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MISSIONSERV
TRUST
ANNUAL REPORT YEAR ENDING 28 FEBRUARY 2015
VISION: “Serving the church
through mission
research”
“Om die kerk met
sendingnavorsing te
ondersteun”
MISSION:
“Mission
empowerment
through providing
mission research
support to the church
in advancing the
kingdom of Christ
amongst the least
reached.”
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Contents 1 INTRODUCTION ________________________________________________________________ 3
2 OUR OBJECTIVES _______________________________________________________________ 3
3 MINISTRIES ___________________________________________________________________ 3
3.1 RESEARCH PROJECTS ________________________________________________________________ 4
3.1.1 TOPIC _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4
3.1.2 Neighbours project (South Africa) __________________________________________________________________ 4
3.2 MOBILISATION _____________________________________________________________________ 5
3.2.1 Regional Neighbours Mobilisation __________________________________________________________________ 5
3.2.2 “Evangelical Christian Missions: An African Perspective” Book Project _________________________ 5
3.3 RESEARCH TRAINING ________________________________________________________________ 5
3.4 MAPPING _________________________________________________________________________ 6
3.5 MANI (Movement for African National Initiatives) _________________________________________ 6
3.5.1 Continental ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 6
3.5.2 Regional _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 7
4 PARTNERS AND NETWORKS_______________________________________________________ 7
5 FINANCIAL REPORT _____________________________________________________________ 8
5.1 Independent Auditor’s Report_________________________________________________________ 8
5.2 Comments to Financial Statements ____________________________________________________ 8
6 LOOKING AHEAD _______________________________________________________________ 9
7 BOARD OF TRUSTEES ___________________________________________________________10
8 ORGANISATION INFORMATION ___________________________________________________10
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1 INTRODUCTION This year significant progress has been made on a number of processes and projects that we have been
involved in over the years. Through our Research
projects, Training opportunities, Regional and
Continental responsibilities in MANI (Movement for
African National Initiatives) we have had the privilege of
motivating, mobilising and guiding people in their
endeavours to be better stewards of the ministries God
gave to them.
This report seeks to give a small picture and some
understanding of what Inserv did during the 2014/2015
financial year with the resources entrusted to us. As
Trustees and Staff members, we thank the Lord for the
opportunity to work with Him in His Kingdom,
introducing the un-reached to Christ who provided us
with the way to be reconciled with the Father, Creator of Heaven and Earth.
2 OUR OBJECTIVES To advance the Christian faith, in such parts of the world as the Trustees may from time-to-time think fit,
particularly (though not exclusively) amongst the people, occupational and other groups, societies and
communities who have been least reached with the Christian gospel, by such means as the Trustees may
consider appropriate;
To stimulate, advance and sustain effective missionary involvement primarily amongst said groups,
societies and communities through strategically selected projects, including, but not limited to:
Undertaking and advancing missiological research and the dissemination of the results of such
research;
Serving the mission-minded community through the provision of information on mission data,
projects and opportunities;
Linking professional expertise, facilities and services to specific mission needs;
Undertaking, advancing, promoting and/or participating in mission-orientated training aimed at
reaching said groups, societies and communities; and
Facilitating, advancing, promoting, undertaking and supporting responsible missionary
involvement amongst said groups, societies and communities.
These objectives continue to be the basis on which the Missionserv Trust (Inserv) functions and have not
changed in any way. All projects and ministry involvement are planned and evaluated against these objectives.
3 MINISTRIES The goals and objectives of Missionserv Trust are currently fulfilled through the projects and initiatives stated in
this report. These projects are described under Research Projects, Mobilisation, Research training and
Mapping.
Inserv Team
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3.1 RESEARCH PROJECTS In the year under review, considerable progress was made with projects that have been running for a number
of years and which are now in the final phases of completion.
3.1.1 TOPIC
This project has been running for almost 7 years.
The goal of the project is
To create a current and accurate picture of Church
leadership needs in Southern Africa.
This project is undertaken in partnership with OC
Ministries and TOPIC. This year, much time has
been spent on analysis of the information. We were
very grateful for the professional assistance of
Christi-Mari van Deventer, a volunteer who worked
with Inserv some years ago. As statistician, her input was invaluable. The plan is to finish writing and printing
the report during 2015. The results from over 300 completed questionnaires from 75 communities nationwide
have been statistically analysed, enabling us to identify the needs of church leaders and their communities. We
trust this information will contribute towards the improvement of training of pastors and leaders to address
better the needs in our churches, communities, and country as a whole.
3.1.2 Neighbours project (South Africa)
This project is aimed at assisting the Church in South Africa to become aware of the spread and growth of Islam
in South Africa and to mobilize the church in South Africa to evangelize Muslims through research information.
This project aims to research the geographical distribution and growth of Islam in South Africa and what the
church is doing to reach Muslims for Christ in South Africa.
This was originally a two-year project with a total budget of R1.2 million, with Pierre Wedepohl as the Project
manager. The project started in 2012. Unfortunately, finances have been a big challenge.
It was a big setback when Pierre had to withdraw from the project due to a lack of funding. As we believe this
information is very necessary, it was decided that Willie and Marita would take up the responsibility for leading
the project. As result, we changed the strategy for gathering information and instead made more use of
Internet searches, using Google maps information on prayer places, together with communication with church
leaders and other people in towns, suburbs and areas to get information where information was not otherwise
available. Good progress has been made and we plan to finish the project by the end of 2015.
Team who worked on the Leadership needs research
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3.2 MOBILISATION
3.2.1 Regional Neighbours Mobilisation
We are discovering that the visible presence of Islam in the region is a reality
and the church is uneasy about it. However, generally speaking, very little
action is taken because of fear and a lack of knowledge about Muslims and
Islam. Training seminars were conducted in Swaziland, Zambia and Malawi.
Training materials were distributed to assist in sharing basic knowledge on the
subject. Muslim evangelism facilitators helped to conduct the seminars. As a
result of these consultation meetings and seminars, people were encouraged,
realising the responsibility and opportunities for doing outreach to Muslims
and how to develop basic and effective strategies to address the challenges
faced. In Zambia, churches started talking about doing research as a first step
for mobilising churches for Muslim evangelism. From the research, they will
better know how to approach the challenge in Zambia. This project will
continue in the 2015/2016 financial year.
3.2.2 “Evangelical Christian Missions: An African Perspective”
Book Project
The selling and distribution of the printed book is more challenging than we anticipated. The best results are
achieved when a presentation (marketing/promotion) is done during conferences, seminars and mission school
training, such as at the Mission Exposure and Training School (MET). Sales are more effective through this
direct interaction with people. Using the book, Peter conducted 6 sessions at MET regarding mobilisation and
the place of the African church in Missions. He also addressed some of the issues from the book in conferences
such as the Missionsfest conference in Zambia. The eBook version of the book was published in 2014 through
our partners in the USA, Global Mapping International. Through a special agreement, they are responsible for
marketing and selling the book. So far, sales on the Internet are doing very well. (http://store.gmi.org/books-c-
7.html)
3.3 RESEARCH TRAINING Three Research Training sessions were conducted at MET (Mission Exposure and Training) for English and
French leaders from countries such as the DRC, Nigeria, Cameroon and South Africa.
During March and April, time was set aside to work
through the training material, and to evaluate and update
our material. Formatting and updating of the material is
still in progress and focused time is needed to finish the
upgrading of the material.
The biggest challenges are finding enough focused time to
dedicate to the updating and finalisation of material and
the scheduling of training sessions. Training with a group of students at MET
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3.4 MAPPING Since Pierre left we have felt the gap he left in this regard. We thank the Lord for a volunteer who is assisting us
in producing and preparing maps as needed and who is also willing and able to provide training to staff
members and others if required. GMI continues to be our main partner in this area and we will continue to
have mapping as an integral part of our ministry, as communication of information through maps is a very
effective way of getting the information across.
3.5 MANI (Movement for African National Initiatives)
3.5.1 Continental
EIS (Ethne Information System) is the
African Database which lists the
people groups of the African
Continent, identifying the unreached.
Since about 2007, Inserv has been
responsible for the development,
maintenance and populating the EIS
database. EIS is an African ethno-
linguistic people group database
developed under the umbrella of
MANI (Movement for African National
Initiatives). The goal is for every country to take responsibility for identifying the unreached groups in the
country and to develop plans to reach those groups with the Gospel.
In working on this over the past years on a Continental and Regional level, we have struggled to see
successes.
Due to language, Francophone West Africa has been a challenge. Gord Sawatsky has been seconded by
AIM, and his contribution and assistance in this regard has helped a lot in this region. The challenge
remains the same in that we have not found local research teams in the countries who will take
responsibility for gathering their own information and data.
We continue to have an excellent relationship with the Joshua Project and work closely with this project in
the verification and updating of data across the continent.
Country spreadsheets are updated and distributed as required by the countries to assist in the collection,
correcting and updating of information. A French version is used for the French countries, but a
Portuguese version needs to be developed.
At this stage we are focusing on the countries where nothing or little has been done in the past. In all the
countries, updating the demographic data has proven to be more challenging than expected. Progress has
been made, but more innovative ways are needed to gather and update the demographic data for the
whole continent.
MANI leadership
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3.5.2 Regional
A number of changes and added responsibilities
occurred in this year:
Peter was appointed as the MANI Southern
African Regional Coordinator, which is an added
responsibility to his CAP responsibilities in the
region.
Mobilisation of the National Initiatives in the
countries is now also part of his responsibilities.
A critical function is the identification of leaders
in some of these countries, gathering of
information, and giving encouragement and
assisting where leaders are struggling in their different countries.
Namibia continues to be a challenge, as there is no leader yet and finding the correct person to assist the
church nationally needs God’s guidance.
CAP is making good progress in gathering information in the different countries in the region, although it is
only where Inserv is taking initiative and following through on the process that effective progress is being
made. We have not seen any national and local development around this initiative, which is causing us to
ask questions and re-evaluate how to proceed with the Country Assessment Process.
4 PARTNERS AND NETWORKS Over the years we have built relationships with a number of people in various organisations and ministries.
Partnerships have always been regarded as a critical aspect of Inserv’s existence. Partnerships formed with
Inserv include:
Capro Missions
CCM (Christian concern for Muslims)
Congregations
Central Baptist Church
DRC Vishoek
DRC Valhalla
DRC Lynnwood Ridge
Evangelical Alliances in different countries
Global Mapping International
Gospel recordings
International Partnership Associates (IPA)
Jericho Walls International Prayer Network
Joshua Project
MANI (Movement for African National Initiatives)
Mission Exposure and Training
Missionary Supporters League (MSL)
Moving Into Action (MIA)
Northern Synod of DRC Church
TEASA (The Evangelical Alliance of South Africa)
TOPIC/OC Ministry
SET (Swaziland Evangelism Task)
Botswana visit in partnership with Gospel recordings, Capro, Evangelical Alliance and University of Botswana
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Vision 5:9
WENSA (World Evangelisation Network of South Africa)
Individuals supporting staff members and projects
Others regarding specific training and focused projects
5 FINANCIAL REPORT
5.1 Independent Auditor’s Report The Financial Statements of Missionserv Trust were audited by the independent auditors, MV and Associates,
Chartered Accountants (SA) Registered Auditors. The accepted and signed Financial Statements and Auditors’
report for the financial year ending 28 February 2015 are available on request and will be available at the
Annual General Meeting for your perusal.
5.2 Comments to Financial Statements We would like to highlight a few financial aspects from this financial report:
We received a clean audit report and
the auditor is satisfied that good
financial principles are followed in
accordance to the required guidelines
in the management and recording of
the finances.
The income of Inserv is around
R40 000 lower than the previous year
and that contributes to challenges of
how to approach the work to be done.
In spite of the lower general income,
there is a rise in interest from the previous year
of about R10 000. Investments were moved to
other products according to the advice received
from Carel Botma from PSG who is advising the
Trust on our investments, and that contributed
to a better interest income for this financial
year.
Raising personal support continues to
be a challenge for the staff members and is very
critical for some staff members. Because of this
struggle, Pierre had to resign in this year under
review to accept a position as teacher, as his family could no longer survive on the little income.
While financial support continues to present Inserv with challenges, we do experience God’s
provision, very often in surprising ways. The Trustees are also involved in sacrificial ways to
assist in raising support from various sources.
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The interest received from
investments is allocated towards two
categories, viz. Ministry (Projects)
and Staff. The staff salaries and
benefits seem high in comparison to
the rest of the expenses, but can be
explained on the basis that a
substantial part of the interest is, by
agreement, earmarked for staff
members. Also, donations earmarked
for specific staff members are paid into Inserv's account from time to time. Each staff member is
still responsible for his or her own support-raising, which continues to be a challenge. Having
said that, the salaries component is 3% less of the total expenditure in comparison with the
previous financial year.
There was a rise of around R30 000 or 18% in salaries and benefits from the previous year. The
reason was not a rise in salaries for staff members, but was due to the pension payment to Pierre
Wedepohl, who resigned from Inserv.
6 LOOKING AHEAD In the 2015/2016 year we plan to;
Finish the Neighbours Project in such a way that we can start distributing the gathered
information.
Print and distribute the results from the TOPIC Research Project on the training and other needs
of pastors, to the church in South Africa.
Hold a Regional CAP conference, as was decided before, as part of the development of the
research function of MANI in the region.
Take the Neighbours research and awareness process in Zambia further, and through that
develop a National Initiative from the Grassroots of the church.
Finish the updating of Research Training material and develop and schedule new training
opportunities.
Develop and clarify the training relationship with the APK Seminarian. Training date is scheduled
for end of September.
Develop a broader financial support system for Inserv which could make us more viable going
into the future for both ministry and on a personal level.
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7 BOARD OF TRUSTEES The Board of Trustees stayed the same during this year and they continued to serve the Trust with leadership,
advice oversight, moral support and raising financial support where possible. Five meetings were held during
the course of this year apart from various discussions and interactions through the year to address issues of
concern and blessings.
Prof. Marius Olivier
Chairman
Director: ISLP (Institute for Social Law and Policy) and IISLP (International
Institute for Social Law and Policy). Extraordinary Professor: Faculty of Law,
Northwest University (Potchefstroom campus); Adjunct-Professor: School of
Law, University of Western Australia (UWA), Perth, West Australia and the
Socio-Legal Research Centre, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland.
Previously Professor in Labour Law and Social Security at University of
Johannesburg (UJ), Co-founder of Inserv (Missionserv).
Dr André van Oudtshoorn Academic Dean, Perth Bible College; Senior Pastor: Scarborough Baptist Church,
Perth, Western Australia. Formerly, Director of Search Light Productions in RSA.
Dr Anna-Marie du Toit 30 years’ experience in Social and Community Development, Consultant,
Researcher, Trainer and Artist
Jacques Smit Software Engineer, Co-founder of Inserv (Missionserv), Previously editor of
Reach Out when issued in book format, Johannesburg
Willie Botha
Trust Secretary
Executive Director of Inserv (Institute for Strategic Services), Pretoria
8 ORGANISATION INFORMATION
Missionserv Trust
Trust registration: 12915/98 NPO registration: 032 373 NPO
173 Bosman Street
Sediba House, Room 303
Tel +27 12 3230915
Fax +27 12 3284596
www.inserv.org.za
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