The mission of Children of God is to, “Pursue a sustainable future and hope for orphans and vulnerable children around the globe.”

Purpose

We exist to glorify God by partnering with others to Care For, Educate, and Disciple orphans and vulnerable children.

Values

Values lie at the heart of what brings people together in order to accomplish a common aim or task. People join with others who share and are motivated by the same values. Values drive behavior, both of individuals, and organizations. While all believers and Christian organizations hold to certain common values, ministries have a set of core values that drive organizational behavior. COG Global’s core values are:

  1. Christian Character

Love God – Matthew 22:37-40 “Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’”

Love God – We believe that man exists to bring glory to God. We believe that the Bible is God’s revelation to man and guide book for purpose and vision for individuals and ministries. Maximum glory is given to God as we love him with all of our heart and obey Him on a daily basis.

Behavior:

  • Love through action: Fulfilling the Great Commission.
  • Intentionally acts to develop Christ like character.
  • Seeks to understand personal calling and gifting.
  • Outward life is consistent with God’s Word.
  • Participates with COG Global because of calling.
  • Works as unto the Lord.
  • Practices the Spiritual Disciplines on a regular basis.

Love One Another Matthew 22:40, 41
“And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Love One Another – We believe people should be treated with respect, dignity, and courtesy. COG Global seeks to be a ministry where everyone is valued and treated the way they would like to be treated. Love is expressed by caring more for others than we care for ourselves.

Behavior:

  • Treat each other with respect, dignity, and courtesy.
  • Pray for one another and with one another.
  • Makes others feel appreciated.
  • Listens without interruption when someone is speaking.
  • Accepts or gives apologies when appropriate.
  • Recognizes the uniqueness of individuals SHAPE (Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Aptitude, Personality, and Experience).
  • Seeks at every opportunity to promote others above one’s self.
  • Practices intentional Acts of Kindness.

Integrity 2 Cor. 1:12
“We are so glad that we can say with utter honesty that in all our dealings we have been pure and sincere, quietly depending upon the Lord for his help and not on our own skills. And that is even more true, if possible, about the way we have acted toward you.”

Integrity – This is simply being the same in our actions as we are in our thoughts. At the heart of integrity is being honest with oneself and with others.

Behavior:

  • Speaks the truth with sensitivity.
  • Does not inflate numbers to impress others.
  • Honestly evaluates own strengths and weaknesses.
  • Honestly evaluates ministry strengths and weaknesses.
  • Takes responsibility for actions.
  • Tries to bring behavior in alignment with God’s word.
  • Does not try to hide unpleasant truths or realities.

 

  1. Empowerment

Matt. 28:19,20 “ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

We believe people should work in an environment where they feel empowered to make decisions that contribute to the vision of the ministry. As a ministry we desire to provide as much latitude as possible to encourage everyone to make the best possible decisions.

Behavior:

  • Provides Freedom with Accountability.
  • Pushes decision making to the lowest level of competency.
  • Seeks and shares information with others on decisions that affect them.
  • Provides opportunities for team members to develop new skills, expertise, and perspective.
  • Understands how individual work impacts the ministry success.
  • Develops the capability of others through active mentoring and coaching.
  1. Servanthood

Matthew 20:26-27 
“But among you it should be quite different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must become your slave.”

We believe that regardless of position we are called to serve one another. Servanthood is about helping others be successful in what they do.

Behavior:

  • Looks for ways to help one another.
  • Seeks to make others successful even at their own expense.
  • Willingly stops doing what they are doing in order to help others.
  • Patiently provides guidance and encouragement when needed.
  • Understands the importance of helping others to achieve team goals.
  • Develops the capability of others through active mentoring and coaching.
  1. Innovation

Matt. 9:17
“Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

While our purpose of partnering with others to care for, educate, and disciple orphans & vulnerable children remains constant, our methods change as the needs and opportunities change. Everyone on the COG Global team should look for more innovative ways of doing their tasks and the task of the ministry.

Behavior:

  • Nurtures innovation in the ministry.
  • Recognizes failures associated with innovation taking should not be punished but used as an opportunity for improvement.
  • Demonstrates the courage to speak freely and challenges the status quo to stimulate change and make decisions to move us forward.
  • Challenges prescribed methods and procedures to better serve those we minister to.
  • Recognizes the real risk to ministry success lies in not challenging and improving processes.
  • Offers recognition for innovation.
  • Refuses to accept the status quo “if it ain’t broke, break it.”
  1. Trust

Romans 12:9  “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.”

We believe everyone embracing the values of COG Global will do what is best for the Church, pastors, our partners (cross-cultural as well as in the U.S.), each other, the children we’ve been called to serve, and the ministry as a whole.  We always begin at the point of believing the best of each other.

Behavior:

  • Acts consistently to reinforce our values.
  • Expects people to perform their mission and be accountable.
  • Demonstrates openness and honesty in all relationships.
  • Eliminates the fear of breaking away from familiar ways of thinking and acting.
  • Shares information freely in all directions, both good news and bad news.
  • Does not look for or assume motives beyond those stated by others.
  • Respects and honors matters of confidentiality.
  • Assumes the best of others when actions are questioned.
  1. Teamwork

Romans 12:4,5  “For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.”

Recognition that God brings the right people together at the right time for the right tasks. Just as the body is more than the sum of its organs, so a team, when functioning correctly, is more than the sum of the members of the team. Synergy is accomplished by each part working together to achieve a common vision.

Behavior:

  • Focus on working together for a purpose rather than positions.
  • Aligns personal work and team activities to optimize contribution to the ministry.
  • Accepts and supports team decisions after individual views have been expressed.
  • Resolves disagreements within and between team members by doing what is best for each other and for the ministry.
  • Contributes to the success of others by helping others solve problems, meet deadlines, and work effectively.
  • Openly shares relevant information.
  • Focuses on maximum synergy rather than individual efforts. “It is more important to be a player on a great team than to be a great player on a mediocre team.”
  • Places team success over personal success.
  1. Continuous Improvement

Phil 3:12 “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be.”

Continuous Improvement – We recognize everything we do as a process that can be improved, simplified or eliminated. Just as our individual lives must be transformed, moment by moment, so our ministry must be transformed. All of the ministry’s processes are open to evaluation and change.

Behavior:

  • Asks “How can it be improved?” rather than “Does it need to be improved?”
  • Recognizes the value of change for improvement.
  • Focuses on problem prevention rather than problem resolution.
  • Evaluates changing environment and optimizes the ministry to it.
  • Recognizes that fruitlessness and waste must be eliminated.
  • Accepts personal-development as a process that needs continuous improvement.
  • Recognizes processes as the key to improvement.
  • Makes decisions based on need or opportunity, not simply the past.
  1. Mission Commitment

1 Cor. 9:19-22 “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without the law toward God, but under  law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law;  to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.  Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you”.

We commit to the mission God has given us in COG Global with all our strength, resources and time. Our goal is to explore how to fulfill our mission effectively and efficiently.

Behavior:

  • Recognizes action rather than words as the true measure of commitment.
  • Promises only what can be delivered.
  • Demonstrates personal commitment to continued learning and upgrading of skills.
  • Accepts obligation to continuous improvement.
  • Carefully guards against letting the good rob God of our best.
  • Organizes time to move from the urgent to what’s most important.
  • Commits to narrowing the focus and intensifying the efforts.
  • Evaluates ministry opportunity in light of COG Global’s mission & purpose.