There really is a missing link! Not the kind espoused by Darwin but rather in how we train others for ministry. In the church we have tended to take the “training” out of “training.” It is rare to find equipping that includes training in our educational institutions or churches. We are great at the academics…
If it isn’t a sacrifice to send a missionary from your church, you are sending the wrong person. It should be painful. They should leave a gap. If they are loved and an integral part of your church it will be difficult to send them off. We wouldn’t say this out loud, but perhaps have…
Not too long ago, when I was in another country, I met with a local pastor and the elders of the church. The thing that captured my attention was that the pastor had led all these men to Christ, discipled them, and trained them to be church leaders. I have to admit that I don’t…
“You are either a missionary or a mission field”… is that an accurate statement? Should every believer be a missionary or is there a special category of believers that fit that title? In Matthew 19:29 Jesus spoke of some who would leave “houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands,…
There are plenty of resources about becoming a sending church. For starters…here are a few books you might consider for your reading list…
I’ve often wondered what would motivate missionaries to transplant their families to dangerous and depressing places in order to establish a gospel beachhead. I marvel at their missionary moxie. They’re my heroes. Why do they do it? Doxology. In plain English, doxological ministry means that our primary goal in evangelism is the glory of God….
There is a trend in USA missions that suggests we should stop sending missionaries and support national workers instead. Here are a number of thoughts about this topic: 1. One argument is that you can get more bang for the buck by supporting locals. The assumption of course is that you can “hire” a…
Most churches have never sent a missionary from their own congregation. This is in spite of their high level of interest in missions that is evidenced by budgets, missions conferences and missionaries supported. What if a church wanted to send one of their own to the mission field? That would raise a lot of questions,…
We have tended to define a missionary by their source of income. In other words, a person is a missionary who gathers support from churches and individuals and goes to some other country. However, this is a financial model of doing missions that has been used over the past couple hundred years. For 1800 years…
When I was in Vietnam last year, I had the privilege of teaching in a Bible School for a week. The class was “How to be a Sending Church” – the topic that is my passion for national churches worldwide, including the national churches of America and the local church where you minister. The class…