Avant Ministries (formerly known as Gospel Missionary Union) is a non-profit,

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

mission agency focused on planting and developing churches worldwide. Headquartered in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, and

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, Avant missionaries serve in church planting and church support ministries in Africa, Asia, Europe and North and South America.

History

Founded in 1892 out of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

movement as World's Gospel Union, Avant Ministries is one of the oldest missionary sending agencies in the United States. Avant was the first evangelical Christian mission to enter

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

in South America and the

Republic of Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east by Niger, to the northwest by Mauri ...

in West Africa. Many of its first

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

worked to translate the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

into

Quichua Kichwa (, , also Spanish ) is a Quechuan language that includes all Quechua varieties of Ecuador and Colombia ('' Inga''), as well as extensions into Peru. It has an estimated half million speakers. Classification Kichwa belongs to the Nor ...

Shuar The Shuar, also known as Jivaro, are an indigenous ethnic group that inhabits the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazonia. They are famous for their hunting skills and their tradition of head shrinking, known as Tzantsa. The Shuar language belongs to ...

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

, Bambara and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

in order to bring the Bible to those people groups in isolated areas. In 2003, under the leadership of Dr. J. Paul Nyquist, Gospel Missionary Union changed its name to Avant Ministries. In 2004, Avant began a new philosophy of ministry called Short-Cycle Church Planting in order to have a more focused approach to church planting.

Ecuador, 1956

GMU missionary

Roger Youderian Roger Youderian (January 21, 1924 – January 8, 1956) was an American Christian missionary to Ecuador who, along with four others, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Huaorani people through efforts known as Operation Auca. Early ...

was one of the five missionaries killed in Ecuador in 1956. He was working with four other missionaries to make initial contact with the Waodani (Auca) tribe, including

Nate Saint Nathanael Saint (30 August 19238 January 1956) was an evangelicalism, evangelical Christian missionary Aviator, pilot who, along with four others, was killed in Ecuador while attempting to Evangelism, evangelize the Huaorani people, Huaorani peop ...

of Missionary Aviation Fellowship, and

Ed McCully Theophilus McCully (June 1, 1927 – January 8, 1956) was a Christian missionary to Ecuador who, along with four other missionaries, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Huaorani people, through efforts known as Operation Auca. ...

Pete Fleming Peter Sillence Fleming (November 23, 1928 – January 8, 1956) was a Christian who was one of five missionaries killed while participating in Operation Auca, an attempt to evangelize the Huaorani people of Ecuador. Early life Fleming was born ...

and

Jim Elliot Philip James Elliot (October 8, 1927 – January 8, 1956) was an American Christian missionary and one of five people killed during Operation Auca, an attempt to evangelize the Huaorani people of Ecuador. Early life Elliot was born in Portla ...

of Christian Mission in Many Lands. All five men were killed January 8, 1956, by Waodani (Auca) Indians on the beach of the

Curaray River The Curaray River (also called the Ewenguno River or Rio Curaray) is a river in eastern Ecuador and Peru. It is a tributary of the Napo River, which is part of the Amazon basin. The land along the river is home to several indigenous people groups ...

in the Ecuadorian jungle. GMU missionary Frank Drown led a rescue party through the jungle, locating the bodies of four of the men. Their story was reported widely in the American press and recounted by widow

Elisabeth Elliot __NOTOC__ Elisabeth Elliot (née Howard; December 21, 1926 – June 15, 2015) was a Christian missionary, author, and speaker. Her first husband, Jim Elliot, was killed in 1956 while attempting to make missionary contact with the Auca people (n ...

in her book, ''

Through Gates of Splendor ''Through Gates of Splendor'' is a 1957 best selling book written by Elisabeth Elliot. The book tells the story of Operation Auca, an attempt by five American missionaries – Jim Elliot (the author's husband), Pete Flemming, Ed McCully, Nate Sa ...

''.

Avant Today

Today, Avant missionaries partner with those indigenous churches to start church planting efforts of their own. Avant also continues to send missionaries to areas where the Gospel has never been heard before. Avant currently has about 500 missionaries serving in over 50 countries around the world.

Short-Cycle Church Planting

Avant pioneered the Short-Cycle Church Planting (SCCP) philosophy of ministry which, according to the ministry, "recognizes the power of God and utilizes teams in order to plant a biblically mature, reproducing church in as short a time as possible" 6 and uses a three-pronged approach including: Evangelism, Discipleship, and National Leadership Training.

References

{{Reflist Christian missionary societies Organizations based in Kansas City, Missouri Organizations based in Winnipeg