we have felt the pressing strategic need to invest our resources into building ministry presence in multiple locations. That shift in strategy has led WCIU and Frontier Ventures to put a portion of their respective properties in Pasadena up for a potential sale. Thisdecision, while it may be new to you, has been something that we have discussed for at least a decade as we’ve considered how to best steward our resources for kingdom impact. The purpose of Frontier Ventures and WCIU is and always has been to see Jesus proclaimed and the Church established in all peoples. The vision was never just for the use of property in Pasadena. The vision is what my wife Sue and I had in our hearts when we made our “last thousand” dollar donation for the original purchase of the property. 

All that was invested into the property, the people, and the purpose will continue to be directed toward ministry among the unreached. It’s what we stood for then, and it’s what we’ll continue to stand for, God willing, for the next 40 years. 

We will retain a presence in Pasadena focused on training and collaboration with other Christian organizations, even as we seek to expand our presence in other locations in the US and around the world, some of them closer to the unreached themselves. Forty years ago we purchased a property to pursue a vision; now we are seeking the potential sale of at least some portion of the properties to more effectively pursue the vision, in a changing world. 

Thank  you for your faithful engagement with Mission Frontiers and Frontier Ventures over the years. We ask for your continued prayers as we navigate this time of transition and seek greater fruitfulness in the next 40 years!

For updates on where we are in the sale process, visit www.wciu.edu/news-events and www.frontierventures.org/blog.

Comments

Do not sell the campus!  It is an amazing resource that many participated in the acquisition of, including me.  It should not be lost.  It would be a huge mistake.  Rather manage Frontier Ventures far better than it has been for the past decade, in a fiscally responsible manner and with a kingdom mindset.

Also it is time to spin off Perspectives as a separate 501c3, not controlled by Frontier Ventures.  This is a ministry that must continue forward unhindered.  It is the most important ministry that Frontier Ventures has launched through the decades, but it is not thriving under your leadership. It is time to open your hand to God, prayerfully and with your blessing let go, and allow it to flourish and grow under new independent leadership.

I think other web site proprietors should take this site as an model, very clean and excellent user friendly style and design, let alone the content. You’re an expert in this topic!

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