ArkPages' purpose is to serve the church by helping to make missions more visible to the world, to connect and unify missionaries with one another in their work, and to facilitate the giving of resources to the work being done around the world for Christ.
The vision of ArkPages to do whatever we can to help complete the Great Commission.

The idea for ArkPages was originally hatched in Palm Beach, Florida, circa 2006, by a couple of friends who wanted to use their talents and resources to help shoulder
Kingdom work. In it's early days, although the heart was there, the timing wasn't- and it
took several years after it's initial start before getting off the ground. Through that time,
however, God showed the ArkPages crew that He is never late, and that His timing is
always perfect. Still based in Palm Beach today, ArkPages is run by good friends Chris
and Lamar. They like to meet regularly at the local coffee shop in Jupiter to discuss new
ArkPage features, as well as new ways to love on the ArkPages community around the
world. They also enjoy hammering each other on whether or not the other is reading
their bible as often as they should.

Where the story goes from here, however, is an adventure that we hope you'll help us
write. Grab your ArkPage today, or pick one up for a missionary or ministry worker that
you'd like to support, and get going.

The following thoughts attempt to provide a frame of reference for how the ArkPages
team is approaching the world of missions. We've also taken the time to answer a few of the most common questions we receive.

Who can have an ArkPage?

Everyone in the world is welcome and encouraged to visit, explore, interact with, and
enjoy the ArkPages community, however, having your own ArkPage is reserved solely for
Christian missionaries and ministry workers who meet the requirements listed in the Get
An ArkPage section. That said, absolutely anyone is able to purchase an ArkPage as a
gift, just with the knowledge that the recipient of their gift must meet our membership
requirements. Why do we have requirements? Glad you asked...

Why Does ArkPages Have Membership Requirements?

ArkPages was built to serve Christian missionaries and ministry workers who are
responsible for raising their own financial support. This includes both long-term and
short term missionaries. As such, ArkPages is not quite intended for pastors of
established churches, or salaried ministry employees who are not required to raise their
own support. We love you folks- seriously, we do- but ArkPages is intended for those
who rely on supporters.

That said, we also understand that there are many different financial scenarios, and that
missions and ministry happen in lots of different ways, so please don't hesitate to contact
us via email to speak with one of us to see if you are eligible for an ArkPage- we'd love to
hear from you.

So, in addition to simply having membership requirements, the ArkPages team takes it
even one step further. As a part of our commitment to the integrity of the ArkPages
community, our team personally contacts every single new ArkPage member within their
first few days of registering their ArkPage, in order to connect with them about their
mission/ministry, to offer our help however we're able, and to verify that our
requirements have indeed been met. We then contact each member's sending
organization regarding the same topics. We also like knowing that we've actually
connected with all of our members- it just feels like the right thing to do.

Affiliations, or lack thereof

ArkPages is not affiliated with, or sponsored by, any one denomination, church, or
sending organization in particular. While we do abide by a very clear and defined
Statement of Faith, ArkPages seeks to be a servant to all Christ followers.

Safety, Security, and the Persecuted Church

We are often asked the question "what about missionaries serving in regions where
Christians are openly persecuted and Christianity is illegal?" It's a simple answer;
missionaries and ministry workers serving in persecuted regions of the world are not
allowed to register an ArkPage, period. We don't allow it. As a security precaution, we
will not activate any ArkPages for missionaries in those regions.

For anyone wishing to learn more about exploring what God is doing in those persecuted
regions, ArkPages recommends checking out Voice of the Martyrs, a Christian ministry
who supports missionaries and ministry workers within the persecuted church.

For missionaries and ministry workers who are not operating in persecuted regions,
however, who for whatever reason, wish to use their ArkPage only to communicate
privately with friends, family, and known supporters, ArkPages offers an option to
password protect access to their ArkPage, so that only those who know the URL and
password can gain access.

ArkPages And The Local Church

While our vision is one that spans the globe, and seeks to help support God's work
everywhere, ArkPages believes strongly that followers of Christ need to make a
commitment to actively engage and support their local church body. While
opportunities to support God's work around the world are made more visible through the
ArkPages community, we ask that you prayerfully consider your giving via ArkPages in
light of a commitment to your local church.

Money

ArkPages does not handle, nor at any time touch any of the money donated to its
missionary members via the ArkPages online giving system. All funds donated through
member ArkPages are routed directly to the sending organization of the member, and
never to the member directly. As such, it is still the job of the sending organizations to
prepare and send out all year-end tax receipts and transactional histories.