EMPOWERING / MOBILISING LEADERS

Focus

In the gloom and doom of the Pandemic, with the people confined to their homes under severe stress, the house church movement saw a huge expansion. Over the last decade, we have seen myriads of souls reached and discipled through these house churches from the unreached people groups. This was because our focus was on fulfilling the task of the Great Commission.  However, we are now finding that the nurturing, mentoring and releasing of the second, third and fourth generation has not been very strong due to lock downs during the Pandemic and other constraints. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few, (Mathew 9: 37) is the biblical reference that is frequently mentioned. However, to see this to fruition at a bigger scale, we need to invest resources to enable and empower emerging leaders to be more effective and productive. Donald McGavran once said, “When the harvest is ripe then you must focus on resources.” 

Lord Jesus first met the “felt needs” of the people and then built up their faith. He gave sight to the blind, muscle power to the lame, unloosed the tongue of the dumb, cleansed the leper and raised the dead Lazarus for the sake of Mary and Martha. Each time he provided a permanent solution to their immediate problem and then said to the sick, your faith has healed thee; salvation has come to this house to the Tax collector, water of life to the Samaritan woman and deliverance to the demoniac from Gadara and then instructed him to and tell his people what great things God has done for you. He has told us that our judgement depends on whether we fed the hungry, provided water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, shelter to the homeless, and whether we took care of the sick and those in prison. The New Testament church was a holistic church as they not only shared the gospel but also broke bread from house to house and shared their resources with the poor, the widows and the orphans. So, what are the basic needs of those in the frontline of discipling the nations?

Need

Most of our leaders are volunteers and work independently. Our goal is to make them bi-vocational so that they can earn their living as well as generate enough resources to help run their ministries. Many of them have reached the first objective of taking care of their families but have not reached a stage where they can generate surplus money to run their ministries. Apostolic ministry is a “go ministry,” but travel and transport are so expensive that it is beyond their capacity to handle it. This financial constraint limits their productivity in the ministry to travel and reach out to distant disciples on a regular basis.

Keeping this in mind, we have identified some of the areas of resource crunch faced by leaders in the field. Some are one-time expenses while other are recurring expenses. We have summarized the expenses below.

1. Communication: Many poor people do not have toilet facility or running water at home, but they have a mobile phone. Because of online classes during the Pandemic, even the kids have become smart phone literate. We understand that in this decade we will see extensive use of Mobile phones for discipling, mentoring and releasing. This will help ignite “insider movement” as the presence of an outsider can invite trouble. We even heard of a man baptizing on the phone who then went and discipled hundreds of people. Even though phones cannot replace one on one relational discipling, nevertheless very soon the “virtual church” is likely to become the norm. In scattered populations like the shepherds, the fishermen, and farmers, petty businessmen and others on the move, they are the only means of keeping in touch. Almost everyone has a mobile phone. However, leaders require a good mobile handset costing ($100-150) that will effectively facilitate group meetings, zoom sessions, reporting, storing teaching materials and even the Bible etc. Carrying Bibles and Christian literature in the shoulder bag can be a risky business. We see mobile phones as God’s instrument for reaching the ends of the earth.

2. Travel: 

a). Capital expense: The leaders need to travel regularly to stay in touch with their disciples. They also get invited to HCs to different locations for teaching and training. This requires them to be mobile. Travel by trains and buses can be expensive and time consuming. Providing them with motorcycles that give a reasonable mileage and are easy to maintain, greatly enhances their productivity. It also provides a quick getaway in case of impending mob violence. 

b). Recurring expense: With sky high petrol prices making big holes in the pocket, travel has become restricted. To facilitate an increase in their frequency of travel, they will require a regular travel allowance that will take care of the fuel, vehicle repairs, food and accommodation expenses. 

3. Persecution: Every month we come across horror stories of minorities being persecuted. Lately, a new form of persecution is being implemented where they destroy the homes and livelihoods of people predominantly from the minority communities. This is done under the pretext of an anti-encroachment drive. Either they must be relocated or their houses rebuilt in the same place or in their new area of relocation.

Besides this, believers young and old are frequently persecuted by their families and communities. Those who run businesses face economic boycott where no one buys from them. In such challenging situations, they require assistance. During such times, we had to provide dry rations for the family, such as rice, flour, oil, salt, tea, sugar, and money for cooking gas etc. 

4. Humanitarian / Relocation: Due to persecution and financial challenges, leaders and believers require assistance to relocate and reestablish their homes and business, with or sometimes even without their families in a different village, town, city, or district. This is existential crisis that they face that must be facilitated at the earliest. Accidents, sickness in the family and other unforeseen emergencies require immediate financial help. In some places drinking water is the most urgent felt need of the people. In such case we have dug tube wells and installed hand pumps. When we do such acts of mercy, even the most hostile people become friendly and receptive. 

5. Micro-business: Being driven out of their homes and communities, believers lose all their existing sources of income. They are on the streets, sometimes just with the clothes they are wearing. Here we apply the Chinese adage, if you feed them fish, they will get hungry again but if you teach how to fish, then they can take care of themselves. Once relocated, they require a source of income that can support their monthly living expenses. To this regard, we deliberate with them regarding what would be an ideal micro-business that they could start and run with their family. Having a business helps them support their families and live a life of dignity in the community. Their business also gives them an opportunity to engage with the communities they serve. 

6. Seminars: The leaders try and visit their disciples as often as possible. They spend a couple of days with them. This is usually done in one of the homes of the believers. However, most often the houses are too small, and Muslim culture does not allow strangers inside the house, and also it is not possible due to financial limitations. The limited means to provide and accommodate and feed five to ten persons in beyond the reach of most of them. To this regard, we have built a small hall with separate toilet facility to their homes to accommodate a few people. This has greatly enhanced the discipling capacity of new believers in the intimacy of homely environment. However, the cost of feeding them can be prohibitive for them which we would like to financially facilitate. This is often done below the radar in small groups within the confines of their homes.

Missiologist Dr Ralph Winter at the All-Asia consultation in Seoul, Korea. 1973 spoke about sodality and modality to mission students, the Two Structures of God’s Redemptive Mission. There have been many interpretations of that concept. In many Christian denominations, "modality" refers to the structure and organization of the local or universal church, composed of pastors or priests. By contrast, missional organizations are termed sodalities. Our take on the subject is a holistic one that these cannot be dichotomized. The modality church according to Eph. 4:12 equips, mentors and disciples the sheep which are in the fold for the work of the ministry and releases them so that the sodality church can fulfil the John 10:16 to bring other sheep which are of not this fold so that there will be one flock and one Shepherd. They all require different resources to achieve their goals. The goal posts remain the same, to ensure that all nations, tongues, and tribes are enabled to stand before the Throne and worship God.