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Independent ministry |
The Datu Wali Mission is
not affiliated with any existing church, denomination, or organization.
DWM is not the child of another organization, nor is it the basis for
a new denomination.
Dan and Aurea are personally affiliated with the Assemblies of God, which is a major world-wide
protestant movement. The Assemblies of God has one of
the most productive, active, and well managed missions organizations in
existence. And, although DWM is not affiliated with the AG, we subscribe to many of the accountability
guidelines
under which the AG operates.
The
infrastructure for the mission and the living costs of its founders,
are secured through the personal resources of Dan and Aurea Evans. The Datu Wali Mission Foundation is
a U.S. non-profit organization created to facilitate receipt of contributions
for
mission programs. It issues tax-deductible receipts for such help when
they are processed through the office of its U.S. treasurer. The DWM
board monitors the mission's operation to ensure it is
being conducted legally, ethically, and in accordance with strict
evangelical management principles.
For more information on contributing,
click the How to Help tab. |
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Our reason for non-affiliation |
The decision to establish and operate Datu
Wali Mission independent of affiliation with another organization was
not made lightly. As noted above, we think very highly of other
mission boards, and especially the Assemblies of God World Missions.
Over many years of membership in AG churches, Dan joyfully contributed
thousands of dollars to AGWM. Other mission boards have also earned
our deep respect and admiration, including the Christian and
Missionary Alliance, those operated by various Baptist groups, the
Foursquare church, and many more. Establishing DWM independent of an
existing mission board was not a decision related to dissatisfaction
with any of the possible boards or denominations that we might have
approached.
The call on our lives to do what we are doing, was sudden and
unexpected. It was dramatic and we sensed a special urgency by the
Holy Spirit. The circumstances under which Dan was forced into
retirement, occurred within weeks of our agreeing with God to obey Him
in coming. Everything happened between June of 2005, and January of
2006. We knew that the people we were sent to help, were dying from
malnutrition and lack of health care. God's instruction for us to come
quickly could not have been more clear or obvious.
I had a couple of years earlier, before meeting and marrying Aurea,
contacted AGWM about support assignments on the mission field. They
predicted a three-year process for me to exercise that option and
prepare to be used in that capacity. I was surprised, but respectful
of their care in recruiting and preparing men and women to serve. I
learned that most mission boards and organizations have similar
requirements and timeframes for placement. We would also have been
constrained by board policies, procedures, funding, limited resources,
and more.
There was another element in considering a possible affiliation. We
would have been seeking cooperation from a board to enter an area that
all U.S. missions organizations had already either abandoned or
extracted their personnel from due to terrorism. There was little
likelihood that anyone would have sympathized with our calling
directly from God to come here.
So, for those who may have questioned
our rationale, that is the collection of answers we can provide. We
admire the many effective organizations and missionaries ministering
around the world. I have a number of friends serving. But, operating
independently, we take our direction from God, while remaining
accountable to you and to the board of directors that has partnered
with us in this work.
We entered a very unique field under unique circumstances that allowed
us to hit the ground running, and we've not looked back since. Even
today, as bullets are flying, and grenades landing very near our
midst, we are comfortable that we made the right decision is saying
"yes" to God, on His terms, not ours. If we were with a board, they
would have demanded our evacuation months ago, and in so doing, we
would have abandoned the very people to whom God sent us to minister.
We know we belong here, serving in this manner, willing to give our
lives, our property and our possessions to Him. We have nothing in the
states to return to (no property, no home), and that constitutes a
signet seal on God's plan that we find very authoritative and
authentic. We have nothing to doubt and no where to go, but to Him and
the people He's sent us to help. |
