Why Training Local Leaders Matters in Missions
Evangelical Christians generally support the concept of global missions, but they do not necessarily agree on what it means. For some, the mission of the church is to do anything and everything commanded by Scripture, and to do it wherever…
Training Local Leaders
Training local church leaders is not an optional component of a missions strategy. It is a vital element that cannot be ignored. Simply put, missionaries who neglect to spend significant time developing local church leaders are adopting a short-sighted vision…
Why Planting Local Churches is Critical to a Faithful Missions Strategy
A few days ago a friend of a friend emailed me, wondering if I had any advice for him about applying to a certain church internship. Specifically, he wanted to know if that internship would be beneficial for him as…
Establishing Healthy Churches
The Great Commission doesn’t explicitly call us to plant churches. In fact, none of the Great Commission passages in the Gospels and Acts mention the church. The specific command that Jesus gives is to proclaim the gospel (Luke 24:46-48) and…
Sending Mature Missionaries to Make Mature Disciples
One of my earliest experiences as an overseas missionary was being yelled at by a colleague because I stowed a bicycle in a different spot than he had imagined. Bewildered and confused I knew that night that the Lord had…
Making Mature Disciples
He said, “I am beginning to realize that evangelism is not enough, they need to be discipled,” as he sat there connecting the dots in his head. Let me explain what happened. Last year, I gave a talk to a…
Three Vital Tasks
One of the blessings of working on a new website and rebranding project is the ability to take a breath, step back, and reflect on who we are as an organization. Over the last six months, as we’ve worked on…