2019 Cindy Liu
His Plan
Establish Monitoring Body
The key to starting a mission project is the confirmation of the indigenous church partner’s commitment, which is established through formally signing a memorandum of understanding between the indigenous church partners and the Mission Supporter. It is essential for both parties to have an agreed framework detailing how to start, grow, and end a mission project together.
Once the Mission Supporter has all the green lights, they need to select godly men and women from the indigenous church partners to form a “Mission Board.” This board’s duty is to monitor the indigenous evangelists’ mission work. Looking after the finance, all the funds that come in and out will be transparent to the board members.
These board members are also responsible for promoting this mission project in their church networks and providing indigenous evangelists for the mission project.
Mission Timeline and
Activities
The 21st Century Mission Method uses a seven-year mission timeline for a mission project. The principle behind this is Jesus took three years to accomplish His mission on earth, we, mere men, need at least twice the time He used, plus one year for preparation and running a pilot project. During the seven years’ time period, the transition from a foreign support mission project to be an indigenous church own project is planned and outworked according to Appendix 1.
The Power of Unity
The vital strength of this mission method is to involve the indigenous churches regardless of their denomination to work together in unity. Although workinginter-denominationally can sometimes be challenging, it will produce incredible blessings.
Psalm 133:1 and 3 ESV, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity…. It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls down on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.” The church is the body of Christ, His true reflection, His bride. Therefore, a Mission Supporter must outwork its mission calling through the indigenous churches.
A Mission Supporter should not work with any individual evangelist who is not part of indigenous church or a church unwilling to work with other churches in unity. Apostle Paul understaood the truth of working through the church to accomplish his mission, he said “So that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 3:10 ESV).To have an impact on a nation successfully, cooperation with the indigenous church is vital.
The indigenous
church can oversee the indigenous evangelists’ work and help the indigenous evangelists to establish new churches properly. Partnership with the indigenous church enables the Mission Supporter to have access to a large pool of potential trustworthy indigenous evangelists quickly.
The role of indigenous church partners are:
• Focusing on prayer and intercession to confirm the timing, targeted people group, and location of the mission project.
• Providing a national church partner to lead and monitor the details of the mission project.
• Contributing indigenous evangelists to the Mission Supporter and provide pastoral care for the indigenous evangelists.
• Deciding the targeted outreach people group.
• Helping the indigenous evangelists to set up monthly outreach goals and monitor it.
• To care for the newly established fellowship groups or churches.
• Ensuring newly established churches are sustainable.
The next step is for the Mission Supporter to interview the indigenous evangelists for the mission project recommended by the church partners. But before the church partner recommends any indigenous evangelists, the Mission Supporter must make sure to the church partners that they are looking for indigenous evangelists not pastors, because their characters, traits, and gift are very different. This is a very important process for the
speed of the mission project is directly influenced by it.
The Mission Supporter must make the indigenous evangelists selection criteria known to the indigenous church partners so they can refer the right person for the job.
Evangelists Are Entrepreneur
Evangelists are like entrepreneurs; they have pioneer spirit. Their characters are unique; they don’t mind working alone. Like entrepreneurs, evangelists love to do new things. They like to initiate projects rather than manage the project. They prefer pioneering rather than
ploughing; they prefer to establish foundations rather than build on the foundations.
The apostle Paul, a great pioneer, knew his mission. In 1 Corinthians 3:6–10 ESV, Paul said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who
waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.”
An evangelist’s gift is not the same as a pastor’s. Evangelists are called to sow the seed and gather the flock.
A pastor is called to care and shepherd the flock. Christ gifts His church, “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11–12 ESV).
Therefore, placing the evangelists and pastors in their correct role is important and a blessing for the church and mission project.
Evangelist Selection
Criteria
The key to a successful mission project is to find the called indigenous evangelists. We believe that God has already prepared His people for evangelical work. It is our job to find them through the indigenous churches, then to equip them with godly principles and financial support, so they can be released from the world’s duties into the full-time evangelist work.
Calling
The indigenous evangelist must have the calling by God to impact their nation – “for you shall cause this people to inherit the land” (Joshua 1:6 ESV) – and they must be committed to pay the price for the sake of preaching the gospel. The great apostle Paul shared this certainty in the book of Romans, “And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, ‘Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand’” (Romans 15:20–21 ESV). God opens doors for His called ones.
Know the Word and Be Led by the Holy Spirit The indigenous evangelist must know the Word of God so they can preach the truth, disciple new believers, and train their successors to be firmly established in the truth. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV); and Jesus also told His disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches.
Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 ESV). Indigenous evangelists must abide in His Word, the Word is God (John 1:1) and the Word is Jesus – “Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14 ESV).
In other words, an evangelist who does not abide in His Word cannot bear much fruit.
Evangelists are constantly battling against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (Ephesian 6:17).
According to Paul, a great evangelist, he does not use the weapon of man to fight these battles (2 Corinthians 10:3), his weapon of warfare is the Word of God, not physical but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses and for destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the truth (2 Corinthians 10: 4–5).
Without knowing the Word, evangelists can’t battle effectively to win souls; without the Word, they could not discern what is from God and what is antiGod – the evil spirit. Indigenous evangelists must be born again and willing to be led by the Holy Spirit.