The New Testament presents us with the blueprint by which effective church planting work may proceed. In considering the founding of New Testament churches such as the ones in Antioch and Ephesus (see Acts 11 and 19), we find the methods and means by which the Early Church saturated the then known world with the  Gospel-in less than a century!

The restoration of this obscured wisdom  will enable us to do God's work, God's way. We do not ignore the fact, on the other hand, that modern technologies and disciplines may serve God's purposes without necessarily interfering with God's pattern. Therefore, we applaud the advances made in metho  dology by the church growth movement and other related efforts. We hope to transmit the important insights gained by these to the network of churches, which we are serving.

We also acknowledge that we are only a part of the Church universal; we are not alone in our quest. Many parts of our Lord's Church are presently advancing. We wish to coordinate our efforts in such a way as to help them, and ourselves, become mutually supportive for the ultimate good of the whole church.

Therefore, the OBJECTIVES of ATM are as follows:

1. To cultivate church multiplication movements (Acts 1:8; 1 Cor. 3:7-9).

2. To strengthen, counsel, and provide oversight when needed to existing churches and ministries (Acts 14:22).

3. To link arms with other apostolic ministries to foster practical unity and finish the work of world outreach (1 Cor. 3:6,7).

We recognize that there are practical limitations in activating these objectives. Therefore, we can extend ourselves only to the limits of our: (1) relationships and (2) resources - both human and financial. These will serve us in establishing priorities in our goal setting.

To accomplish the preceding objectives, we have implemented the following operational goals. We have arranged them by categories for easy reference:

The Goals of ATM are:

1. Action Goals
   a. Facilitation of church planting by local congregations.
   b. Support and encourage short-term, evangelism teams both in the United States and abroad.

2. Information Goals
   a. Publication of quality newsletter or informative update letters suitable for distribution in local churches.
   b. Interface with other apostolic ministries of similar vision.
   c. Keep current with world missions/evangelism efforts throughout the Body of Christ (including relationships with other networks) and disseminate the information throughout our network.

3. Coordination Goals
   a. Developing and coordinating the itineraries of various extra-local ministers with churches who desire to support national and international laborers…i.e., having a local conference, etc.
   b. Establish a method of accountability for acceptable ministries, particularly regarding financial disclosure and moral fidelity.

4. Support Goals
   a. Assist local churches in developing a viable world outreach program (e.g., developing national and international awareness, hosting world outreach conference, etc.)
   b. Support and augment existing approved world outreach efforts both nationally and internationally.

5. Preparation Goals
   a. Establish a world outreach think tank (e.g., to seek current trends in the world and the church, areas of need, optimum methodology and the direction of God's Spirit in world outreach).
   b. Encourage development of local-based ministry training institutes (particularly oriented to an Acts 1:8 vision), both nationally and internationally.

6. Administration Goals
   a. Establish standing national and international outreach committees from among ATM members and Apostolic Council to facilitate accomplishment of these goals.
   b. Determine means to finance administration.

7. Generate specific policy points as time and circumstances require (and delete when outdated).

This is a season when the Lord is beginning to weave His people together-networking them in a unique manner not previously witnessed. The restoration of five-fold ministry has been central to this new working of God and the emergence of ministries like ATM is occurring regionally throughout the world.

Why? Why is Jesus, the Fisher of Men, networking people, churches and ministries? Apostolic Team Ministries is one of the boats that the Lord has graced to participate in this glorious labor.

As we apply ourselves to our motto, "Jesus' last command-our first concern", we can participate in changing the world.

"And this we will do by God's grace!"