We see God weaving together our own weakness and the frayed edges of our tattered world with His goodness, creating something beautiful. It’s here we see His Grace at the Fray — in our life and in our work.
For over 40 years
Serge has been helping individuals and churches engage in global mission. Yet even as our missionaries first stepped out to fulfill this calling, they faced their own failings. Their clay feet, lack of faith, and broken relationships alienated the very people they came to reach.
We quickly came to realize that becoming a missionary didn’t exempt you from the trials and failings of being a sinful, broken person. So early in our history, through the work of our founder Dr. Jack Miller and others, we developed a singular focus on the need for the gospel in our own lives, even as we reached out to take the message of God’s grace to others.
As we seek to make the gospel known to others, we want this same grace to continually renew our lives.
Today, our work consists of sending and caring for missionaries, mentoring & equipping ministry leaders around the world, and developing resources for on-going spiritual renewal.
Read our Statement of Faith
Our Values
Centrality of the gospel
Because the gospel is the good news about all that Jesus is and all that Jesus has done, it applies to our entire life, not just our conversion. We never outgrow our need for Jesus, and therefore, we never outgrow our need for the message of grace that is presented in the gospel.
Because the gospel assures us that we are God’s beloved children, united to Christ, it motivates and sustains us to wholeheartedly pursue a life of mission.
Ministry from weakness
Our unavoidable weaknesses as fallen people do not hinder God’s power to work in us and through us as we pursue our ministry calling. In fact, God’s power is actually manifested and perfected through our weaknesses.
Therefore, while striving for excellence, we will not hesitate to confess our shortcomings. It is God’s all-surpassing power—not our effort—that accomplishes His purposes. We want to live overt lifestyles of repentance and faith, depending entirely on Christ to serve and love others, so that they too will be molded and shaped by grace in all they do.
Kingdom-Centered Prayer
Mission relies on prayer that asks for the Kingdom to come and God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. When that prayer is fully answered, the work of mission will be complete.
Therefore, we are committed to spending regular, extended times in prayer for the gospel to reach and transform every person. Our desire is that prayerful dependence will characterize every aspect of our mission work, in a way that involves all of our workers and ministry partners.
Love for people
It can be all too easy to let methods, curriculum, programs, and structure replace our love for others. Though we want to do well in these areas, God calls us to be transformed by grace so we can truly love people and not just educate, manage, or treat them.
Therefore, we focus on meeting people’s needs, lovingly and holistically, even as we pursue their deepest need: reconciliation with God. This includes our workers, our supporters, our partners, and those we are seeking to reach, renew, and restore.
Read our Statement of Faith
Our Mission
Laying down our lives together for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ by establishing churches and transforming communities.
Our Vision
Movements of grace reaching all people, renewing all believers, and restoring all things for the world’s good and God’s glory.
01 Reach | 02 Renew | 03 Restore
A Holistic Approach
Serge Missionaries around the world are spreading the gospel in creative and innovative ways – Everything we do can be summed up in three words: Reach, Renew, and Restore.
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Reach
Every Serge worker, regardless of his or her primary ministry, is involved in making disciples by faithfully proclaiming the message of Christ’s coming, dying, and rising.
This can take place in a clinic, a coffee shop, on a street corner, or from a pulpit. As Jesus commands us to not only make disciples but also to welcome them into His body: the church - we also seek to help establish vibrant, biblical, local churches, through direct and facilitative church planting, among all people groups.
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Renew
Spiritual renewal — the ongoing, daily experience of the Father’s love for us— motivates and sustains us to lay down our lives in mission.
We come alongside churches and ministry leaders around the world through one-on-one mentoring, training, publications, and teaching events, to help believers experience the transforming power of the gospel in their own lives and then move outward into mission.
03 / 03
Restore
The good news of the gospel is that we are saved by faith in Christ alone, but that gospel proclamation never stands alone. It is always accompanied by deeds of justice and mercy.
That is why we are focused toward helping some of the most marginalized people in our world live out their God-given potential through offering jobs through Business for Transformation, medical care, counseling, and education.
Serge teams not only provide tangible acts --- they are also equipping local people to care for their own communities, and prayerfully passing on skills and opportunities for generations to come.
Meet Our Leadership
A graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Bob’s career began in Africa with relief and development organizations including UNICEF and CARE. It was during his time in Kenya and Mozambique that Bob came to Christ through the influence of missionaries serving there. That not only changed the trajectory of his life, but also his work. Upon returning to the U.S., Bob served as Executive Director of the Charlottesville, Va., affiliate of Love INC and then as Director of Missions and Ministries at Trinity Presbyterian Church. Bob and his wife Nancy have two grown children and in his spare time, he loves to garden and play bocce ball.
Matt points to Serge as a ministry that has helped him know and experience the love of God since his childhood. While he was growing up, his mom and dad were impacted through the Sonship program and he experienced their life transformations in “real time.” After graduating from Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga., Matt joined Serge as part of the mission team in Bundibugyo, Uganda. In Uganda Matt sought to share the love of the Father with the marginalized and poor, as a member of a larger Serge team focused on healthcare, education, evangelism, church strengthening, and other community development projects. Upon completing his term in Uganda, Matt returned to the U.S. and eventually pursued graduate studies at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Rochester. In 2012 Matt returned to Serge to lead the mission’s mobilization effort. Matt and his wife Rachel live in West Philadelphia. He is a dedicated cyclist, including a regular 15-mile ride to work. His days are filled with travel, reading, hospitality, and membership at City Church, Philadelphia.
A pediatrician by training, Joel fell in love with the vision of the Serge Ireland team during a short-term trip to help with the training of summer interns. He left his career in medicine in 2004 to join the work God was doing through Serge. In 2009, Joel and his wife Cindy moved to London to begin the Serge Apprenticeship Program there and has led the program as Area Director since 2012.The father of four adult daughters, Joel reads, writes, hikes, and explores in and around London.
Lindsay was first introduced to Serge through a summer internship in Prague in 2008, followed by serving for two years with a church-planting team in Vienna, Austria. Her time on the field formed in her a passion to see missionaries renewed in the gospel in the midst of their labor, and cared for in ways that lead to longevity in ministry. Since 2012, Lindsay has worked in Serge's Home Office, first as a recruiter and Sonship mentor, followed by serving as Global Learning Leader, Associate Director of Mission, and most recently Member Care Director. Lindsay now serves on the ELT as Senior Director of People Development, and loves thinking about and planning for how to help our workers and their families grow in resilience and thrive on the front lines. Lindsay earned her MA in counseling at Missio Seminary, and is a licensed professional counselor in the state of Pennsylvania. She lives just outside of Philadelphia with her husband, Matt and their four kids, and enjoys biking, hosting friends, and serving with her local church community.
Founded in reformed theological tradition
Our History
Formerly known as World Harvest Mission, Serge was founded by Dr. Jack Miller, a pastor, evangelist and author with a vision for renewal through the gospel. In 2014, we changed our name to Serge and carry on this vision today.
We want [the Holy] Spirit to teach us how to pray with power, to give us a love for the lost, to enable us to witness with risk-taking boldness and plant churches that are missionary churches.
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