What is Bill’s new Ministry?
I am the new MPD Coach. MPD stands for Ministry Partnership Development, which means I am working with new missionaries to help them be successful in raising their ministry funds necessary for them to begin their first assignment with Ethnos360
My role as a Coach is different than what we normally think of when we think of a football or basketball coach. Coaching in the context of ministry requires me to have good listening skills, a discerning spirit, and the ability to ask thought-provoking questions. My desire is to help these new missionaries achieve their partnership development goals, overcome obstacles, and make necessary changes or shifts in their lives.
As a Coach I use skills that include observing, listening deeply, and asking empowering questions. It is not my role to counsel or to analyze their past. Ministry coaching is based on the principle that the missionary has the God-given ability, and the Holy Spirit, to determine and achieve their goals. I must rely upon the Spirit’s guidance to discern what He is doing in each of these missionaries’ lives and coach them to their future next steps.
I’m working with our missionaries as their partner, knowing that they have answers within them to create the changes they seek. My job is to guide them to discover specific strategies and skills to help them find focus and direction. In this role, I also challenge them, support them, motivate them, and celebrate successes with them. I help these new members create a strategy, with detailed action steps, and hold them accountable with following through.
In addition to working with new missionaries, I am also coaching our veteran missionaries. Missionaries who have been serving for many years but are still under-funded and help them improve their partnership development goals. It is very difficult for those fully engaged in ministry to be working on fundraising. I help them determine what they can do, and what works for them. This specific area has been a burden on my heart for several years. I have seen too many of my co-workers leave their ministry or field of service because they were under-funded for far too long. This kind of pressure causes a lot of stress on missionaries and can lead to real discouragement over whether the bills will get paid or not. Too many of our home staff are way under-supported. Having been in ministry for over 27 years, and having also experienced this struggle, I have a better understanding of what they are going through. It is my heart’s desire to see every one of our missionaries be fully funded for the ministry to which God has called them.
Bill Kurz
MPD Coach
Personnel Department
Ethnos360 Home Office
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