Mission and Statement of Faith

At Smyrna Ministries International, our Mission is to:

  1. Serve the Persecuted Church in the Islamic context.
  2. Challenge the Body of Christ to respond to the plight of the Persecuted Church and the global advance of Islam.

Smyrna is committed to helping real people who are suffering today.  Many of our fellow Christians feel forgotten and alone.  Church leaders plead with us to stand beside them.  They need our gifts and especially our prayers.  We are equipping the Church in Muslim regions, embracing helpless new believers, and rescuing Christian families who are in danger of being tortured or murdered.

"Remember the prisoners, as if chained with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body."  Hebrews 13:3.

Though we live in comfort and freedom, we must not forget the millions who are suffering today in the Islamic world.  We must not forget thousands of Christians in Iraq who face annihilation or forced conversion. 

We must not forget Christians languishing in Pakistan's prisons, falsely accused of violating the Blasphemy Law.  We must not forget Christian families in Sudan, still recovering from years of falling bombs and the horror of rape, slavery, and other brutalities.  We must not forget the Church in Eritrea -- the sound of church doors being closed and sealed or the cries of tortured prisoners.

The world will know that we are Christians by our love for one another.  We provide believers with an opportunity to demonstrate the unconditional love of Jesus by bringing comfort and encouragement to many who suffer for their faith.  Because of the prayers and gifts of God's people, Smyrna Ministries International is making a difference.

Founders Statement:

 

Prayer will always be the first priority, the highest purpose, the moving force, and the energizer of this ministry.

We clearly recognize the essential nature of sound administration—budgets—boards—plans—projects—missions—etc. These are not, however, the driving force behind Smyrna.

We are about people, children of the King enduring oppression, injustice, agonizing pain, loss, even death, across the far-flung reaches of the Islamic world.

We are about driving complacency out of the Church in America; Christians must be jolted, jarred, and broken over their spiritual family members suffering in the inferno of persecution.

We are about storming the gates of heaven and crying out to God with the intensity of Jacob, “I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me!”

Statement of Faith

In keeping with the Holy Bible and the historic evangelical position of the Church, we believe in the following:

  • the inspiration of Scripture,
  • the Trinity -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
  • the sinful, lost condition of the human race,
  • the virgin birth, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, and imminent return of Jesus Christ,
  • salvation by faith in Jesus Christ alone,
  • the indwelling of the Holy Spirit,
  • the realty of heaven and hell,
  • the Personality of Satan,
  • the Universal Church -- the Body of Christ,
  • the Ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper,
  • the Great Commission,
  • the final Judgment
  • and the mandate to minister to the Persecuted Church. 

Our Name

The word Smyrna is derived from the word "myrrh," a precious perfume that is made, and only gives its fragrance, when the flower is crushed. This name symbolizes a church crushed by intense persecution, radiating the fragrance of Christ.

Smyrna was an ancient city on the west coast of Asia Minor where scores of Christians were fed to wild beasts and second-century bishop Polycarp was burned at the stake. As the Roman Pro-Consul sought to convince him to save his life by renouncing Christ, Polycarp responded, "For eighty and six years have I been His servant, and He has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who saved me?"
 
Our Lord says of the Church at Smyrna, "I know your afflictions... be faithful unto death... I will give you the crown of life." -Revelation 2:9-10