By Dr. Andy Seidel
As a high school student in the late 1950s, my dream was to attend West Point and have a military career. What pulled me in this direction was the power of the mission of the Army. During the height of the Cold War, the Army’s mission was to protect the United States and her allies from communist aggression and expansion. This mission conveyed a sense of importance; my service would be critical and it would make a real difference in the world. And it did. I have been privileged to serve in the U.S., Germany, along the DMZ in Korea and in Vietnam.
For any organization, an effective mission statement is critical to sustaining morale and day-to-day activity. The right statement reminds its followers that they are contributing to something greater than themselves, that their efforts have a positive and substantial impact on the lives of others. Today, I’m no longer in the Army, but for the last 28 years I have been involved with Entrust, which has impacted thousands of lives through its Christ-centered goals and aspirations.
During Entrust’s early years in the 1980s, its mission was to provide pastors and Christian leaders in Eastern Europe with biblically-based training. Many of these leaders were denied such training by their communist governments. Throughout Eastern Europe, communist governments abused their people and persecuted Christians who dared practice their faith. Therefore, training those Christian leaders was an extremely pressing and important objective. That sense of purpose was a powerful motivation that drew many of us, myself included, onto the staff of Entrust.
Today, communism in the Eastern Bloc is gone, but the mission of Entrust continues to expand in scope. Entrust’s mission is to multiply church leaders through accessible, locally owned, reproducible training systems throughout the world. Many countries and regions lack Christian teaching and opportunity for training. In fulfilling our mission, we equip servant-leaders who work through local churches to cultivate biblical and holistic transformation of individuals, families, churches and communities. And this makes a real, lasting difference.