Missions Minded

Our mission is to help people transform cities by transforming lives. We build ministries to meet the needs of the most desperate people in the world’s cities—street kids, prostitutes, orphans, the homeless, the unemployed and the destitute.

Ultimately, we envision a world where there will be

• No place without a witness
• No church without a vision
• No person without hope

STATEMENT OF FAITH

We believe in one God, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, who eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for the sins of the world, was raised bodily and exalted to God’s right hand where He makes intercession for His own. He will personally come again.

We believe that God created humankind, male and female, in His own image. However, all creation suffers the consequences of the fall and is under God’s judgment.

We believe that because of His love, God sent His Son Jesus Christ, who inaugurated His Kingdom, provided atonement for sin, disarmed the powers and authorities, triumphing over them by the cross, reconciling the world to Himself. He will consummate His Kingdom in righteousness, power, and glory.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, who glorifies Jesus Christ, working in all peoples to bring them to believe and obey Christ. The Spirit dwells in those who believe, equipping and empowering them for lives of holiness and fruitful service.

We believe the Bible to be the divinely inspired and authoritative Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice.

We believe that all who repent and believe in Christ are born into life eternal, delivered from condemnation, and as His Church are called to communicate the Gospel, proclaim the Kingdom, make disciples of all nations, and seek to be instruments of His righteousness, justice, and healing, all to the glory of God.

We believe in the resurrection of the body, the eternal blessedness of believers in the presence of Christ and the eternal separation of unbelievers from Him.

CORE VALUES

• We aspire to be Christ-like in purpose, character and ministry.
• We are committed to the Word of God and affirm the need to apply its truth to culture.
• We affirm the family as God’s primary vehicle for the training and nurturing of His children.
• We aspire to love and deeply respect the spouse God gave us (if married).
• We embrace Christ’s Great Commission as our mandate.
• We aspire to grow in our understanding, experience, and anointing of the Holy Spirit.
• We have a personal sense of God’s call to this ministry.
• We aspire to lead through serving and discipling.
• We aspire to worship God in spirit and in truth.
• We endeavor to be committed more to the Church than to parachurch organizations.
• We aspire to be largely free from materialism and selfish ambitions.
• We are committed to work hard.
• We aspire to have a healthy sense of humor and maintain our emotional stability.
• We aspire to respect and work well under transcultural authority.

OUR MISSION

Our mission is to send out multi-national teams into the least evangelized cities of the world to present people the opportunity to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We build ministries to meet the needs of the most desperate people in the world’s cities—street kids, prostitutes, orphans, the homeless, the unemployed and the destitute. Through the work of our long and Short-term mission teams, these people meet Christ’s love and can begin healing.

OUR VISION

Ultimately, we envision a world where there will be

• No place without a witness
• No church without a vision
• No person without hope

WHO WE SERVE

Today, more than one-half of the world’s population now lives in cities. More than 130,000 non-Christians migrate to cities every day. God uses CFCI to transform cities by transforming lives. In cities already struggling economically, the continual influx of people only aggravates existing problems. We strategically place our teams in places that serve a city’s greatest need and then work diligently with local leaders to solve these problems with Christ’s love.

HISTORY

Christ for the City International has its roots in the Latin America Mission (LAM), and has been shaped by the Biblical mandate to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. In fulfilling the goal to evangelize, CFCI, has been an innovative leader in modern mission circles and has become a respected urban ministry and mission agency in Latin America. The fruit of its ministry has played a role in the rapid church growth that is now taking place in Latin America.

Christ for the City Becomes an Independent Entity

By 1995, the vision, purpose and mission of Christ of the City International was clearly defined and the direction toward an autonomous organization under a separate Board of Directors became a reality. Although an independent entity, CFCI remained an “affiliated project partner” with LAM, however free to grow globally and develop new patterns of development.

• The Vision: To multiply Bible believing churches in strategic population centers, beginning in the Latin world.
• The Mission: To inspire, equip and encourage every believer in these Bible believing churches to influence their world for Christ.

The Need in the Latin World — Focus on Cities

In February 1988, John Huffman was appointed as International Director of Christ for the City as a vision for strategic population centers emerged. Unprecedented urban migration has produced increased poverty and urban dislocation worldwide. The United Nations projects that in Latin America by the year 2000, 80% of the population will live in “mega cities” with 46% of them living in abject poverty. One of the flaws of capitalism is its tendency to be uneven in terms of who enjoys its benefits. Those who are unable to participate in the market for whatever reasons—structural hindrances, cultural values, physical handicaps, or lack of knowledge—risk becoming an under class which falls further and further behind. This will get worse. The trend toward a widening gap between rich and poor will provide momentum to both the trends toward increasing low level conflict and the increasing movement and illegal immigration will increase. As discouraging as the consequences of this growing gap may be, it will result in an increasing demand for organizations—like Christ for the City International—whose mission it is to work to close or bridge this gap.

Leadership

In November of 1995, Paul Landrey, then serving as President and Chief Executive Officer at the Latin America Mission, responded to the call to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of Christ for the City International. What had begun as an urban ministry program in Latin America in 1983 is now reaching into 6 countries of Central and South America, Spain and the USA…and a staff of 75 missionaries, 50% of which are Latin. In July of year 2000 Dr. Duane Chip Anderson assumed the role of president and Chief Executive Officer of Christ for the City International. Dr. Anderson has served with LAM and CFCI for the past 18 years. He and his family recently moved to Omaha from San José, Costa Rica where he served as Executive Vice President and Costa Rica Country Director. Under the leadership of these men, CFCI embarked on its new focus to develop a ministry that would revolve around the least evangelized cities of the world.

Strategic Implications for Christ for the City

In a world hungry for spiritual answers that work, Christian identity…who we are and what we do…is our single most important distinctive. The spiritual dimension of this ministry is what separates it from other international organizations. The good news that people and communities can be rightly related to God — and to each other — and impact their cities with the gospel, is the most excellent news that the Christian has. Strategies and methodologies must revolve around and reflect this belief.

The enormity of the need requires a spiritual infrastructure that is nationally owned, sustained and reproduced, i. e. the local church. We have always understood ourselves as being a part of the global church, but not the Church in and of itself. This means we are part of a global body with over two billion members. With all its flaws and shortcomings — surely no greater than our own — it is this larger body of Christ to whom God has given gifts, skills and competencies Christ for the City International may not necessarily have. This means that the church has within it the potential by which Christ for the City International can carry out more of its mission in more places, if ways to partner effectively can be found. Christ for the City International is seeking strategic partners with whom to multiply churches that impact cities.

For more information, visit Christ for the City International website or download this brochure.