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.
Illustration: A missionary in Africa was once asked if he really liked what he was doing. His response was shocking, Do I like this work? He thought about it for a while and said, "No, My wife and I do not like dirt. We have reasonably refined sensibilities. We do not like crawling into smelly huts through goat refuse.. But is a man to do nothing for Christ he does not like? Likeing or disliking has little to do with obeying the will of God. We have order from the Sovereign Creator of the universe who said, "Go so we we go. The love of Christ compells us to do what we do." If He did it for us why should we not do it also!"
5. Help people see that there are many ways to be world partners besides just giving money and praying for the Lord to send workers into His fields. Show people how they can be involved with short term mission trips in contributing to the work of missions. There are thousands of short term mission trip opportunities that are available through a mission magazine called, Global Opportunities. Each year they come up with a catalogue of all kinds of needs and organizations that are happy to partner with people for the short term mission ministries. This is available by going to Google.com and typing in Global Opportunities Magazine.com
Illustration: C.T. Studd, a famous English cricket player and brilliant man who could have become the Prime Minister of Great Britain wrote, "Some wish to live within the sound of church or chapel bell. I want to run a rescue shope within a yard of hell. Some of us have to get closer to where the real needs are in the developing world.
6. Ask mission organizations to come to your church and explain how your local church can be more effectively involved in fulfilling all four dimensions of Acts 1:8 where Jesus said, "You shall be my witnesses in Jersualem, Judea, Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." For most of us to be witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth means we have to partner with missionaries and mission agencies to help us complete all aspects of Christ’s great commission. To do less is to be disobedient to Christ great commandment, will and burden.
Illustration:ACMC of the Association of Church Missions Commissions give this definition of a mobilizing church 1). 10% of the church’s members are regularly and systematically praying for missions 2). 10% of the church’s members are regularly and sytematically sharing their faith 3). 10% of the church’s budget is spent on cross-cultural outreach 4). 1% of the church’s members are entering cross-cultural service 5). The church is working to involve one neighbor church in missions - Very few churches meet this definition of a mission mobilizing fellowship today because they somehow have forgot that Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send forth workers into His harvest fields." (Matt 9:36-38)
"Look to the fields for the are ripe for harvesting. My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work." (John 4:34,35)
7. Partnering may involve taking a trip to a local Perspectives seminar or a mission seminar where your church leaders can learn how to be a more effective partner. Prov. 24:3,4 says, "Any enterprise is built by wise planning becomes strong through common sense and profits wonderfully by keeping abreadst of the facts." (Living Bible) Enlist seven people in your church to attend a mission’s seminar or invite a local mission’s mobilizing expert to come and teach your people key lessons on how to be more effective partners.
Illustration: I praise God for the fact that when I worked as a high school Pastor for Tim LaHaye between 1975-1977 we organized eleven church planting and evangelism trips into Mexico. It was through these experiences that the Lord gave me the burden and vision for doing church planting in Nigeria. I thank God that as one is faithful in little things he gives us the privilege of being responsible for much. 650 churches in Africa were planted as a result of those blessed nineteen years of ministry.
8. Evaluate the effectiveness of your current missionaires and consider how you could be more effective in contributing to missionaries who are planting and growing new churches.
Illustration: For example, ChristianAid.org presently needs support for 40 Bible Institutes in China that are training about 200 new church planters every year. These institutes have already sent out 40,000 Chinese church planters throughout the country. In 2001 China saw 7 million new converts and 500,000 new house fellowships start because of missionaries like this. For $30-$50 per month your church can support a church planter in training within church through ChristianAid.org
9 Ask the Lord for wisdom and direction from the word of God and from His Spirit to know the best ways to be a better world partner for the gospel. (James 1:5) If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God who gives to all men generously and does not withhold and it will be given to you." WE all lack wisdom and so if we will get together either through email or through the phone or through a weekly prayer meeting, the Lord will direct our paths in how we can improve our world partnerships for the gospel. James wrote, "You have not because you ask not." Many times we do not know how to pray or act as we should, but the Spirit intercededs for us with groanings and travailing too deep for words." (Rom. 8:26,27)
Illustration:Trust the Lord to use some of your people in music team short term mission ministries. Send music cassettes to some of your missionaries to distribute. Give to support a evangelistic radio ministry in your own community. Encourage your neighbors to listen to Christian radio or TV. Let the Lord show you how to get more young people in your church involved with being world partners through youth mission trips. Many can be involved in vacation Bible schools in numerous caribbean countries like the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico or the west Indies islands where hundreds of young people are waiting to learn more about Jesus Christ and eternal life. Won’t you consider giving up ten days to help save people from spending an eternity in hell? Trust God and He will multiply you greatly and you will experience the greatest fulfillment that Jesus promised. I came so that you might have life and have it abundantly! (John 10:10)
10. Send for mission videos from IMB.org
(International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist) They have many excellent training videos to help train people in your church in becoming more effective world partners for the gospel. Many times people who see what the Lord is already doing through others of great faith will be inspired to follow their examples. (Heb. 13:7)
Illustration: The Lord has blessed me with a tremendous mission videos library to help mobilize students, Pastors and churches for missions. Many of the videos are freely available on the internet or for a modest fee. I have a list of great internet resources that I can send to anyone who is interested. contact me at ppaulfritz@aol.com
You can give a New Testament to people in many countries for 50 cents by contacting the www.BibleLeague.org The Bible league consistently helps to start more than 3000 churches a year and you can support one of their church planters for around $600-$1200 per year in one of 47 countries.
Conclusion: - Remember that William Carey, the Father of modern missions told his churches, If you will hold the ropes, I will go down to look for the lost." He started out with only six supporters but ended up staying 47 years in India and setting in motion the entire modern missionary movement because of those six faithful partners. "Expect great things from God attempt great things for God." Little becomes much when we place it in the Master’s hands." God used Wm Carey to launch the modern missionary movement. God can take your contribution and multiply it for eternity if you will let him. Will you allow Him to use you. Jesus said, "He who believes in me the works that I do will He do also and greater works than these will he do because I go to the Father. And you can ask anything in my name and I will do it." (John 14:12-14)
Let us remember that the foot cannot say to hand I have no need of you, but we need to cooperate with the universal body of Christ to maximize our contributions to the cause of Christ’s kingdom priority purposes, plans and programs for His greater glory!
