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Vision
The Chalmers Center’s vision is for the poor to see the local church in their community as the very embodiment of Jesus Christ. We do not want the poor to ever hear of the Chalmers Center; rather, our desire is that the church fulfill its biblical mandate to preach the good news of the kingdom of God—in both word and deed—to the “least of these.” We feel that missionaries are the extension of the local church to unreached communities and therefore should also embody Jesus Christ in a similar way within their missions contexts.
In this, it is our hope to be able to walk into a slum anywhere in the world and ask the people living there, “Who loves you?” and have them respond, “That church over there loves me. In fact, they are Jesus to me, because they care about my body and my soul just as Jesus does.” More on the Role of the Local Church »
Mission
Now if the local church is to look like Jesus, it must do what He did. Namely, it must declare the good news of the Kingdom of God—Christ’s healing of the entire cosmos—in both word and deed (Luke 4:18-21; 4:43; 7:18-23; 9:1-2; 10:1-9; Acts 1:1; 2:22). The particular deeds that the Chalmers Center cultivates in the local church focus on economic development (i.e. enabling low-income persons to be able to support themselves and their families through their own work).
Therefore, the Chalmers Center equips the local church—including its missionaries—to help the poor to help themselves through their own work. Through best practice research and high-quality training of churches, missionaries, and ministries, the Chalmers Center builds the capacity of the local church to address the economic and spiritual needs of low-income people without creating dependency.
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