How To Gain Support From Christian Leaders
for Church Planting Projects
Learning Objectives
1. The students will explain why it is important to establish rapport with leaders.
2.The students will explain how to approach local leaders in seeking their support for planting and growing churches.
Introduction - Many churches have failed to grow due to poor communications. One man came from the U.S. to teach principles of communication in management to ECWA leaders, but he failed to communicate. He knew all the proper theories, but he failed to show understanding of the real problems of the church.
In similar ways, when we are seeking support for church planting projects, missions, or outreach assistance, we must begin by understanding the real problems of the leaders of the church. To fail to show a willingness to listen is to guarantee our inability to be heard. Let us ask the Lord for wisdom in understanding the best ways to approach leaders for their support in church planting projects!
I. Establish Rapport With Leaders
A. Gaining confidence, trust, and credibility with leaders is the first step to communications.
B. By spending time with leaders, you will begin to understand their problems concerns, needs, and perceptions.
C. By showing your willingness to serve you will prove your faithfulness in the little things so that you will be seen as potentially faithful over more responsibilities. (Lk. 16:10)
Example - One seminary graduate found a job as an assistant Pastor of a large village church. Instead of showing the people that he could preach better than the old senior Pastor, he spent much of his first few months expressing gratitude to God for what had already been accomplished in the church. He gave much of the credit to the Pastor and the elders. It was not long when the Pastor was asking his opinion on important decisions.
Within two years the senior Pastor retired and the young man assumed position of Senior Pastor of a 1,500 member church with the people solidly behind him!!!
II. Ask the Leaders For Their Ideas Before Presenting Yours
A. Pose questions to leaders about what they think would be the best ways to go about solving a certain problem.
B. Be willing to listen and use some of their ideas in your planning.
C. Demonstrate a learner’s attitude in listening to their counsel. (Prov. 15:22)
Example - One missionary discovered that some of the local ``so-called’’ Christian churches were accusing him of drinking human blood during their communion services to scare people away from the small ECWA church. When he went visiting people in the community he found that most people were frightened away from coming to the ECWA church thinking that he will take their blood away for sacrificial purposes. When the missionary asked for help, one policeman, warned the people against spreading false rumors and the trouble stopped. God used a Christian leader to thwart the work of scorners.
III. Ask the Leaders’ Help in Defining Your Problems
A. Begin with goals rather than with specific details of your problems. This helps the leaders to see the overall picture. Do not beat around the bush, get to the point.
B. Ask for help in identifying the main hindrances that are preventing you from progressing.
C. Ask the leaders for contributions about understanding the root causes for the lack of support, problems related to church planting, or cross-cultural difficulties.
D. Be discerning about how much information and to whom you reveal the details to. ``Many a man proclaims his loyalty, but a trustworthy man who can find?’’ (Prov. 20:6)
Example - Several years ago, a missionary went to Plateau D.C.C. to ask for the Chairman’s help in understanding why there were not any more English sections in Jos. After, many hours of discussions, the Chairman asked the missionary to come to the D.C.C. counsel meeting to present the needs for starting new churches and especially new English sections in Jos. After the presentation, Kantiyok Tukura, the Deputy Director the Evangelical Missionary Society, reinforced what had been said in more culturally relevant ways. He told the delegates of urban church planting efforts that he participated with in Australia. He cautioned the leaders that unless they were willing to allow English sections to start in Jos, ECWA may lose many of its youth to the world.
Within months a committee was appointed to make recommendations on how Plateau D.C.C. could start new English sections effectively. Today, the recommendations have been accepted. By 1992, every Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo section of ECWA churches in Jos are to have accompanying English sections!
IV. Ask For Help in Assembling Facts About Starting a Church in the Leaders’ Area.
A. It could be that the leader is acquainted with several seed families who may be able to help start new churches in the area you are working.
B. The leaders may know certain key people in the community who will help provide lodging, food, and transport for you.
C. The leaders may be able to ask for prayer among their members for your work.
D. The leaders may know some people who would be willing to supply money for your ministry.
E. The leaders may be able to influence others who are opposing your work in someway.
F. The leaders who feel involvement in your project are more likely to support it through word, deeds, and prayers.
G. The leaders who understand the nature of your work will be more willing to continue the work of church planting and church growth when you have moved on to other fields.
H. The leaders who are allowed to participate in your projects will be happy because he will feel that it is his project too.
I. When you do not gain cooperation from one leader go to another leader.
Example - One summer of 1987, the JETS seminary students went to a Christian leader for his help in starting churches in Jos. The Pastor said, ``There is no need for new churches in Jos, we already have enough!’’
The students went ahead anyway to start two new churches. After the work was shown to be a success, the Pastor changed his tune. At one L.C.C. meeting he was reported to boast about how he had contributed to the starting of two new churches in Jos. It was not long that the D.C.C. recognized that this man was impeding the progress of the church growth and he was transferred to another area!
V. Ask For Help From Other Leaders in Deciding What Additional Facts You Need to Complete the Planting of the Church
A. ``In the multitude of counselors there is victory.’’ (Prov. 15:22)
B. Gather facts from experienced church planters who will be able to help you avoid many mistakes.
C. Research the area to see the historic responses that people have made toward starting an ECWA or Christian church in that area.
D. Ask God for wisdom in understanding the needs of the people. Be sure to inform the people of the whole meaning of receiving Christ as Savior and LORD!
Example - After the war in Nigeria, one missionary supposedly went to the east asking if people wanted peace. Naturally, everyone responded to the questions positively. Then the missionary began to describe how Christ said, ``Peace, I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world, do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither be afraid, believe in God, believe also in Me.’’ (Jn. 14:27,28)
After, the missionary saw that many people responded to his invitation to the gospel he felt happy. However, many people thought that receiving Christ simply meant getting peace without understanding the full responsibilities of becoming a Christian. Jesus expected the people to bring forth fruit. When no fruit was evident, it became clear, that the people were not sincere in their decisions to accept Christ as their Savior and Lord! Missionaries must communicate the whole counsel of God!
VI. Be Willing to Write Letters to Leaders Asking For Their Support
A. Respectfully request leaders support, with humility, by asking them to pray about the work of church planting.
B. Begin by thanking the leaders for their contributions to the church in the past.
C. Recognize significant leaders that have been touched through the leaders ministries.
D. Compliment the elders of the church for their wisdom in past decisions to support the work of missionaries.
E. Stress how significant the role of the churches are in the work of missions.
F. Copy your request to other significant leaders who may be able to undergird your base of support. Know when to copy and when to keep the letter confidential.
G. Be willing to write prayer letters prior to your request for financial support to help the leaders know you need prayer before you need money.
Example - One missionary had several serious threats on his life from the local people. One day, as the man rode his machine into the town, a lorry tried to kill him. He traced the lorry to members of one of the secret societies who opposed the work of Christ in their area. When the missionary wrote letters asking for prayer in protecting himself and his family, the Lord miraculously delivered him from many other near fatal accidents on the roads.
VII. Be Willing to Experiment With Several Methods Until You Find the Best Ones
A. As long as you are working by faith in Jesus Christ, you are assured of pleasing God. (Heb. 11:6)
B. No man is perfect. God recognized that we must learn from our experiences. Heb. 5:12 says,
``But solid food is for the mature who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.’’
C. Be willing to let your ideas incubate (Cook) with time in order for God’s Holy Spirit to work in men’s hearts. Do not be in a hurry to get your plans acted on!
Example - Thomas Edison is perhaps the most famous human inventor of all time. When he was 6 years old, his teacher sent a note home telling his mother that the boy was too stupid to learn. She recommended that he be dropped from school.
Throughout his life, he created over 200 inventions including the telegraph, the phonograph, motion pictures, and the electric light bulb. While inventing the light bulb, Edison had to try over 250 different kinds of wire before he discovered the one that would provide light for a dark world!
Missionaries must be persevering enough to find the most effective ways of presenting the gospel. Evangelists must provide the light of Christ to the darkness of people’s minds, cultures, and traditions!!!
VIII. Take Time To Evaluate Your Progress
A. Assess the measure of successes, failures, and ineffective methods used and seek to improve upon them.
B. Learn from mistakes of others, yourself, and stories from mission history.
Example - One man has said, ``Unless we really learn from the mistakes of the past we are probably going to repeat them!’’ We must learn to evaluate our progress or we may end up repeating mistakes.
C. Evaluation requires:
1). Description of a situation
2). Criteria or standards to measure progress
3). Judgments to declare to what degree one has succeeded with his goals.
Example - At the end of every message, one missionary made a habit of asking the people in his audience a question. He asked;
``How many of you want to go to heaven when you die?’’
Consistently, everyone would raise their hands in agreement.
Next, the missionary would ask, ``How many of you have received Christ as your Savior and Lord?’’ Then, only a few hands would go up.
The missionary would then ask everyone to follow him in a prayer to receive Christ. After the meetings, the missionary would tell others that he had led all the people to Christ in the audience. However, he failed to evaluate if the people really produced spiritual fruit as a result of their decision. In many cases, other missionaries and evangelists had to go back into this missionary’s fields to do the work all over. That missionary did not learn to properly teach the people the whole meanings of receiving Christ as Savior and Lord. Neither, did the missionary bother to evaluate the reality of their decisions or bother to follow-up the people’s decision with discipleship training!!!
C. Give leaders feedback on the progress of your evangelism and church planting efforts.
D. Invite the leaders to come and speak in your new church.
E. Let the leaders dedicate the new building, furniture, or ground where the church will be built.
F. Let the leaders have the offering money during the initial stages of the growing church until you have a recognized Local Church Board.
G. Be willing to let others take credit for the accomplishments. Remember that it is God who gets the glory, not any man. ``We do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord and ourselves as servants for Jesus sake!’’ (Mark 10:45)
IX. Practice Good Communications Continually With the Mother Church
A. Successful growth of young churches depends a lot on cooperation with the mother church and her leaders.
B. Invite guest speakers, occasionally, from the mother church to your new church to show acceptance, love, and harmony between the mother and the daughter church.
C. Visit the leaders of the mother church often to stay in touch with their concerns, problems, and plans.
Example - The Hausa proverb says, ``Rigar kafi ta fi magani.’’ Prevention is better than a cure. One ounce of preventative medicine in relationship is worth a ton of curative medicine.
D. Stay in close contact with leaders in your area. ``It is not always what you know that counts but who you know!’’
E. Appeal to influential leaders who might be able to use their authority to advance the work of the kingdom of God!
Example - Another Hausa proverb says, ``Wanda ke kusa da murfu, ba zai kasance da gayan tuwo ba!’’ In other words, the one who stays close to the stove in the kitchen, will not lack for any soup in his tuwo! If we want to not lack any benefits from our mothers and fathers and leaders, we must stay in close contact with them!
Study Questions
1. What are the best ways to gain support from leaders for evangelism and church planting projects?
2. What are the major hindrances to gaining leaders support and how can these obstacles be overcome?
3. What advantages are there in asking leaders for help in evangelism and church planting projects?
4. How can you avoid bad relationships between the leaders of a mother and people of a daughter church?
5. How can you practice good communications with your leaders?
