If we can’t do it HERE, how can we do it THERE?

Recently at the Missionary Training Center we were asked to prepare a 10-minute presentation so as to give a brief overview of some of the training we have received thus far. Obviously there was no way we could cover every single class we studied but what I ended up sharing had to do with one of my favorite aspects of the training program with NTM and that was the Outreach Ministry.

So what exactly is the Outreach Ministry?  Basically it is an opportunity to serve in the local community so as to be an active witness for the Lord. After all, isn’t that what we are training for as missionaries, to be faithful servants who will ultimately take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. If this then is our goal, where should our ministry begin? It begins right here! And if we can’t do that HERE, then how are we going to do that THERE?

What we would do then as students at the MTC, we would have some serve in the local jails, some in nursing homes, some at homeless shelters, and the list goes on and on. You get the picture! For myself, along with two other students at the MTC, what we did was serve weekly at a local Drug and Alcohol Rehab Center (DARC). What I loved most about this program was the opportunity it provided for us to take some of what we have learned in the classroom and apply it first hand to those in need.

For example, when we first arrived at the MTC our very first class was Worldview Issues in Cross-Cultural Ministry, subtitled Living Biblically in Relationship with God, Man and Creation. As defined by WRG (Worldview Resource Group), a simple definition of “worldview” is: “The ‘lens’ through which one views life.” Or as defined by missiologist David Hesselgrave – “Worldview is at the core of culture. It is out of that core that the rest of culture emanates.”

And so as I consider worldview issues in the life of the alcoholic/addict I begin to ask the question, what is this guy thinking? Not in a condescending or judgmental sort of way but in a way so as to somehow empathize with him and ultimately that I might perhaps earn the right to speak with this individual. As missionaries, our goal is to go into a world that doesn’t know God, that practice’s Animism and worships the creation (as the Apostle Paul said to the Romans) rather than the Creator. Our job is to work to a point where we can somehow transform a persons’ worldview; what they think about God, the origins of Man, and the issues of Sin, etc…. If we can’t do that HERE, then how are we going to do that THERE?

Another aspect of our training that was directly applied to our Outreach Ministry was Teamwork. The Bible is full of examples that refer to teamwork in ministry. Proverbs 27 says “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."  When Paul the Apostle went out as a missionary, he went not as an individual but as part of a team. As missionaries, we are desparately in need of the ability to serve Christ within the framework of a team. Here on the home front, as we strive to serve together in ministry, whatever it is, we have the same need to be able to serve as part of a team.

As DARC volunteers, even though we had only a small team of three and each serving on a separate day each week, we still worked together as a team. We would have weekly team meetings where we would discuss how things were going, consider areas where we could improve, and encourage and pray for one another along with the clients we were serving.

One of our assignments in the Teamwork class was to come up with a Strategy Statement for our Outreach Ministry.  Following our meeting we came up with the following mission statement; “Our goal is to light their world with something real!” To help accomplish this goal we used B.I.C., an acronym that stood for:

Building Relationships,

 Imparting Biblical Wisdom and

Committing to Prayer!

The bottom line is that in ministry NO MAN is an Island! There is a reason that God gave us one another and that’s so that we could work WITH one another not AGAINST one another, so that ultimately we could bring Glory to His Name.  If we can’t work together HERE, then how are we going to do it THERE?

I could go on and on talking about one class after another that was applied directly to our Outreach Program. Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally, Pre-Church Relationships, Building Firm Foundations, just to name a few. The truth is that not everyone that came thru those DARC doors for treatment was ready to hear the truth, but there were definitely some that were ready to see the light. All we had to do was be there and ready to teach them when they came asking questions. If we can’t do that HERE, then how are we going to do it THERE?

What I look forward to now is the opportunity to take what we have learned in Outreach and other classes and applying it directly to reaching Unreached People Groups that have never even heard the name of Jesus Christ. We live in a very needy world and there is much work to be done!