R.E.S.T. Mission Services started as a dream which seemed to make a lot of sense. Each year, church congregations spend thousands of dollars paying for airline tickets, cargo fees, and transportation costs to deliver missionaries and supplies to their respective fields of service. Does it make better sense and indeed show better stewardship to take those monies, and put them back into the mission service fields where the greatest needs can be met?
I believe the answer is an irrefutable
YES !!!
How will R.E.S.T. Mission Services work?
First of all, the acquisition of a cargo vessel between 200 and 500 gross tons would be necessary. For those not familiar with "gross tonnage", it refers to a measurement of volume equal to 100 cubic feet per 1 gross ton, hence, a 200 ton vessel would have approximately 20,000 cubit feet of interior volume. A 500 ton vessel would have 50,000 cubic feet of interior volume, and so on. Actual operating costs and expeditures are still being tabulated. This modestly sized vessel would allow for quite a bit of cargo space as well as space for transporting mission workers to their destinations.
Who will or would support such an effort?
Donors would consist primarily churches who support missionaries in the areas of service of the vessel, i.e. the Caribbean Islands, Haiti, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, and perhaps in the future, Mexico and South America. Para-church organizations, corporations, individuals, and any other interested parties who feel the call to service or cannot go to the mission field themselves would be likely donors also.
What will R.E.S.T. Mission Services actually do?
R.E.S.T. Mission Services will provide relief, encouragement, supplies, and transportation to missionaries in the above stated areas. Relief might be in the form of new mission workers who would arrive by ship to allow those who have completed their current term of service on the mission field to return home on furlough or to a new mission field. Encouragement would be a natural result of the relief efforts. Much needed supplies in the form of food, water, building materials, medical equipment and medicines, clothing, and tools would be an integral part of the effort. Transportation of personnel to and from the mission field would be another great benefit to the work.
How often would mission journeys depart and
return?
Journeys would likely start out at one trip every two to three months. I suppose much would depend on how much support is raised for the operation of such an effort. Turnaround time would vary between and fews days and a week or two, depending on the distance to the mission field.
