In 1924—just one year after the opening of Angelus Temple in Los Angeles—Aimee Semple McPherson started sending missionaries to other nations. This was the birth of Foursquare Missions International (FMI), a worldwide missions effort that continues to this day. There is a lot to celebrate as FMI turns 100 this year.
To demonstrate the vibrancy of current missions efforts, 2023-2024 has seen a global move of the Holy Spirit among youth and young adults. The “Beyond Borders” conference in Bangkok, Thailand, last January attracted more than 350 participants, while the Foursquare Europe Youth Conference in Amsterdam in February saw its largest-ever attendance of more than 463. The first-ever North Asia Praise Camp in August 2023 saw more than 100 youth.
That Foursquare continues to make disciples of all nations hearkens to the leadership of Sister Aimee, says Foursquare Missions International Director Paul Greer.
“That comes from our founder a century ago,” says Paul, the agency’s director since 2021. “We really were a missional movement before we were a denomination, and that continues to be our focus. To have a vital role in global missions, we have to be a movement that makes globally minded disciples at a local church level.”
In the beginning
Foursquare’s first missionary workers were Alfred and Ruth Kleinschmidt, and Carl and Rose Linden. They were ordained in December 1923 after training with the Evangelistic and Missionary Training Institute, the forerunner to L.I.F.E. Bible College (now Life Pacific University).
Early Foursquare missionaries would take their passion to spread the gospel to the field, which resulted in Bible colleges and training centers later being established in such nations as the Philippines, Panama, Brazil and Nigeria. Today Foursquare is in 157 nations, and the close to 400 missions workers on the field are the highest number in Foursquare history.
Among key missions leaders over the past century were figures such as Mason and Virgene Hughes, who pioneered missions to Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 1956; Harold and Faye Curtis, the first missionaries to Nigeria in 1955; and Don and Sally McGregor, who oversaw a fruitful season of revival in the Philippines from 1958-1972.
“We really were a missional movement before we were a denomination, and that continues to be our focus. To have a vital role in global missions, we have to be a movement that makes globally minded disciples at a local church level.” —Paul Greer, FMI director
Developing with intention
The Four-Stage Model has been a key of Foursquare’s growth into a movement of more than 8 million members. Stage one involves evangelizing and making disciples, then training disciples and releasing them into ministry in stage two. Stage three is training pastors, followed by sending missionary workers to other places in stage four. Seventeen nations outside the U.S. have reached stage four; examples include the Philippines, which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary; and Côte d’Ivoire in Africa.
Today, the Philippines has more than 150,000 church members, 3,000-plus churches, and nearly 4,100 ministers and seven Bible colleges thanks to the ways the Lord used Foursquare’s early missionaries. They have also deployed 14 missionaries; 400 attended their first-ever missions summit this spring.
Côte d’Ivoire has seen dozens of churches planted the past three years, and a school of missions that is training missionaries and church planters. They are working on a video version of the training that can be used in Mali, Burkina Faso and Chad.
Paul says there are multiple reasons for the prospering of work in those two countries. The two patterns of missions integrity and character set by original missionary workers—whether pioneering or national leaders—have been key, he says.
“In the case of the Philippines, they had some great missionary workers over the years, like Gary Loop (first director of Foursquare Bible College, Romblon Campus), the McGregors, and many others, such as Jack and Aline Richey,” Paul explains. “I think having long-term, ongoing investment from good missionary workers helped set patterns that continue to this day, where they continue to look out missionally. God continues to grow and bless them, as opposed to church movements that become too focused on management and keeping things going.”
FMI changes
One of the key changes in FMI has taken place over the past 20 years, according to the director. Instead of the Global Missions Fund supporting and employing all missions workers, today the majority on the field raise their own support.
That includes some who are bi-vocational, whether as business owners or employees, and others whose visa prohibits them from any profit-making endeavor, meaning they must live exclusively on the support they can raise.
“What we see globally is us adjusting to being a global missional movement, rather than just a U.S.-driven missional movement,” Paul explains. “One where we have quite a few other nations sending their own missionary workers with their own priorities, getting the gospel to where it’s not. The future of FMI now is: How do we partner with a global movement that’s much more missional than it’s ever been?”
The practical impact of such developments has been greater partnership between workers and leaders worldwide with countries such as Indonesia, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea. Coupled with the unity among leaders on the Foursquare Global Council, it is an exciting day for the future of missions, Paul adds.
Global unity
In addition to serving the U.S. church and helping it train fruitful missionary workers, the director says FMI also wants to be a global unifier around missions. That means partnering and helping other nations with their missions efforts, he says.
“That’s where we partner with the global church,” Paul states. “That’s where we listen and develop the tools, trainings and resources the global church is asking for, things like DLT (Discipleship and Leadership Training). So we’re a U.S. sending organization but also a global partner of mission expansion.”
One crucial concern, Paul notes, is that where unreached people groups currently reside, there is often intense opposition to the gospel. He says that this means Foursquare has to rely on partners in places where Anglo English-speakers may not be welcome.
In addition, there are more displaced people across the world than ever, which has brought more missional opportunities than ever, Paul says. The result: Filipino and Sri Lankan Foursquare churches in places such as England, New York and the United Arab Emirates.
“As people move around the world, the gospel moves with them,” Paul states. “So we’ve got to keep sending workers to help others, whether establishing new works or helping other works grow.”
