A Changing View of Doing Missions
I had the opportunity to speak in a great church in the Boston area yesterday morning and share what God is doing through Global Baptist Training Foundation. As I shared what has happened in the last six years even I was amazed to recognize once again all that has transpired.
I remember thinking that we would have to rely on Western missionaries to find out where the native pastors were located in various countries so we could arrange for training classes to be held. I envisioned a lot of telephone and email exchanges trying to discover the location of nationals and then working out a strategy for how we would arrange a classroom. What I didn't know is that this was never going to happen!
Six years later I have never made that first call or email attempting to discover the whereabouts of indigenous pastors and church leaders. Starting in 2012 when our first website was created and our organization was online we began to be noticed. However, most of our national hosts in Africa, Asia, etc, found us by word of mouth. Almost immediately we would be contacted by national leaders in places like the Congo, Rwanda, and West Africa who were vitally interested in sponsoring a classroom. The real work was in vetting these leaders to make sure they were the kind of hosts we needed and oftentimes they fit the exact description of what were looking for in each location. Truly, it was a God thing duplicated over and over again.
Many of our hosts today are the kind of people who would literally do anything for you and of course, those feelings are reciprocal. The kinds of hosts we have met and work with are what legends are made of, whether it be in Rwanda, Liberia, or Togo. These are men who have hazarded their lives for others and for Christ in the work of the gospel. It is a high privilege to labor together for the cause of Christ with them. Every time I see them in the course of holding another classroom I thank God for the honor of working with them to move and multiply the gospel into the future..
Yesterday while we worshipped together in Boston I was reminded that people are beginning to think differently about what missions can look like when we think outside the box. Training nationals where possible is an attractive alternative because they already know the language, understand the culture, and love the people where they live. Equipping and enabling them provides an attractive alternative to sending western missionaries at a fraction of the cost while exponentially expanding the potential results. Let's keep moving!
I remember thinking that we would have to rely on Western missionaries to find out where the native pastors were located in various countries so we could arrange for training classes to be held. I envisioned a lot of telephone and email exchanges trying to discover the location of nationals and then working out a strategy for how we would arrange a classroom. What I didn't know is that this was never going to happen!
Six years later I have never made that first call or email attempting to discover the whereabouts of indigenous pastors and church leaders. Starting in 2012 when our first website was created and our organization was online we began to be noticed. However, most of our national hosts in Africa, Asia, etc, found us by word of mouth. Almost immediately we would be contacted by national leaders in places like the Congo, Rwanda, and West Africa who were vitally interested in sponsoring a classroom. The real work was in vetting these leaders to make sure they were the kind of hosts we needed and oftentimes they fit the exact description of what were looking for in each location. Truly, it was a God thing duplicated over and over again.
Many of our hosts today are the kind of people who would literally do anything for you and of course, those feelings are reciprocal. The kinds of hosts we have met and work with are what legends are made of, whether it be in Rwanda, Liberia, or Togo. These are men who have hazarded their lives for others and for Christ in the work of the gospel. It is a high privilege to labor together for the cause of Christ with them. Every time I see them in the course of holding another classroom I thank God for the honor of working with them to move and multiply the gospel into the future..
Yesterday while we worshipped together in Boston I was reminded that people are beginning to think differently about what missions can look like when we think outside the box. Training nationals where possible is an attractive alternative because they already know the language, understand the culture, and love the people where they live. Equipping and enabling them provides an attractive alternative to sending western missionaries at a fraction of the cost while exponentially expanding the potential results. Let's keep moving!
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