How To Be A World Partner For The Gospel

How to Be a World Partner for the Gospel - Phil. 1:3-5

There are many overlooked advantages in being a world partner for the gospel. Presently, 98.7% of all church giving is used within one’s own community in the USA. Only 1.3% of church giving in 2001 went to any form of foreign mission ministries. Essentially, Christians in America are spending more money on dog food than on partnering with missionaries (American and indigenous-native missionaries) to win the lost. Let us remember that God so loved the world, not just the 4% of the population that live within the borders of the USA. In 1900 nearly 90% of the world’s Christians lived in the western world. Today only about 10% of the world’s Christians live in the western world and 90% of the born again Christians live in Latin America, Africa and Asia. May the Lord use us to equip these church planters in the developing world to help complete the great commission in greater ways.

How can we follow the example of the Philippian church in partnering with missionaries to be planters of the seed of gospel in lands where the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few? Here are just a few guidelines to prayerfully consider implementing in our church:

1. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send forth workers into His harvest fields. (Matt 9:36-38) All great partnerships begin with prayer. Praise God that He is the Lord of the harvest who directs us in the best partnerships. He knows the best kind of people, organizations and projects where we can invest our resources for the maximization of kingdom’s

qualitative and quantitative growth. (Matt 6:33)

Illustration: (USA)--And finally, evangelism training clinics are slated next month to take advantage of summer vacation time. Evangelism Explosion’s[5] Karen Gushta says reaching children starts with getting adults to see the importance of reaching the kids before they hit a certain age. “I think

something happens to adolescents. I really believe that it’s important for us to reach children before they get into junior high and high school.

We find that that’s a time where it’s more difficult to win people to the Lord.” Gushta says after training adults to evangelize, reaching the

children is an open door. “If you share with a hundred kids, the probability is 32 out of that hundred kids that you shared the Gospel with

would actually pray and receive Christ as their Savior. We also have figures that tell us that 85-percent of American Christians say that they

came to know Christ before the age of 15.”

2. Consult with experts. Plans fail without counsel, but with the multitude of godly counselors they succeed. (Prov. 15:22)Some of the best experts include Patrick Johnstone’s Operation World. This is a great book that should be in the home of every great commission oriented Christian who wants to prayerfully, financially and practically be a world partner for the gospel. It can be ordered over the internet from the Amazon.com. Most Christian book store have them. I recently ordered thirty copies and got them for $7.95 each from Christianbook.com

3. Approach the Pastor or the chairman of the missions committee about the possibility of supporting an indigenous - native church planter for $30/month. Go to www.GFA.org (Gospel for Asia that specializes in sending out 13,000 full time church planters in 12 countries like India and Nepal). www.ChristianAid.org (Supporting 60,000 indigenous missionaries through 600 mission boards) www.BibleLeague.org (supporting 2500 church planters and helping to start 3000 churches per year in 43 countries around the world). Ask the Lord to help you take on just one indigenous church planter each year and see how the Lord enriches your mission vision in your church.

Illustration:The average Christian in America gives less than 20 cents per week to foreign missions. Larry Lutz, Partners International writes:

97% of the world has heard of coca-cola

72% of the world has seen a can or a bottle of coca-cola

51% of the world has tasted a coca-cola

Coke has only been around for 98 years

If God had given the task of world evangelization to the Coca Cola Company it might have been done by now.

How much more should Christians utilize all of their heart, soul, strength, mind and resources to help complete Christ’s great commission!

4. Invite a mission vision person to speak at your church. Having been involved with helping to start hundreds of churches in Nigeria while teaching at a seminary there for nearly twenty years I have learned that it takes a motivated person with vision to electrify most American Christian with the blessings involved with being a world partner. Paul the apostle, thanked the Philippians in Phil. 1:3-5 as he commended them for being partners in spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ from the first time they heard it right up to the time he wrote the letter of encouragement to them. We need to help people be affirmed for their valuable investment so that they do not get discouraged and lose heart but remember that they will reap if they faint not.