Christar
Organization
Founded in 1930
Vision
Throughout our history, the people of Christar have been driven by a passion to preach the gospel to the least-reached. Our desire is to bring the light of Christ to East Asians, Hindus and Muslims who do not have access to a church where the gospel is preached in their own language and culture. Our mission-wide goal is to plant culturally relevant churches among the least-reached. Realizing that 84 percent of the world is closed to missionaries, we specialize in ministering in creative-access or limited-access countries.
Networks/Affiliations: IFMA,ECFA,EFC
Staff
29 full time employees inside North America.
287 field personnel outside North America.
Missions Opportunities
Expected terms of service:
1-3 months
3-18 months
2-4 years
4 years or longer
Qualifications for Applicants
The most important qualification for an applicant is an ongoing, life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ as the Lord of his or her life. Long-term applicants should be committed to the goal of church-planting among least-reached peoples through evangelism, discipleship and training of national leaders. Short-term (two weeks to two years) candidates must be open to the possibility of God's leading toward long-term missions. Applicants need to be committed to prayer as a basis for the work of missions as well as in agreement with the Christar doctrinal statement. They should also be committed to working on a team, accountability and creativity.
Long-term applicants, in general, are required to have knowledge of the Bible that would equal having taked 30 hours worth of Bible classes. Vocational/professional training is increasingly advantageous the establishment of platforms for entry and service in least-reached countries.
Application and Candidacy Process
The first step towards joining Christar is filling out the preliminary information form at www.christar2.org. Someone from the New Personnel Department will get in touch with applicants and walk them through the other steps of the application process. These steps will include: completing a formal application, writing a personal statement of faith, taking Biblical knowledge and doctrine assessments, providing reference forms and attending New Personnel Orientation.
Short-termers attend BLAZE, a five-day orientation program which teaches about the mission, vision and values of Christar, relationally connects short-termers to one another and their support staff and equips them for the spiritual and cultural challenges ahead of them.
Training Program
Training includes our summer training and outreach program called FirstSTOP. FirstSTOP offers three tracks of cross-cultural evangelism to Christar personnel who desire more training and to anyone who wants to learn how to evangelize least-reached peoples. One track is Manarah, an intensive three-week program of evangelism and outreach among Muslims living in the Detroit area. This unique program gives its students more than 70 hours of hands-on visitation in the homes of Muslims. Our Hindu FirstSTOP (Darshan) and our Chinese FirstSTOP (Walls) are held in India and China, respectively. (For more information about FirstSTOP, go to Christar.com/short.htm.) These programs are beneficial for both long- and short-term personnel.
We also provide a two-week training program that is part of our New Personnel Orientation for long-term personnel (over two years). Some of the topics dealt with in training sessions include: the dynamics of working on a team, working with internationals on your team, culture shock, raising a family on the mission field, raising support, the value of sound doctrine and theology in church-planting, spiritual warfare on the mission field, biblical ethics in tentmaking ministry, sexual purity and a godly walk. Short-term personnel (two weeks to two years) attend an abbreviated five-day program called BLAZE.
In addition, long-term candidates are required to attend a language-acquisition course, which will help them with the techniques of learning a language. We believe in continued learning, so training is ongoing, both on the field and during furlough, or stateside ministry.
Funding
Missionaries are required to trust God to provide their funds through the Body of Christ, including home churches, partnering churches and individuals.
Support figures are set by current missionaries on the field and then approved by the finance committee of the Board of Trustees. Support is based upon family size and country of ministry, not job description. We try to coordinate the missionary’s standard of living as closely as possible to the standard of living of his or her country of ministry.
Demographics & Policies
This agency invites:
- Non-English speaking candidates (English does not need to be a candidate's first language, but he or she must have a certain level of proficiency. As Christar is actively pursuing greater internationalization, we are developing an objective standard to measure English aptitude. Please contact us if you would like further clarification.)
- Non-North American Candidates (In order for finances to be processed through the United States Sending Center, candidates must prove United States employment eligibility (I-9 verification). We will gladly walk through this process with potential candidates. We also have a Sending Center in Canada and are developing one in Hong Kong. These serve as other viable options for the mobilization of non-North American candidates.)
- Graduating international students to work in their home country
- Divorced candidates (We accept divorced candidates on a case-by-case basis. Divorced candidates must have been divorced for at least four years before applying to Christar. Please contact us at 800-755-7955 for personalized clarification.)
Statements
No Our agency has standard policies for the education of missionaries? children. Yes Parents make decisions regarding the education of their children. Yes Children are included in our orientation and on field support. Yes Both spouses are required to apply and qualify for missionary service. Yes Both spouses are considered paid staff members. No Non-employee spouses are expected to participate in the ministry on a volunteer (non paid) basis. No Non-employee spouses are included in orientation and on field support. Yes Our agency has a sexual harassment policy. No Women may hold any position in our organization.
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