Customization Over Standardization

A growing number of mission trips and mission events involve training.  This is a wonderful development since quality training is greatly needed almost everywhere in the world.  

But then, how should we decide what to teach?  Generally, there are two types of approaches, the standardized and the customized. 

Standardization:  Focus on Content

When a church or mission team becomes involved in training events one of the first concerns is what content should be taught.  Attention is given to what the the pastor or mission leaders know how to teach, are good at teaching, or something about which they are passionate.  Favorite topics are theology, methods for evangelism and discipleship systems.

Once curriculum is found or developed that teaches the needed information, the next concerns are its accessibility, reproducibility and, additionally, how to perpetuate it as a program, especially if multiple trips and events are planned.  Standardized curriculum works well for this and can easily gain supporters and advocates.

If everything goes according to hopes and plans, the material becomes widely used and appreciated.  A successful program will be a tremendous help to thousands of people.  And for this we are truly thankful to the Lord!

Even so, might there be a more valuable approach to training, in certain contexts?  What would the national Christian leaders identify as their most crucial training needs?  How do desires for relationship, and expectations of resources, impact acceptance or rejection of our training materials and events?  Where does the standardized content fit well, and where does it miss the mark?

Customization:  Focus on Context

What if, instead of focusing on the content we are able to deliver, we focused on the ministry context and asked our partners what they really want, and need?  

Then we can design training that will be more valuable and more valued.  It will take more work procuring what is needed, rather than just looking at what we have to offer.  But this gives our partners more options; and it has the potential to meet more critical training needs and address their top priorities.  When this happens the national leaders will be highly motivated to use what they learned and multiply the training.

We will need to keep on asking our partners what they want in order to reach a deeper understanding and gain a more complete picture of their situation.  We must be able to continually adjust to changing needs and developing situations.  And we must allow for modifications of our material, and trust our partners in this.

Most likely our national partners will be recipients of information from a number of standardized trainings and quality conferences.  This is a good combination for them, because they will want to discuss it with us and have us help them process and apply what they learned.  Often what is wanted more than anything is relationship, friendship and ministry mentoring. 

Move To A Higher Level

Standardized trainings are valuable, but they are used too often and relied upon too much.  Making the effort to customize training will produce more helpful and effective training events, and ultimately be more satisfying and influential.

Both approaches to training are sorely needed, and sometimes even both in the same location.  However, the standardized approach to training is often favored because it is easier to explain what we are doing and teaching, requires less personal involvement, and lends itself to measurable reporting.

Consider moving toward a more customized approach.  Suits come in many different sizes when purchased off the rack, yet nothing fits as comfortably as a suit tailor-made.

Avoid Questions Using Superlatives

What is the best and most effective way to reach the world for Christ?

I hope you do not have an answer to this question, because there is not one best way.  There never has been and never will be.

Broad Questions Lead to Generalizations 

In our churches we are fond of asking questions such as:  What is the most effective system for church planting in India?  What is the greatest need of the church in China today?  What is the best approach to evangelize Muslims?  What is the prime strategy to bring about cultural transformation in the United States?  Which tactic will end human trafficking most quickly?  What is the key biblical practice for successful mission? 

At first these sound like great questions.  We hope we will get clear answers quickly so we can take them and run!  We can sign up for the best program, or pump funds into the most effective ministry.  And we can stop doing and supporting all those ministries that now appear obviously no longer “the best and most effective” ones.

But the questions are misleading, and usually if answers are given they are likewise misleading.  There is no secret formula, or one-size-fits-all solution, or silver bullet to finish the task.  At least we ought to realize that rarely, if ever, are such large and complex tasks so easily understood, answered and achieved.

This is not to say that we shouldn’t think in more general terms and systems, and even have preferred methods.  Broad thinking and deep analysis are needed, of course.  However, when asking questions seeking to find basically one brief answer, we are being simplistic.

Specific Questions Lead to Better Application

Questions with superlatives are unhelpful because they exaggerate comparisons and result in superficial conclusions.  It is not very constructive for church leaders or mission leadership teams to be thinking in this way.  They will not be able to procure the answers we desire and the ones we really need to move forward in mission focus and increasing our impact.

Hopefully the reason we ask so many questions about mission is because we want to learn and grow, not to have pat answers to tough questions, and ultimately to become more effective in our ministry and mission fields.

What is missing?  Context.  Context is where we will find the answers.  Each location and its circumstances is unique.  There are so many variables that it is impossible to find a best approach to succeed in them all.  Each place varies by its culture, its people, its realities of life, and so much more, and even by those serving the Gospel in that specific place.  

Mission is always carried out in a distinct context.  It will be helpful to customize our questions by adding specificity to our broad concerns.  We might begin by asking those closest to our place of interest to provide further definition of their ministry environment.  Then, we can ask intelligent and strategic questions, tailored to the situation.  This will be a more profitable discussion.  

Churches that have identified their calling for a global mission focus will ask better questions.  They probably have discovered many answers on their own simply by being personally engaged in the work.  And most likely they have been pleasantly surprised to learn that many methods work best; it just depends . . . 

When God Pushes You Even Further

Our small team of five was prepared to share our evangelistic testimonies and give a simple presentation of the Gospel.  The ministry pattern we had been following in this Asian country led us to expect to find a gathering of church member’s Buddhist neighbors, friends and relatives ready to hear what we had prepared to share.  Their hope and prayer was that God would start a new church.

A Surprise Scramble

However, when we arrived at the house, it was filled with about forty young church planters and many along with their wives.  We soon discovered that our team made up the guest speaker roster for that second day of their three day conference.  We were not prepared for this at all!

We politely explained our situation being caught unprepared, introduced ourselves, gave a couple testimonies, and then asked for a thirty minute break to put together the presentation topics for the late morning and afternoon sessions.

We quickly took stock of our gifts as a team and the topics about which each us felt somewhat prepared to speak, to share from experience or to lead a discussion.  We prayed and asked to Lord to move our hearts and match up our thinking with the needs of the group.  We stepped out in faith, trusting that God put together our team, created this situation, and would make something good happen.

God Used the Unprepared Ones

That was many years ago and I no longer remember all the topics we ended up addressing that day, though I am sure we used our testimonies and spiritual growth stories as springboards for many practical discussions.  We likely talked about marriage and singleness, parenting, Bible study methods, personal trials and persecutions, maintaining a vibrant personal walk with Christ, and a few other basics of Christian living.  Such topics are always helpful and encouraging to discuss with one another.

A couple of us had to handle the more complicated theological questions about biblical history, the Return of Christ, and the all too often popular topic of Christianity in America.  The most interesting concerns were those surrounding apologetics in a Buddhist culture and society.  We learned much more than we taught on such matters, most certainly.  

Those church planters and evangelists found it challenging in their religious context of idolatry to make a case for a God who needs no temple nor desires representational images.  Interestingly, that year I had been teaching a series on the attributes of God and much of it was still fresh in my mind.  So we discussed the spirituality and invisibility of God in relation to their situation.  Together we reviewed the history of redemption from beginning to the end and looked at selected Scriptures, tracing out this doctrine of God and helping them find good answers.

Reflections at Dinner and Later

The main conference speaker graciously translated as necessary that day.  He and I became friends as we worked together to minister effectively to these young men and women.  During our dinner that evening, he expressed his appreciation for our team and our teaching.  

He also added that he had covered much of the same material we did, but now that they heard it from someone else they will really believe it!  We laughed.  I told him that it works this same way in America (and probably in many other places)—guest speakers are often admired and listened to more than the regular teachers.

Our whole team slept well that night with a deep sense of satisfaction that God had used them to build up His Church.  He showed us His faithfulness in supplying us with ideas, and giving us the words to speak.  By His Spirit, He created a sense of love, community and mutual learning among everyone at the meetings that day.  As a result, we all were blessed, encouraged and renewed in our service to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Leading a mission team is always an adventure and a learning experience.  We never did figure out why that day happened the way it did, whether it was a communication issue, wrong assumptions or something else.  It didn’t matter because God glorified Himself that day.  The remaining days on that trip went according to plan, as our plan actually turned out to be God’s plan!

When we step out in faith, sometimes God makes us step out even further than anticipated.  But had we known just how far at the beginning, we never would have stepped out at the start.

Mission-Minded Children

We are blessed by our four young adult daughters who are all thoroughly mission-minded individuals.  Recently, I asked them, “If you were to encourage other parents, what were some of the things mom and I did that impacted you most in this area?”

Our Oldest Begins

“The first thing that comes to mind is reading the missionary biographies after dinner, I remember that we would SO look forward to those!  At times I would have rather read one of those then have dessert.  And I remember that we all wanted to be missionaries to different parts of the world based on these.  This is how I gained most of the knowledge about historical missionaries, because if we didn't read them I would know nothing about Mary Slessor (my favorite), George Mueller, Gladys Aylward, Amy Carmichael, or any others.”

In their excitement, our children would occasionally ask their friends about their own favorite missionary; but often others had no idea what a missionary even was.  I guess it is tough being a pastor’s kid at times.  

Experience Counts

All types of experiences prove valuable, from going, to sending, to supporting and to praying.  There are so many opportunities before us! Here are some more responses from the girls.

• Encouraging us to go on an evangelistic mission trip ourselves. “After the mission trip I was more mission-minded than before.”

• Hosting different missionaries in our home and hearing from them was cool too! We loved hearing stories and meeting people that do missions in different countries. 

• “Just reminding us to pray for the church when they were on mission trips, helped me think about missions a lot.” Especially, taking us to the World Christian Prayer Meetings at church, and telling us we had to pick one thing to pray for out loud.

• Supporting people financially and in other ways that go on trips was helpful. And it encouraged us to support our own endeavors, whether volunteer experiences, spiritual growth areas, or whatever.

Dad & Mom Both Push Mission

We pushed mission from the very beginning as part our our vision for our family.  As soon as we started receiving missionary newsletters as young parents we would put them in binders and use them in our times of family devotions during our prayer times. We even included mission readings as part of school, and they loved it.

Dad and mom need to go.  One daughter mentioned that we modeled for her how it all fits together--the strategy, fundraising, team dynamics, prayer, etc.  She remembered vividly that we shared stories with them and in front of the whole church with others who had gone.  These were stories about “PERSONAL experience,” and included pictures of those we met and who accepted Christ.

She went on to point out our “trusting and bold attitude towards missions.”  She went on to observe, “It's interesting because some people I have met at college get scared when I talk about going to India or a mission trip and because both you and mom are not afraid to let us go, then in turn I'm not afraid to step out into the world--God says to evangelize to the world and not just in our comfort zones!!”  Amen, to that!

More to Do and Learn

Children are a blessing; we received more information than expected.  It is always interesting what children remember and count as significant.  Certainly, there is a whole lot more we as parents can do to impart passion for the Mission of God in Christ to our children. 

You may have found many other creative and powerful ideas.  I would love to read your comments!  We still have two teenage boys at home and are considering what more to do to capture their hearts with the heart of God!

May God bless all you parenting efforts!

Stuck By An Attendance Pin--Ouch!

My first experience doing door-to-door evangelism took place about 30 years ago.  I was on a youth retreat with a parachurch ministry in the city of Minneapolis.  This was the year I had just become a Christian and I had one most memorable experience.

A Triviality Travesty

My partner and I ended up talking with a man in his late 60s.  We stood on his doorstep and asked through the crack in the door, “Sir, if you were to die tonight how certain are you that you would go to heaven?”  He asked if we were Christians, the Evangelical kind, just making sure we weren’t from a cult, he said.  

He didn’t answer our question according to our script.  Instead he told us that when he was in Sunday School in the 3rd or 4th grade he didn’t get his 100% attendance pin that he earned.  Apparently the teacher made a mistake in the records.  I was surprised that he would remember and even care about such a trivial matter.  

We pressed onward with the Gospel story and explained to him that salvation is not based on works, but on faith in Jesus Christ.  He returned to his attendance story with seriousness in his voice, being visibly upset and stating that he is an atheist.  He had been holding a grudge against God, the teacher and the church for 60 years!

Blaming God Is Cowardly

We kindly assured him that God knew the truth about his claim and that he need not worry about it any longer.  He retorted, “The church is full of hypocrites!”  We politely laughed at him and said, “Sir, how can you blame God for the actions of people?  That is not fair to God.”  We helped him see and agree that his story sounded ludicrous.

He was silent, as it started to dawn on him that he was being foolish in holding a grudge over a minor offense, and then blaming God for it for most of his life.  This moment of softening was our opportunity to describe the imperfection of all people, as sinners.  We were even able, by God’s grace, to persuade him that he wasn’t perfect either, and in fact far from God’s righteous standard. 

We simply shared the plan of salvation with him and asked him if he would like to be free of his burden of sin, and this particular pain that has plagued him his whole life.  And we told him how God desires to have a personal relationship with us that is real.

It Is Always Good To Pray

It was an intense 20-30 minutes on that doorstep.  He was thinking hard and God was working on him.  He was near tears, but not ready to trust fully in the Gospel.  That was fine we told him; and we thanked him for telling us his story.

“Can we pray for you?”  He was so happy we asked him that.  Yes, we prayed.  We prayed for some other challenges he shared with us, and we prayed for his understanding to grow, and for God to grant him faith unto salvation in Jesus Christ.

He smiled and eagerly took our materials.  We were able to pass along his contact information to a local church in his area, and describe our honest conversation with this dear man.

I don’t know how it all turned out.  One thing I am sure of though is that attendance pins may not be such a good idea, along with a host of other awards we give out to children hoping to help make them Christians.  What do such practices really say about the Gospel?  Where do such rewards lead them to put their trust other than in Christ? 

Church Mission Conference Boredom No More

When we announced the first month-long mission conference, we heard groans and skepticism.  Sometimes people dread mission conferences because they are not interested, or the conference itself is not interesting, possibly lacking in creativity and direction.  I assured people that this would actually be the highlight of the year, and so it became every year to come.  

Our annual Mission Conference at Lancaster EFC lasted a full month of Sundays every October.  Many activities comprise a mission month.  But we saw this much more than simply informing our congregation about our missionaries, involving them in activities, and exposing them to the Mission of God.  Although we certainly did do these things.

We would devote a whole session to detailed updates and times of prayer for each of our missionaries, as well as put together a print booklet with photos, mission goals, prayer requests and contact information.  This would be used at home and weekly in our World Christian Prayer Meetings (previous blog post).

First and foremost, we used this month as a vision month, and for strategic planning as a leadership team and as a church.  As a church that saw itself as a mission team, we saw our purpose for existing as being fully involved in the Mission of God (see previous blog post of Every Church A Mission Team).  We selected a theme that fit our goals each year. 

The preaching series was focused upon different aspects of the History of Redemption and how the larger story of God’s Mission in Christ can be found anywhere and everywhere in the Bible.  We would concentrate on areas where we needed to grow in our understanding, or where we believed our passions needed to be strengthened.

As a church, we were constantly working on church planting both in Asia and in our community.  We wanted to know how to plan the next mission trip in order to move forward in reaching the unreached people we had engaged with the Gospel.  We wanted to know more about church planting here at home, as well.

So, we would select the speakers and consultants we needed to help us take it to the next level.  What did we need to think through, or re-think?  With whom did we need to meet?  What more did we need to learn, or what practice did we need to improve?  Special coffees were held for our leadership (and those interested) to discuss such questions with our speakers and consultants.

These annual conferences were times for us as a congregation to refocus on our core purposes of worship and mission.  We wanted to know what were the next steps for us as a church in moving forward in His Mission.  At the end of each conference we would praise God in amazement on how He would met us every year through the preaching, speakers and consultants and led us in the next steps.

You Weren't Supposed To Learn That In Seminary

Every so often you will catch a pastor saying, “they didn’t teach me that in seminary.”  And church members will likewise remark, “I bet you didn’t learn that in seminary!”  Such statements, whether serious or poking fun at learning as impractical, can be foolish and dangerous.  This is because these are the complaints of anti-intellectual pragmatism.  

It is becoming increasingly popular in our society to belittle formal education and learning, especially among Christians.  It is dumb to think that we will be smarter and more successful by holding only to the lowest levels of education.  Growing in knowledge and reflection is most practical.  As one of my colleagues is known for saying, “nothing is more practical than good theory.” 

Most basically, seminaries should teach pastors how to study and teach well the Holy Scriptures, which is the basis of all Christian life and ministry, and guide them as they begin to think through matters of pastoral ministry and leadership.

But, it is ludicrous to expect to learn everything in seminary, especially the innumerable things that only can be learned by doing, and should be learned by doing.  Insight and success are gained by experience along with an understanding of how to be lifelong learners at a deeper level.

Often stated another way, “I don’t use half of what I learned,” implies that seminary wasn’t really that important for ministry preparation, either.  However, the reality is that we use everything that we have ever learned all the time, because it becomes part of who we are and forms how we think.  

Whenever I hear pastoral colleagues or even parishioners make light of seminary, I am quick to respond, “you weren’t supposed to learn that in seminary.”  This begins an enjoyable and usually profitable conversation on the value of learning, and when, where and how it best takes place.

It's All About Who You Know & Where They Live

A few years ago while trekking with a seasoned missionary we got to talking about the bigger picture of missions. I had finished reading some weighty books in missiology and some others by popular leading thinkers and doers, and wanted to get my friend’s opinion and thoughts on how this good stuff plays out on the field.

I mentioned a well known mission expert and his latest book. My friend had not heard of him or his book. I wondered how this could be, since my friend was so accomplished in the area of missiology himself. So, I explained the thesis and some of the ideas. The issues were relevant and he appreciated the usefulness of the insights and we interacted for a while. 

Then I mentioned a second book. He had not heard about that one either. I really respected this friend of mine, but was starting to think that he had been gone too long and had lost touch. How about the journals, surely he kept up with these, even wrote for them on occasion? No. 

The conversation turned as he now mentioned some names to me I didn’t recognize. He went on to talk about great advances taking place in Kingdom work in this particular country and asked me if I had heard the stories or knew the leaders. I knew a couple of the stories, none of the leaders though; and so, I really knew very little at all. 

He kindly proceeded to explain to me that the people and ideas that matter the most in his context are the ones right there, not in America. And they included nationals as well as expatriates working together, perhaps no-names elsewhere but respected in their context because of their work. I knew this, but now I knew it better. 

There is a mysteriously long list of names in Romans 16:1-16. Some of them we know something about; most of them we know nothing about. As we read through the list we wonder who all these people were. What did they do for the Gospel’s advance? What were their amazing stories? And why were they so important? The individuals and the ideas that are most valuable depend on the context and the needs. 

Today, there are even more Gospel servants all around the world, and many of them have great ideas to share and stories to tell. It is important to learn from everyone. Sharing our connections and telling the untold stories brings encouragement, develops partnerships and enhances everyone’s missionary practice.