About IVM

Theological Background

We, the global church, are very diverse. We come from every people group, every language, and every culture across the world. Nonetheless, in Christ Jesus, we are family. In fact, we are called to be a completely unified family. Humanly speaking, such an endeavor is unattainable, no family on earth could find such unity in their own strength, much less a family involving a colorful multitude of people groups, but the Kingdom of God has come to turn the world right side up. It's why in Matthew 6:9-10, Jesus teaches us to pray, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Further, Revelation 7:9 tells us that before the throne and before the Lamb of God in heaven, there is a great multitude from every people group and language.

As amazing as this heavenly portrait is, there is more. In John 17:20-23, Jesus prays for all his followers, even the ones not yet born, to be one as he and the Father are one so that the world can know the depth of God's love. Romans 8:15-17 says we've received a Spirit of adoption, calling God "Abba, Father," and as his children, we're co-heirs with Christ. Galatians 3:26-28 emphasizes this unity. We are all God's children, united and equal, with no divisions. In case any doubts remain about the multitude being a unified family, Hebrews 2:11 says, "Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them (and us by extension) brothers and sisters." Finally, Galatians 6:10 urges us to do good to all, especially to those in the family of believers.

However, a mere glimpse of our world causes us to cry out, "Houston, we have a problem." In the United States alone, there are so many divisions within the church. According to the Hartford Institute, there are more than 200 major groupings of denominations in the US and Canada, such as Catholic or Baptist, but when also looking at smaller groups like independent local congregations, estimates can reach as high as 33,000. Worse, a longer glance unearths such horrid details. The quote often attributed to Martin Luther King, Jr. says, "11:00 Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America." Even when congregations are trying to be multicultural, the term "daunting" is just the beginning. Soong-Chan Rah in the book Many Colors writes that even when racism or other divisive obstacles are not an issue, bringing people of different cultures together is "a formidable social challenge because of the myriad cultures that operate on different levels of communication and expectations" (p. 159).

This social challenge is why International Village Ministry comes to the table. In Exodus 17:8-13, Aaron and Hur support Moses by holding up his arms during the battle against the Amalekites, ultimately aiding Joshua and the Israelites through God's victory. Appropriately, Aaron was Moses's brother. Hur's background is less known, but in Exodus 24:14, he remains with Aaron to help oversee the people while Moses is on Mount Sinai. Likewise, we as International Village Ministry serve as a buttress, a behind-the-scenes support system, strengthening the Lord’s ministry teams across Asia and Africa and across North and South America. Most importantly, we pray. We pray with and we pray for indigenous ministers across the nations. As highlighted by 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, our warfare has nothing to do with weapons of this world. We fight not against flesh and blood but against principalities and rulers of darkness. We do this by removing strongholds of fear and division, especially that which stems from racism or arrogance. Also, we support these same ministers with discipleship and counsel, and whenever possible, we try to find available grants to support their ministries.