About ALD
Vision & Mission
The Rapiers have had
a sustained international ministry since 1981 and to Southern Africa
since 1989. While the base of operation for their ministry has shifted
from Southern Africa to the United States, the mission of their ministry
remains the same:
Assisting
the Church in Southern Africa by
Mentoring
pastors,
Empowering
growth, and
Networking
leaders with the global church.
Their ministry
was born out of the personal discipleship Bill received first from the
Navigators as a young man serving in the U.S. Army and subsequently from
Bill Gothard while living in the Chicago area. That discipleship
experience convinced Bill that mentoring others would be the focus of
his ministry as a missionary. Bill also determined that mentoring
church leaders would be the best commitment he could make to help the
church of Christ succeed.
Their ministry has evolved through several distinct stages. The first
stage, from 1981 to 1989 in Germany, field tested and confirmed the
importance of mentoring church leaders. The second stage, from 1989 to
1991 in Swaziland, validated the importance of mentoring church leaders
in under developed countries and confirmed how the provision of
resources could empower local church growth. Certain concepts of
“remote ministry” were tested during the next stage of ministry, from
1991 to 1996, while living in the U.S. and dealing with significant
family medical issues. Serving most recently in Southern Africa, from
1996 to 2004, Bill began to link German and U.S. churches with churches
in Southern Africa. This validated the concept of networking with the
global church through “church partnering” programs. Now, back in the
U.S., their ministry enters yet another stage. They believe the concept
of partnering with churches in Southern Africa is ready for broader
deployment among churches in the U.S.
Many churches in the United States have a rich and
sustained commitment
to worldwide evangelism. This is made manifest, at least in part,
through the missionaries that churches financially support. Also,
inviting missionaries to speak, conducting annual missionary events,
reporting missionary profiles in church newsletters and adding new
missionaries to the support budget all contribute to keeping missions
forefront in the minds of church members. While having rich missions
histories, U.S. evangelical churches face three key questions:
1.
Are there new and additional
methods that might be applied to engender deeper, personal passion
within church members for worldwide missions?
2.
Are younger generations of
church members developing a passion for worldwide missions as prior
generations have?
3.
Are there practical methods by
which U.S. churches can partner with the churches of their supported
missionaries?
The Rapiers believe
that the answer to these questions is “yes”.
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