Thoughts Along The Journey

Reason number 6: WT workers recognize that our calling remains the same, but the means or mode for communicating the message of Christ is in constant flux.

Reason number 7: The WT community knows that the global base of missions has shifted.

Reason number 8: Two conceptions of ministry are coming together to create a movement that has both structure and Spirit led freedom.

Is World Team an organism or an organization?  Are we as a community of workers driven by godly vision or business principles?  Do we desire community above effectiveness and “results”?  Just framing the discussion in those terms makes it appear that one side of the equation is more spiritual than the other or that one side is to be more desired than the other.

In conversations with workers, where many of these questions have been raised, I often wonder if we actually argue in this way to keep ourselves from answering some deeper questions; questions about the strength of our real dependence upon God for ministry, questions about the specificity of what ministry tasks need to be accomplished.

We should be both/and.  World Team is an organism and an organization.  World Team is both a movement and a church planting vehicle [a structure that works to establish communities of believers].

My prayer, in the midst of this change, is that we will help each other to celebrate who we are in Christ and our total need of Him all the while praying like mad for God to create a movement from our efforts; efforts that are framed by action tasks and prayer.

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Reason number 1: As the Gospel becomes more and more central to all our affections, it will work itself out in fresh ways in our ministries.

Reason number 2: Workers are rediscovering ‘the rush’ of walking with Jesus.

Reason number 3: Experienced workers are realizing that we are moving from being doers of the ministry to equippers for the ministry.

Reason number 4: New workers are arriving in greater numbers

Over three years ago, we as a WT community began putting increased energy and effort into mobilizing new workers for our teams and ministry initiatives.  Many current workers and Support Centre staff have given time to speak and pray with prospective cross cultural workers.  The fruit of those efforts is beginning to be seen. 

What this means is that there will be more and more new workers going out to serve cross culturally with us.  These new workers will bring with them new ideas, fresh energy, different approaches and a renewed desire to serve God with gusto.  These new workers will come from different generations than our current workers.  However, it is not so much the generational differences that will create change.  It is the simple fact that new workers will look at life and ministry differently than current workers.  Those different perspectives will create a dynamic of change.

What is exciting is that these different perspectives will bring benefit to both new workers and current workers.  Current workers will assess ministry approaches from a different grid that will open up fresh ideas.  New workers will assess their approaches in the light of the experience of current workers, bringing needed refinement to new ministry ideas.

What I’m starting to hear is the excitement of current workers as they realize that new workers are coming.  What I’m praying for is that we can truly learn from one another and navigate together the changes that will occur.

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Reason number 1: As the Gospel becomes more and more central to all our affections, it will work itself out in fresh ways in our ministries.

Reason number 2: Workers are rediscovering ‘the rush’ of walking with Jesus.

Reason number 3: Experienced workers are realizing that we are moving from being doers of the ministry to equippers for the ministry.

Our strength is limited.  We learn that principle more and more every day.  As time goes by, we realize we cannot do all the activities we did five years ago.  Our time, our strength and our bandwidth is not adequate to the task. So, my ministry needs to give way to training, developing, coaching and equipping others to enter into ministry.  I multiply myself and the ministry by choosing to invest in others.

T.J. Addington put it this way: “It is no longer about what we as missionaries can do ourselves but what we can help others do in their context. Increasingly we must stand behind and alongside national workers as equippers, coaches, and encouragers rather than in front of them.  This is reflective of what Jesus intended for the church. Paul writes in Ephesians 4:11-12 that “Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”.

The application of this in missions is that workers are often trainers and equippers of others to help them do what they can do better than us in their context. Thus, in many cases, workers are no longer primarily church planters and evangelists but they are equippers and trainers of nationals in theology, church planting, holistic ministries and those ministries that contribute to the growth of the church.”

What I’m starting to hear more and more, in some of our communications, are the names of national workers engaged in CPM for whom I need to be praying.  I’m starting to hear of the mentoring and coaching that is going on between WT workers and national evangelists and pastors.  I’m starting to hear the sound of a shift from doing to equipping.

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