India Missions Association India Missions Association The background: The early Christians passed through the ages of persecution during the period of Nero and latter peace under the Emperor Constantine. Eventually the misunderstanding of Christianity gave birth to Islam which wiped out Christianity in the North African regions. Then the Crusades to occupy Jerusalem brought further animosity between the Muslims and Christians. This also closed the trade route to Asia, particularly to India by the Islamic nations such as Turkey which blocked the Christian nations to pass through to India. Because of which the Pope commissioned kings of Europe to find India by sea route which resulted in finding the Continents of America, Africa, Asia and thus the whole world became the colonies of various countries of Europe. During this time the division of Christianity into two as Roman Catholics and Protestants further divided the new colonized world. The European countries which conquered brought their brand of Christianity to different parts of the world. Thus, Christianity, till today, is seen as the religion of Europe and the religion of the conquerors and some see it as the religion of the exploiters of the nations. This has its tremendous backlogs for Christianity. The Protestant missionaries worked very hard and the world was influenced by the many missionaries who sacrificially worked to help people to follow Christianity. They shaped the present missions’ thinking and the total mission endeavours in the newly awakened mission sending countries. The missions’ methods and policies were strongly influenced by the then leading Protestant missionaries such as William Carey, Hudson Taylor, William Cameroon Townsend, and Donald McGavran. The philosophies and practices of mission organisations emerged from those people, thoughts and times. In this scenario around about 1950s most of the European colonized nations became independent and lost the traditional Protestant Western missionary services. The new independent nations restricted visas for the traditional missionaries. Thus, the church was left stranded developing their own indigenous leadership for their church denominations. Once the indigenous leadership for the churches established, due to some revival and consciousness about the Great Commission of the Lord Jesus Christ, Mission organisations came into being from mid 1960s. The Origins of Indian Missions: In this scenario, in India prior to 1965 there were only four indigenous missions. From 1965 the new born mission organisations and Indian Christians became conscious of cross-cultural evangelism. Most of the philosophies of mission, methods, and policies were built on the exact copies of the Western missionaries of the past. Some were good and some of them were and are irrelevant for the day. Why & How India Missions Association was formed? In this scenario, in 1977, the newly emerged missions gathered to form India Missions Association in the gathering by the Evangelical Fellowship of India at Devlalai, Maharastra. IMA was formed to connect and to deal with the issues of being cross-cultural missions. Thus, IMA was formed by five different mission agencies to bring together Christian organisations in India for mutual help, co-operation, and corporate expression. Today IMA represents 243 Indian mission organisations, agencies and Church groups and about 60,000 Christian workers within India and beyond. The Mission of IMA: India Missions Association is the national federation of missions in India, which assists Missions and Churches in the proclamation of the Good news and in making disciples of Jesus Christ among all peoples, languages, and geographical areas through members who partner to share resources, research, and training by their effective accountability and care of their personnel. The Vision of IMA: To connect and enhance missions and churches to establish Jesus worshipping fellowships among every people group within India and beyond. Objectives of IMA: * To Be An Association For All Christian Organisations and churches involved in Missions in India & beyond. * To Be A Facilitator For Cooperation, Partnerships & Networks Through Sharing Resources. * To Be A Challenging Voice In the Church For Increased Commitment To Missions. * To Be An Initiator For Training, Workshops, Consultations, Conferences in New Avenues. * To Disseminate Information For Mobilising Prayer & Creating Awareness on Mission Issues. * To Connect Peoples In Churches & Missions both Locally & Globally. * To Be a Catalyst In Evolving Corporate Vision, Ethos & Strategy. * To Empower Missions In Caring For People Involved In Their Ministry. * To Present An United Stand Before the Public & the Government for the Cause Of Missions. * To Establish Mutual Transparency & Accountability In Ministry, Leadership & Management Practices. Internal Values of IMA: * To be a visionary and a catalyst * To strive to be a model * To be accountable and transparent * To care for and build one another * To encourage formation of national and multi-cultural teams * To have multi-linguistic personnel and operations * To advocate excellence in ministry performance * To be guided by the Word and the Spirit * To comply with statutory requirements of the land * To enrich indigenous leadership and finance