Winter 2016
Missionary Strategy
By Dr. David Potter
The question of rapid reproduction of churches is a popular topic in missions today. It seems that the Apostle Paul was more successful in rapid reproduction of churches than most ministries today. Several questions naturally arise. Should we expect rapid reproduction today? Should we adjust our philosophy or methods in an effort to replicate the Apostle Paul’s results? Should we expect the same results on all fields? Should we apply the same methods to all situations on all fields? Are there dangers associated with rapid reproduction? Perhaps we would be a bit surprised if we had the opportunity to interview the Apostle Paul. Is it just possible that his strategies and methods were not quite as refined as we sometimes like to assume, and that his results were more a product of God’s blessing on the ministry of a totally surrendered vessel? With this thought in mind, we present this article by Dr. David Potter, BWM’s missionary in Pécs, Hungary.
I
read Acts differently now that I am an overseas missionary. What particularly interests me is missionary strategy. While reading, I try to get into the mind of the Apostle Paul. What was he thinking? How did he implement his plan? The goal of the missionary should be planting churches. The apostles obviously understood the Great Commission in this way. They went everywhere making disciples and organizing them into churches. This strategy allows the missionary to work himself out of a job, so to speak. The church that the missionary leaves behind continues and expands the work of winning people to Christ, baptizing and training them. But how did Paul plant churches throughout Asia Minor and Greece so rapidly? To set up a functioning church requires a set of leaders who are trained and capable of carrying on the work. Paul found the answer to the leadership requirement in the synagogue. He always went to the synagogue first. There he found an audience with a background in the Old Testament. No doubt, at least some of them had already looked forward to the coming of the Messiah and would immediately recognize that He had come when Paul preached Jesus to them. Since the Jews required the presence of ten men in order to organize a synagogue, Paul had a mature male leadership nucleus almost instantly— even if only a few of them received the Gospel.
What happened when he came to a city that had no synagogue? The first such city that Luke tells us about is Philippi. Apparently, Philippi did not have ten Jewish men. In fact, it may not have had any Jewish men at all. So what did Paul do? He went to the riverside, where he knew Jews went to pray on the Sabbath. He found Jews there, but they were all women. The women responded to the message and were saved. Lydia, in particular, was a splendid asset to the new church, but she was not a male. Praise God for faithful women! What would we do without them? Nevertheless, Paul’s work was not complete until he found men capable of leading the church. This problem was on my mind as I read Acts 16 recently. Here is my conjecture for what Paul was thinking as he planned his next step. Not just any man can become a leader. Leaders must be men of character and persons of discipline. Over time and with God’s help, a missionary can develop these characteristics in his converts. But God, in His grace, allows even unsaved people to develop character and discipline. Philippi, a Roman colony and outpost, was full of retired Roman soldiers. The Roman army was the best in the world. Roman soldiers were disciplined and much more likely than the average person to be men of character. Here is the problem: how does one get a foothold in the community of military veterans? Prison keepers were often retired military men, but how would you get the attention of a prison keeper? Here is the plan. You find a slave girl who tells fortunes by means of a demonic spirit. You cast out the demon by the power of God and thus enrage her owners, due to their financial loss. Naturally, the owners will haul you before the authorities. The public outcry might be so intense that no one would bother to inquire as to whether or not you are a Roman citizen. They might just throw you into prison without a real trial. If you are fortunate, the mob would also beat you unmercifully, generating more sympathy for you later. That you do not become angry or bitter at this point is also very important. You might try praying and singing praises to God while you are held in stocks in the inner prison. Now comes the really tricky part—you must arrange to have an earthquake. And not just any earthquake will do. The quake must be timed to awaken the jailer out of a sound Continued on page 3
In This Issue
2 Nathan and Kristin Childs—South Africa Highlights from the Highways & Hedges
3 Mission Matters: What Are You Missing? Missionary Strategy (cont.) Ready to Go/Gone
4 Itineraries
Highlights f r o m
Nathan and Kristin Childs— South Africa W
e are happy to introduce Nathan and Kristin Childs, new missionaries to Baptist World Mission. Nathan and Kristin come to us from Fostoria Baptist Church of Fostoria, Michigan. Their pastor is Pastor Steven Henry. The Childs are burdened for the country of South Africa and desire to do a work in Cape Town. Nathan received Christ as his Savior as a child. While a teenager at camp, God worked in his heart and called him to preach. Nathan was very content with this decision until the opening revival services at Bible college, when God made his call more specific to that of missions. Nathan surrendered to this call from God. Kristin too was saved at a young age. Her desire for missions began early in her life, as her family often hosted missionaries in their home. Both Nathan and Kristin have been greatly influenced on mission trips working alongside BWM missionaries. Nathan went to South Africa in 2005 and spent time with the Eric Graham family. Kristin was able to intern with the David O’Gorman family in Ireland as a junior in high school, and then later with the Kevin Brosnan and Eric Graham families in Cape Town. They both received their training at Baptist College of Ministry in Menominee Falls, Wisconsin. After their marriage in 2007, Nathan served as an assistant pastor at Dunbar Baptist Church in Dunbar, Pennsylvania, while Kristin worked alongside him. They waited patiently for eight years for God’s timing to go to the field. Their opportunity came in the spring of 2015 when they were able to spend time with the Eric Graham family, once again in Cape Town. It was at that time that God solidified the decision in their hearts and began to put together details for them to begin the process of going to the field of South Africa. They desire to initially work under Eric and Katie Graham and are anxious to return to Cape Town and begin their ministry there.
t h e
Highways & Hedges
From Spain to Ecuador B
ill and Patsy Hawk have served in Spain for 47 years. Although Spain is, in many respects, a pioneer field, the Hawks’ faithful labors with the Love of God Baptist Church in Madrid demonstrate the power of the Gospel to penetrate all cultural barriers. Not only have they helped establish a solid church in the Capital, but Bill also reported that the church recently sent three member families back to their home country of Ecuador to embark on a joint church-planting effort. This development is especially precious because the Hawks have worked with these families for 14 years and have been instrumental in their salvation, discipleship and service. Each family has demonstrated commitment and giftedness through the local church ministry, including Sunday school teaching, preaching and evangelism. After first expressing their burden to plant a church in Ecuador four years ago, the church waited on the Lord’s leading. Following the pattern of Acts 13, they sent these families back to Ecuador in August as missionaries. And the church in Ecuador is already off to a great start! Since arriving in San Miguel de Comun, the team has secured a meeting place for services, welcoming 20 regular attendees and new visitors every week. They have three services per week, a Saturday social time, a choir and are preparing a Christmas cantata for a nearby pueblo. Bill writes, “We are blessed and enthused at their beginnings. They live in a rural village with no paved streets, police, post office, potable water or reliable telephone connections. They don’t have missionary support as we do. As of today, none of them has a permanent job, but are all working at odd jobs on a daily basis to make ends meet. All three families have children as well. Our input is an almost daily connection with one or more of the families to encourage and to give assistance with preaching materials and continued training.” The Hawks maintain regular contact with these families, providing muchneeded encouragement and vital ministry guidance. We thank God for Bill’s vision to see the church in Madrid send out more families to other countries of Central and South America. The global expansion of their ministry is the outworking of a true missionary vision. The Hawks have established the Ecuador Church-Planting Project for the express purpose of assisting these families with start-up expenses in planting a new church. The project seeks to raise $5,000. Donations should be sent to BWM and marked “Hawk Ecuador Church-Planting Project.”
Bill and Patsy Hawk have served with BWM since 1997.
Mission Matters: What Are You Missing? by Dr. Bud Steadman
T
he famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright once recounted the time when, as a young boy, he went out walking with his uncle. It was winter, and the ground was covered with snow. After they had walked across a lovely white field, young Frank and his uncle turned to look back at their footprints. Frank’s small tracks rambled from one side of the field back to the other, where he had been exploring the sights all around him. His uncle’s prints, in contrast, cut a straight line through the snow. The uncle scolded, “Notice how your tracks wander aimlessly from the fence to the cattle, to the woods and back again. And see how my tracks aim directly to my goal. There is an important lesson in that.” As an adult, Frank Lloyd Wright admitted that he learned a great deal from his uncle’s lecture that day. He commented, “I determined right then not to miss most things in life, as my uncle had.” (newlife.com) While setting goals and faithfully seeking to reach them are important components in establishing Christ-honoring discipline in any believer’s life, the true disciple of the Savior must never forget that even the best human objective is not an end in itself. For example, a wise pastor will set a prayerfully planned schedule for his work week in order to be a good steward of his time and calling, but he must always be open to the Lord directing his steps to divine appointments that may interfere with his predetermined plans. Likewise, a missionary who most effectively manages the multitude of demands upon his or her time will be one who
is self-disciplined and well organized. Tragically, I have known missionaries who seemed to have no goals for their life or ministry—and they reached them every time! That being said, the primary purpose of a missionary being on the field is not to create an effective administrative structure for his family and ministry life, but to win souls, make disciples and plant New Testament churches. Each of us must be open—and watchful—for the Lord to break into our plans and bring those souls across our path to whom He wants us to minister. When that happens, we must stop, adjust our plans and rejoice in God’s direction of our steps. Our Lord modeled this godly flexibility in Mark 10 in an encounter outside the city of Jericho. Having set His face toward Jerusalem to die for the sins of humanity (the greatest goal of eternity), Jesus heard the cry of a blind beggar for healing. Our Lord stopped the procession of pilgrims following Him to Jerusalem for Passover week and gave His undivided attention to one who needed Him. You may say, “But He knew Bartimaeus would be there.” Yes, He did, and He knows each person for whom we need to stop. What, or whom, are you missing as you make a beeline toward your self-determined goals as a missionary? Perhaps setting your eyes freshly upon the souls around you would be a worthy practice in the midst of your busy schedule.
Ready to Go!
Missionary Strategy (cont.) sleep. The intensity must be calibrated perfectly so that the tremor does not knock the building down, but is strong enough to open all the locked doors and break all the prisoners’ chains. If you do all this precisely, the jailer just might come running out of his quarters, assume that all the prisoners have escaped “Sound strategy is very and attempt suicide.
important to a successful missionary endeavor, but God’s leading and power are indispensable.”
Next, you cry loudly that he should not harm himself, because all the prisoners remain in their cells. If you do all this properly, he just might fall down at your feet and cry out, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” The rest will be relatively easy. You will then have a convert capable of leadership. If he is married and has children, you will have a whole family with which to start the church. Obviously, the last few paragraphs were written tongue-in-cheek. What I have really tried to understand is God’s thinking, not Paul’s. Paul could not possibly have foreseen, much less arranged, what actually happened. Sound strategy is very important to a successful missionary endeavor, but God’s leading and power are indispensable. As you pray for missionaries, pray that they will be wise in their strategy. Pray even more that they will experience the direction and power of the Holy Spirit, because God delights in doing what is humanly inexplicable.
These missionaries have almost reached 100% support. They are READY TO GO! Perhaps the Lord of the Harvest will enable you or your church to help get them to their fields of service. Contact them today!
Don & Jill Vanderhoof (Germany) 86% dvanderhoof@baptistworldmission.org
David & Jennifer Willis (Spain) 92% dwillis@baptistworldmission.org
Gone!
Jason & Leigha Carpenter (Cambodia) are fully supported and have reached the field. Mike & Sarah Frueh (Hungary) have gained full support and are on the field. Philip & Bethany Herwaldt (Native Americans) are fully supported and currently on the field.
Itineraries
Steve Anderson
Pat Delaney
Bud Steadman
January 3
February 14
January 4–26
Faith Baptist Church Davison, MI
Spring Meadow Baptist Church Franklin, TN
Brazil
January 10–22
February 28
Baptist College of Ministry Menomonee Falls, WI
First Baptist Church Troy, MI
Elmwood Baptist Church Elmwood, IL
February 7
March 2-6
Bible Baptist Church West Point, MS
Carleton Community Baptist Church Carleton, MI
February 26–March 2
March 9
Mindelo, Cape Verde
Baptist Church of Hadley Hadley, MI
Kevin Brosnan
April 13–17
Spain
Maranatha Baptist Church Winston Salem, NC
April 20
April 19
Colonial Hills Baptist Church Indianapolis, IN
Thompson Road Baptist Church Indianapolis, IN
David Canedy
Jesse Garza
January 17
No meetings scheduled.
February 19–March 14
Marquette Manor Baptist Church Downers Grove, IL
February 19–21
February 26–28 Dunbar Baptist Church Dunbar, PA
March 6 Bethel Baptist Church Tucson, AZ – AM Service
March 6 Tucson Baptist Temple Tucson, AZ – PM Service
March 7–9 Tri-City Baptist Church Chandler, AZ
March 9–11 FBFI Board Meeting Northwest Valley Baptist Church Glendale, AZ
March 13–16 Maranatha Baptist Church Sebring, FL
January 24–27 First Baptist Church La Salle, IL
April 10 Westside Baptist Church Martinez, GA
Schedule an Administrator or Director at Your Church! BWM administrators and directors offer a wonderful blend of passionate preaching and current field experiences. Please contact the mission if you would like to schedule any of these men for your next conference.
April 29–30 Wilds Board Meeting Brevard, NC
All administrators will be attending the following:
BWM Spring Board Meeting April 11–12 Martinez, GA
BWM Orientation April 24–29 Camp Joy Whitewater, WI
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