of workers all over the
earth to send out to
the remaining 10,000
people groups.
Paul does not always work at his trade in every community where he stays. In our day it may be difficult to find and begin a job in a new community when the language and culture are unfamiliar. It might be more effective to go to a people group that, in some ways, is more similar to our own.
Another difficulty with tent making is that some jobs—like those within very competitive industries—have very long hours and provide no stable family life.
These trades are not ideal for tent making. However, God uses even the most difficult situations for His glory. Let the Holy Spirit guide you in planning and making decisions.
William Carey and others introduce the modern mission society.
In the late 1700s, William Carey travels to India. Before leaving England he forms a society or group within his own people with a goal of taking Good News to people groups with no kingdom community.
This group collects money or other resources from individual disciples, their families, and the kingdom community within their own people group. The resources are pooled together and, as there is need, they are given to the sent-out disciples.
William Carey and many others who serve after him receive this kind of support from such societies within their own people group. These supporters commit to send funds, supplies, and encouragement to the ones they send out from their midst. This model—now known as a mission agency—has been effective for hundreds of years at sending out disciples to people groups all over the earth.
Some people groups from the Global South have also used this model effectively in our day. This strategy has the benefit of allowing sent-out disciples to concentrate on learning a new language and culture, spending time with people and sharing Good News while receiving funding from the agency. However, using mission agencies to send out disciples also comes with challenges:
Success depends on fully funding the sent-out disciples for an extended period of time. This model is very expensive and difficult to maintain if the senders are not able to give large amounts of money for many years. When there is no more money, sent-out disciples must return home.
It is expensive to begin and to continue the work. The home office must pay honest workers to handle funds, legal issues, communication and other needs of the sent-out disciples. Often purchasing or renting a building is another expense.
If the sent-out disciples do not have a job in their new community, people may misunderstand why they are there. This leads to mistrust and suspicion. In some places, those who do not work in a community do not receive respect. They may become outcasts.
Some mission agencies now begin to send out disciples from the Global South, gathering resources from various individuals and churches across the world. God uses
▪
▪
▪
Western or international agencies to help fund the work of the sent-out disciples. This can also come with challenges.
Because funds and other resources from individuals and churches are limited, the number of sent-out disciples is also limited. We must find ways to equip multitudes of sent-out disciples.
Funding from outside sources might be viewed as potentially harmful if sent-out disciples are not observed doing meaningful work. The community might think sent-out disciples represent a foreign religious or political group who seeks to rule them.
It takes a long time to apply and receive training from mission agencies. Maybe this process does not need to take so long.
In some cases, Western groups provide resources for people groups in the Global South to begin and maintain their own agencies to send out disciples. This helps many effective workers go out to people groups who need to hear the Great Story.
However, funding from the West to the Global South often comes with guidelines or restrictions. Those who receive the funding might be told they must not spend it in the way the Holy Spirit directs or guides them. They must instead respect the wishes of those who provide the funds. This can be a source of conflict and resentment because it is an unequal partnership. The desire to control can slow the spread of the kingdom.
The mission agency model is useful in its place and time, but it limits the number of sent-out disciples. There are other effective ways to send out multitudes from the Global South.
New Ideas emerge from the Global South.
This idea comes from Ben Naja’s book Releasing the Workers of the 11th Hour: The Global South and the Task Remaining.
A kingdom community within a people group in East Africa prepares to send out a disciple and his family to another people group that has no known followers of Jesus. The man and his people are farmers. They learn that the new people group also farms. Because of this shared occupation, they might possibly be effective in introducing the kingdom of God.
The East African kingdom community believes that it might be too expensive and too complicated to send the man through Western or international mission agencies. They ask the Holy Spirit to lead their own people group in practical and effective ways to join the work of God.
As the man prepares to leave his home, the local kingdom community gives him two cows, a plow, and money for the journey. He enters the new community and works to support his family. Because the plow helps him to quickly farm more land, he also plows the fields of other farmers who hire him for the day. He earns some money using the cows to carry
▪
▪
▪
goods and people to market and back. While supporting his family he is providing services to help and bless the farming community.
This model combines the idea of a sent-out disciple receiving funding from his own people—by way of an initial gift—with the tent making model, where he works for his income. This model not only effectively uses existing resources of the sending kingdom community, but it also meets the needs of the people group among whom the sent-out disciple lives. This same idea is also applied in the following examples.
The sent-out disciple goes out to a community that raises sheep, goats, or chickens. The initial gift might be a pair of breeding animals.
The kingdom community does not have enough money for the initial gift. They choose to partner with a foreign supporter for some of the needed equipment. The one-time gift is not as difficult on the relationship as continuous funding might be.
Also, the people themselves—not the foreigner—determine how the money is spent.
The sent-out disciple receives a loan to cover his initial expenses. He makes plans to pay back the loan over the course of the first few months or years of work.
A partnership effort is created when the kingdom community throughout the people group of the sent-out disciple contributes toward the initial gift for his family. This brings a unity of purpose to God’s people among that people group.
Other ideas come through the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we pray and use our God-given minds to plan for His work. Jesus tells us that loving God with our minds is as much a part of His command as loving Him with our hearts, souls and strength (Mark 12:30).
We must find ways to send out disciples to the nations that allow…
… The greatest number of disciples sent off…
… To the greatest number of people groups…
… In ways that effectively communicate Good News…
… And quickly spread God’s kingdom …
… So that He is glorified in all the earth!
List some of the positive and negative sending and funding issues your people face in sending out disciples to other people groups. Evaluate the solutions you choose.
What is the typical Western model for this work?
In what ways does that model fit your situation and needs?
In what ways does that model not fit your situation and needs?
Is there a different way to do this work that better fits your people?
Discuss what God is teaching you with others in your study group.