Our Mission and Core Values

by | Nov 16, 2020 | What's New

Vision:

Creating healthy partnerships to increase community well-being physically, economically, environmentally, and spiritually.

Mission:

  • Establish long-term partnerships with communities having a high degree of economic deprivation and environmental degradation to form communion, deepen understanding, and create opportunity for impact.
  • Construct and distribute solar ovens and educate on their use and care in partner communities.
  • Improve community well-being for partners:
    • Physically – better health and greater personal safety
    • Economically –cost savings and income opportunities
    • Environmentally – improved air quality and reduced deforestation
    • Spiritually – increase awareness of and relationship with Jesus Christ

Values:

  • Witness: As the church, we seek through our relationships, words, and deeds to give flesh to the kingdom of God. We commit to share what we have learned and experienced in our home churches and communities.
  • Cultural Competence: We engage across cultural and economic differences mindful to engage practices that lead to power-sharing and making room for the wisdom and know-how of all. Among the characteristics of cultural competence are:
    • awareness of differences in communication styles and employment of techniques to open opportunities for people of all cultures to be heard.
    • humility
    • attentive listening, which includes attention to the thoughts and feelings and the cultural assumptions behind them
    • self-awareness, including our cultural myths and values
    • awareness and mitigation of the power dynamics that are socially bestowed regardless of our desires or intentions.
    • intentional learning about the origins of both well-being and distress in our communities
  • Partnership: It is in our name! We expect mutuality, respect, dignity, and equity in each relationship. We are called to be in ministry WITH one another, and the community in which we serve, not FOR or TO one another. The relationships are primary, the tasks are secondary.
  • Investment and Sustainability: people receiving an oven make a financial contribution which serves as a sign of their commitment to use the oven while at the same time, providing funds to enable our local partners to work when the US partners are not there.
  • Care of Creation: Solar ovens reduce dependence on burning trees and charcoal, a derivative of trees. In addition to this environmental benefit, we are striving to reduce the use of unnecessary packaging, especially that which is not biodegradable, such as plastics.

09/30/2020