Who We Are
Petra International Ministries exists to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and disciple the nations to build His kingdom through starting Christ-Centered, missions based churches.
Petra History and Timeline
Watch the video to see God's work and faithfulness over the last 25+ years! The Cox family (Jared and Tanya, along with their four children, Josiah, Isaiah, Gabriela and Jeremiah) served in Nicaragua for 15 years, beginning a successful movement of church plants, a camp, a farm, and a pastoral training institute that now trains leaders in four regions of the country. God called them to turn everything over to the national leaders because they were ready to take full leadership at the end of 2015 and brought their family back to the states. Petra International Ministries was founded in 2016 in order to continue to mentor leaders and plant Christ-centered churches throughout the U.S. and Latin America. The stateside mission base is in Bozeman, Montana, where there is a bilingual church plant. The work has now expanded to South America as well!
Missions Philosophy
We believe that it is critical to follow the missiological principles found in God's Word in order to minister effectively for God's glory and to have an eternal impact on hearts and lives around the world. This includes the bold proclamation of the Gospel, making disciples, and gathering these disciples into Christ-centered churches. Kingdom workers are then trained and equipped to go to the nations for His glory.
This includes the missiological principles found in Scripture:
1. The bold proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Acts 4:13,23,29,31, 9:27-28, 13:46, 14:3, 18:24, 26, 19:8, 28:31, 2 Cor. 3:12, Eph. 6:19)
2. The constant and fervent prayer for the Gospel’s expansion. (Acts 1:14, 2:42, 3:1, 6:4, 10:4, 10:31, 12:5, 14:23, 16:13, 16:16)
3. The initiative of discipling and baptizing believers and forming them in a local church of Christ in every town, city, and region. (Matt. 28:19, Acts 1:8)
4. The formation of elders and deacons in each local body of Christ. (Titus 1:5, Acts 6:1-7)
5. The pattern of the nature of Gospel ministry: 1) Proclamation, 2) Persecution, 3) Perseverance, 4) Fruit, and 5) God glorified. (Acts 13-14)
6. The building of order, systems, in church job descriptions and offices for more effective and fruitful ministry. (Acts 6:1-7, I Timothy 4:14, 5:17, Titus 1:5)
7. The equipping and training of the saints of God for effective and long-term success. (Eph. 4:11-14)
8. The willingness and character to suffer for Christ no matter the personal cost. (Col. 1:24, 2 Cor. 1, 4, 6, 12)
Click the button below for a full copy of Petra's doctrinal statement.
This includes the missiological principles found in Scripture:
1. The bold proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Acts 4:13,23,29,31, 9:27-28, 13:46, 14:3, 18:24, 26, 19:8, 28:31, 2 Cor. 3:12, Eph. 6:19)
2. The constant and fervent prayer for the Gospel’s expansion. (Acts 1:14, 2:42, 3:1, 6:4, 10:4, 10:31, 12:5, 14:23, 16:13, 16:16)
3. The initiative of discipling and baptizing believers and forming them in a local church of Christ in every town, city, and region. (Matt. 28:19, Acts 1:8)
4. The formation of elders and deacons in each local body of Christ. (Titus 1:5, Acts 6:1-7)
5. The pattern of the nature of Gospel ministry: 1) Proclamation, 2) Persecution, 3) Perseverance, 4) Fruit, and 5) God glorified. (Acts 13-14)
6. The building of order, systems, in church job descriptions and offices for more effective and fruitful ministry. (Acts 6:1-7, I Timothy 4:14, 5:17, Titus 1:5)
7. The equipping and training of the saints of God for effective and long-term success. (Eph. 4:11-14)
8. The willingness and character to suffer for Christ no matter the personal cost. (Col. 1:24, 2 Cor. 1, 4, 6, 12)
Click the button below for a full copy of Petra's doctrinal statement.