1. Welcome to Baptist Board, a friendly forum to discuss the Baptist Faith in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to all the features that our community has to offer.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!

The International Mission Board Manual for Field Personnel (MFP)

Discussion in 'Evangelism, Missions & Witnessing' started by Anleifr, Jul 28, 2006.

Top Posters
Page 1 of 2
  1. Anleifr

    Anleifr New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2004
    Messages:
    113
    Likes Received:
    0
    The International Mission Board Manual for Field Personnel (MFP) is not available for public release.

    Does anyone know why the MFP is not available for public release?
     
    #1 Anleifr, Jul 28, 2006
  2. bapmom

    bapmom New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 3, 2005
    Messages:
    3,091
    Likes Received:
    0
    because the public isn't "Field Personnel", I would assume.
     
    #2 bapmom, Jul 30, 2006
  3. Anleifr

    Anleifr New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2004
    Messages:
    113
    Likes Received:
    0
    "because the public isn't "Field Personnel", I would assume."

    "because the public isn't "Field Personnel", I would assume."

    Yes, but the public is other Southern Baptists, the public is SBC members who provide funds for the Cooperative Program, and the public is not disinterested believers who want to know what policies are made in our name.

    In the 1960-80s, many in the SBC believed that because the SBC members provided funds to the Cooperative Program, these SBC members had a right to know what was being taught in SBC seminaries. Of course, SBC members have always had access to seminary classnotes, syllabi, and required reading. Seminary procedure manuals have always been open to the public.

    Why then can we as SBC members have not access to IMB field and procedural manuals? Why can we not know why we cannot have access to IMB field and procedural manuals?
     
    #3 Anleifr, Jul 31, 2006
  4. Mexdeaf

    Mexdeaf New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2005
    Messages:
    7,051
    Likes Received:
    3
    Hmmm.... Interesting. I would assume that at least pastors would have access to the Manual. I can understand not making it available to the public in general since certain parts concerning Third World countries might harm the efforts there if they were to get out.
     
    #4 Mexdeaf, Jul 31, 2006
  5. Lagardo

    Lagardo New Member

    Joined:
    May 10, 2006
    Messages:
    691
    Likes Received:
    0
    The strategies, tactics, and logistics of our international missionaries, if made known to the public, could at the very least hinder the efforts of some and worse, threaten the safety of others.
     
    #5 Lagardo, Jul 31, 2006
  6. Anleifr

    Anleifr New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2004
    Messages:
    113
    Likes Received:
    0
    After repeated questions to the IMB ...

    "I would assume that at least pastors would have access to the Manual. I can understand not making it available to the public in general since certain parts concerning Third World countries might harm the efforts there if they were to get out."

    "The strategies, tactics, and logistics of our international missionaries, if made known to the public, could at the very least hinder the efforts of some and worse, threaten the safety of others."

    Yes, I assume that the possibility of endangering missionaries and their work is the reason for its lack of publicity. My understanding is that not even IMB missionaries are allowed to have a copy themselves. But this reason is all speculation.

    1) After repeated questions, I have been unable to learn from the IMB a reason for why this manual is unavailable to the public.

    2) After repeated questions, I have been unable to learn from the IMB when this non-publicity policy for the manuals was inacted. The IMB archives hold the trustee minutes going back to the beginning, but all such minutes from 1979 to the present are unavailable to the public unless permission is granted. Since they won't tell me when the policy was inacted, I cannot request the minutes in order to learn the reason for this policy.

    3) There have been many times in recent years when IMB missionaries have been fired for not following IMB manual regulations. However, since they do not have regular access to such regulations ... I have read in brief snippets that there are anywheres between 600-800 policies in the manual.
     
    #6 Anleifr, Jul 31, 2006
  7. El_Guero

    El_Guero New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2004
    Messages:
    7,714
    Likes Received:
    0
    Makes one wish it was like it used to be . . . back when the Bible was the manual . . . ;)

     
    #7 El_Guero, Jul 31, 2006
  8. Anleifr

    Anleifr New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2004
    Messages:
    113
    Likes Received:
    0
    the Bible is still the manual in matters of the spirit and such

    Well, the Bible is still the manual in matters of the spirit and such, but the IMB and other agencies need to be able to have guidelines set down to deal with issues that aren't addressed in the Scripture. My question is what are these guidelines or what is the reason why these guidelines are not made public.
     
    #8 Anleifr, Jul 31, 2006
  9. El_Guero

    El_Guero New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2004
    Messages:
    7,714
    Likes Received:
    0
    Does the IMB take the security of its people seriously?

    Yes

    And

    No.

    Yes, they take security seriously. So, yes - security is serious.

    But no, if a 'nobody' like me can assess sensitive information - just imagine what the enemy has garnered over the years . . . Fortunately, the terrorists only consider us 'targets of opportunity', IMHO, at least for the moment. My analysis of what is going on in missions would place at least 3 to 5 organizations ahead of ours. My hunch is that Catholics, Mormons, and YWAM are taking greater 'risks' than we are (this is a genuine hunch - I have no 'hard data' for this).

    But, we have taken an abnormally high number of casualties in the terror war against Christian missionaries. IMHO, the IMB personnel are seen as 'targets of opportunity'.
     
    #9 El_Guero, Jul 31, 2006
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 31, 2006
  10. El_Guero

    El_Guero New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2004
    Messages:
    7,714
    Likes Received:
    0
    Your profile says team church. What are they up to? Is that that church doing church planting?
     
    #10 El_Guero, Jul 31, 2006
  11. El_Guero

    El_Guero New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2004
    Messages:
    7,714
    Likes Received:
    0
    Good questions - that I do not know the answers to.

     
    #11 El_Guero, Jul 31, 2006
  12. Lagardo

    Lagardo New Member

    Joined:
    May 10, 2006
    Messages:
    691
    Likes Received:
    0
    What sensitive information have you been given access to? I have always thought the the IMB took pretty good measures to maintain the security of its missionaries.
     
    #12 Lagardo, Jul 31, 2006
  13. El_Guero

    El_Guero New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2004
    Messages:
    7,714
    Likes Received:
    0
    Largardo

    Lagardo, Lagardo, Lagardo . . .

    There you went making assumptions that I never intended.

    I probably should has said, assess instead of access. I never once implied that I had been 'given access' to anything. My connotation for the term 'given access' is probably an entirely different connotation than you would have for the term, but I assure you that I have not been 'given access'.

    My information is analysis based entirely upon 'open source'.

    I just happened to be in the right places at the wrong times . . . (and I was not trying to be).
     
    #13 El_Guero, Jul 31, 2006
  14. Lagardo

    Lagardo New Member

    Joined:
    May 10, 2006
    Messages:
    691
    Likes Received:
    0
    How were you able to access sensitve information? That's my question. How sensitve of information were you able to see or hear that makes you think that the IMB is not taking security serious in the sense that you were able to get this information.
     
    #14 Lagardo, Jul 31, 2006
  15. El_Guero

    El_Guero New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2004
    Messages:
    7,714
    Likes Received:
    0
    Lagardo

    I meant what I said and I said what I meant. Anything further than that is (a) a misunderstanding and (b) more than I would be at liberty to share with you.

    You are implying things that I did not say.

    And the things that you are implying - are wrong.
     
    #15 El_Guero, Jul 31, 2006
  16. El_Guero

    El_Guero New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2004
    Messages:
    7,714
    Likes Received:
    0
    Your profile says team church. What are they up to? Is that that church doing church planting?

    OK

    Going back to the OP - are you going to post it on line if ya' find a copy?

    ;)

     
    #16 El_Guero, Jul 31, 2006
  17. Lagardo

    Lagardo New Member

    Joined:
    May 10, 2006
    Messages:
    691
    Likes Received:
    0
    This is what you said. My question is simple: what sensitive information can you or could you assess. One one end of this discussion, we have someone saying that the IMB is so tight-lipped one cannont even see the Field Manual. Now, you say two things...1) that you are a nobody (I make the assumption that you mean a nobody with regards to the IMB) and 2) that you can "assess" or possibly access sensitive information, so the other end of this discussion is that someone such as yourself is privy to sensitive information.

    I am not reading any more into what you have said then what you have actually said.
     
    #17 Lagardo, Jul 31, 2006
  18. bapmom

    bapmom New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 3, 2005
    Messages:
    3,091
    Likes Received:
    0
    First of all, I didn't realize that the IMB is the SBC mission board.......my bad. I was thinking of it as an Independent Missions board.

    BUT........

    Thing is, simply supporting a work does not make one automatically privvy to all of the information about that work. My family pays tithes at our church, but the deacon's meetings are still kept private.

    Otherwise, I don't know. Maybe IMB simply feels that the OPer is only asking for the Field Manual in order to cause trouble?
     
    #18 bapmom, Jul 31, 2006
  19. Anleifr

    Anleifr New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2004
    Messages:
    113
    Likes Received:
    0
    “Your profile says team church. What are they up to? Is that that church doing church planting?”

    Yes, we are the church that plants four churches a year. Things are well. Our founding pastor (John Worcester) has becoming our church planting consultant and is now criss-crossing the world training new church plant starters and planting new churches. Our associate pastor (Sam Douglass) has become senior pastor. He is doing a very good job. He really has a discerning eye for the needs and necessities of the church. Team Church is in a real transition phase. We are trying to be more broad based with our ministries while still focusing on church planting. I think we are going very well.


    “if a 'nobody' like me can assess sensitive information”

    Well, I understood what you meant.
     
    #19 Anleifr, Aug 1, 2006
  20. Anleifr

    Anleifr New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2004
    Messages:
    113
    Likes Received:
    0
    “Thing is, simply supporting a work does not make one automatically privvy to all of the information about that work. My family pays tithes at our church, but the deacon's meetings are still kept private. “


    That is true and a good point. However, one would expect that the deacons would tell the church why the deacons’ meetings are private. Also, it would be one thing for a deacon’s meeting to be kept private but it is another for the deacons to keep their rule book and their staff regulations away from public viewing.

    But regardless, the IMB trustee meetings are open to the media and the public.

    Maybe IMB simply feels that the OPer is only asking for the Field Manual in order to cause trouble?

    No, the IMB is very clear that the Field Manual is only for internal use and would not be given out to anyone regardless of his or her reasons.
     
    #20 Anleifr, Aug 1, 2006
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)
Page 1 of 2
Loading...