Danmission’s view on ourselves and our task. Vision Danmission’s vision is a world that opens itself to God’s life giving, saving and creating activity as we meet it in Jesus Christ. Mission Danmission’s calling – or mission – is to participate in God’s mission through two separate key tasks, that can not be mixed, can not be separated and can not replace each other: 1. To strengthen the church’s preachings, so that the gospel is heard, and followers are rooted in the Christian faith. 2. To serve fellow man and society, so that all can live a dignified life in peace in a just society. The foundation for these two key tasks we find in the double love demand of Christianity, wherefore our work is always related to God and man alike. Jesus said: ”You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second commandment is like it; you shall love your neighbor as yourself”. (Matthew 22:37-38) Who is Danmission ? Danmission is a church organisation, based in the the Danish National Church, doing international work. Danmission is a church organization, and has Christianity as it’s starting point and foundation. Danmission is a multi facetted, popular Danish movement. Danmission, in addition, participates in international and ecumenical cooperations, where we with partners wish to work for a common goal. We cooperate with global partners, of which most are churches and Christian organizations. ”Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” (Romans 15:7) In what do we believe ? We believe that God is the source to everything that exists, and that man was made in God’s image. It is in God that we live, breath and exist. God’s spirit is the driving force of life and is life’s renewer. The world God created is sumptuous, magnificent and diverse. However, evil lives in the world, and in us all. There are accidents, illness and death. Selfishness, lust for power and greed destroys human life and the nature our lifes and all life depends on. We believe that God is love, and appeared in the man Jesus to give us life and bring reconciliation. We believe that Jesus is the liberator of life, and that it is in Jesus that we shall find our understanding of God and of God’s mission in the world. We believe that God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit, makes the gospel come alive for us, and inspires us when we share it with others.
God’s mission The basic mission is not ours, but God's. God's mission in the world is through God's presence and God's active presence to liberate and renew everything. A new world is coming to life, with love, healing, justice and peace. It is the mission of Jesus as he calls us to continue. When the Spirit of God creates faith in people it has personal and social consequences. The kingdom of God is found in glimpses through people, through the church and in the world. God works everywhere for God’s good purposes. Mission implies therefore being open, responsive and receiving of God's activity in the world, also in what feels strange, unfamiliar and beyond our imagination. Danmission therefore also cooperates with people of other religious affiliations, and with those that have no religious conviction. We seek the congenial, and look together for the signs of God's renewing presence, and want to work for this as long as the world stands. We expect the resurrection of the dead and the future life of the world. Jesus said: “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8) What do we do ? Wholeness and freedom. Danmission works holistically , this means that our work focuses on the entire human being (or the ”whole” human being), with spirit, soul and body. Everyone needs to rest in God, rest in themselves, live in peace with others and to have basic life needs met. Therefore we work in • dissemination of the Christian faith • dialogue • poverty reduction This as an expression of God’s mission in the world. Where we work, there must always be an offer to hear the gospel; time and space for conversation; and poverty reduction where needed. Thus, there is cohesion and unity in work done, but there is also freedom and separation. It will always be up to the individual how much one is interested in giving and receiving. No one involved in development work, must be forced to listen to the Christian gospel. The basic attitude is that the Christian message only thrives in freedom. ”Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2. Corinthians 3:17) 1. Danmission’s work with the gospel in words We believe that God's love revealed itself in Jesus Christ, and that it is through faith in Jesus Christ that we find our way in life. We know that it is not up to us to put limits on God's saving powers, and that we can not point to any other way to liberation and salvation other than faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, we share the gospel, that we ourselves are driven by, with others. We know that we are not ready to grasp the mystery that God became man, gave his life for us and our sake, and through the resurrection of Jesus Christ overcame the powers of death. In dialogue with others we dig still deeper into the mysteries of the Christian faith. We witness through this part of our work Jesus Christ as the Lord of all of us, by calling to faith, for a change of attitude to life, confession, baptism and a life guided by the Spirit of God in an open and inclusive community. We work with churches to strengthen their work to
preach the gospel and keep a focus in particular on good theological training. It is rooted deeply in the Christian message, that we must take care of our fellow human beings and of God's world and its resources. Therefore, the first main task in Danmission is to support the Christian churches’ work spreading the Christian faith. And Jesus came and said to them: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20) 2. Danmission’s dialogue work The obligation to love the one we know, as well as the stranger, calls us to action and dialogue. We can not live without an interest in others, their lives, their attitudes and their beliefs. We know about faith and religion as strong, influential forces that give people content and direction in life, both good and evil. Religious faith can be positive and lead to life and love. Religious belief can also be negative when it becomes fanatical and leads to oppression, violence and terror. In Danmission’s work the goal is that the life-enhancing and conciliatory aspects of religion must be nurtured, so that we can live in peace and express ourselves freely. In dialogue involving community leaders, religious leaders, business and media people, and grassroots organizations, we strive to build mutual understanding and acceptance. We seek to illuminate the structures that keep people in strife, inequality and conflict, and strive to create an understanding of humanity. We cooperate with others to prevent conflict, changing attitudes and behaviors, build peaceful relations and peaceful communities, as we seek to reduce tensions and conflicts between religious groups. The keen interest in who our neighbors are as persons, and as believers, inevitably leads to a conversation about what values we base our lives on. In the dialogue with others, we meet religious diversity, different and often strong faiths and the consequences of religion on life. We then discover that believers can learn much from each other, that they can inspire and challenge each other, and that they testify to each other about their faith. Dialogue is the curious, interested and necessary conversation that changes people. Being in dialogue and being in mission entails that we ourselves change while we are talking, as well as give our conversation partners an opportunity for change. Dialogue succeeds only when it is open and clear. We remain open as we are on a mssion, and never stop looking for further understanding of our faith, and never stop trying to discover new aspects of our faith. Distinct we are when we testify of our own faith, and its importance to our lives, and stand by differences and disagreements with others. Dialogue teaches us who we are, through challenging each other, it promotes respect and understanding, and teaches us to live together despite tensions between us. Therefore, the second main task in Danmission is dialogue. ”Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9)
3. The third main task of Danmission: Poverty reduction. Danmission wishes in our work to continue what Jesus Christ started. Jesus preached not only a joyful message of God's love and God's work in the world, but healed the sick, gave bread to eat and wine to drink. Jesus denounced the abuses of the ruling powers, and criticized power hierarchies. Women and men were considered equal by Jesus, and children were highlighted. Jesus moved among society's most vulnerable and took them into his community. The despised Jesus set the highest. Therefore, Danmission also sees diakonia and development work as mission. Much of the world's population lives an endangered life where there is a shortage of food, information and security. Many live in oppressive and unjust societies where there is a lack of freedom and rights. Therefore Danmission strive to increase the love and care in the world, and to fight poverty. We work for peace, reconciliation and for justice, and against oppressive structures. We capacity build vulnerable people, who are unable to represent themselves, to achieve equality, and we speak their cases in Denmark and in international forums. We work for human beings to live in a green world, that God has entrusted to us, a world that gives beauty, food, medicines and joy of life, and we work for the protection of nature and natural resources and for vulnerable people's access to them. Therefore, recycling is a major part of Danmission’s work in Denmark. The aim is to recycle materials, and thereby reduce the pressure on the world's resources. We use the profits, from recycling materials, to ensure that marginalized people get an opportunity to live dignified lives. That’s why the third main task of Danmission is poverty reduction. God says: ”Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?.” (Isaiah 58: 6-7)
Adopted by Danmission’s Board on February 2, 2015 Translation by: Michael Myrdal