Developing a Plan to Reach your City!
I. Change your way of thinking!
A. Think like a general in a war. How would he go about taking the city
B. Think like a business man (the Coca Cola Company, McDonalds). How will you reach all corners of the world, expanding your business and money
C. Don’t go as a pastor or evangelist. Go as a Church planting missionary!
D. Do not do things that the nationals will not be able to reproduce!
E. Decide now to train nationals!
F. Do not do the work yourself!
G. Do not have a defeatist attitude! That will not work here. It has to work because it is the Bible way. Ephesians 4:11 and following.
H. Do not be a one church, one term missionary!
II. Spy out the Land
Step one on your journey to reach a country with the gospel is to learn all you can about the country. Many missionaries fail not for a lack of ability or knowledge but for lack of a strategy. They do not know what they are going to do. They have a good heart. They want to do right but since they do not what to do, how to do it, or what they are facing they go to the field and do not accomplish what they really wanted to accomplish.
Before you go as a missionary you must know something about the country where you are going. The idea of spying out the land is not something that we at Macedonia World Baptist Missions, Inc. developed but comes straight from God.
In Numbers 13:1-3 we see that God told Moses to spy out the land. “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan , which I give unto the children of Israel : of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel .” In Numbers 13:18-20 we see: “And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds; And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.”
1. They were to search out the land.
2. The spies were men, rulers, heads of the children of Israel , leaders
3. There were to check out the people.
4. They were to develop a strategy to conquer the land.
You will be completely unable to develop a strategy and know how to go about reaching your country without knowing all you can about the area. We need to have the attitude that a general would have or a man of war. You don’t go where you do not know what is there and how it is happening. Before you leave for the field you need to investigate your country and know at least the following things about your country.
- The geography of the country.
- Climate
- Crops that are produced
- Type of roads
- The politics and history of the country
- Type of government
- Social development
- Conflicts
- Constitutions
- Attitude towards the government
- Attitude towards North Americans
- Communism, socialism, democracy
- Respect for the law
- History of unrest
- How the country functions
- How the country got to where it is
- The economics and development of the country
- Salary of the people
- Menu that the people have
- Type of housing
- Health, hospitals etc
- Banking, how will you get money,
- How stable is the economy
- Main source of income
- The demographics
- Where do the people live
- How are the classes divided
- How many have cars, telephones, TVs, cell phones, etc
- The psychology
- What they are like
- Are they organized
- Open or closed
- Warm or cold
- Trusting or distrusting
- Family situation
- Attitude towards missionaries.
- What have missionaries done that has caused hard feelings and problems
- The spiritual condition
- How many fundamental independent Baptist Churches are there in the city
- What missionaries are working in the city, from what boards, what type of ministry do they have
- What national missionaries are working in the city
- Christian bookstores?
- Christian radio or television?
- Other types of churches and ministries in the city or area
- History of missions in the country
- Church history in the country
- What you will need to know to live there as comfortably as possible
Frequently Asked Questions for those preparing to go to Peru as Missionaries
1. What things should I take with me to Peru ?
2. What do I wait to buy in Peru ?
3. What are the pros and cons of taking a container of my personal items to Peru ?
4. What about my visa and paper work?
5. What kind of house can I expect to live in?
6. What is shipping my goods to Peru going to cost?
7. What kind of electric current will we have?
8. Should I take a survey trip to Peru ?
9. Should I take a vehicle from the states or purchase one in Peru ?
10. What will it cost me to set up my house in Peru ?
11. How long will it be before I learn the language?
12. What kind of grocery stores do they have or how do you buy your groceries?
13. How do we prepare the food that we get at the market?
14. What kind of food will we be eating?
15. What is the weather like?
16. How safe is it?
17. Will my children be safe?
18. Can we have a pet for our children?
19. Can we take our dog with us?
20. How long before I can start my own ministry?
21. What kind of vehicle will we be able to buy in Peru ?
22. How will we be able to communicate with home?
23. Who will my children play with?
24. What activities will my children be able to participate in?
25. How will we get our mail?
26. What preparations can we make before leaving for the field?
27. How are the medical facilities and medical care?
28. What if I have to take medicine on a regular basis (i.e. insulin, etc.)?
29. How will I get my money, banking, etc.?
30. Where will my small children be while I am in language school
31. Will we get sick?
32. How do we send our books (personal library) to Peru ?
33. What are the pros and cons of having a baby in Peru ?
34. Why do I need a will?
35. What kind of services are available should as internet, cell phones, radios, etc.
· Sources of information
o Get in touch with missionaries on that field
III. Choose the right city!
A. It should be a strategic City, a crossroads of the region or the country
B. It should be a large city, people center
C. Paul developed his ministry around principal cities
D. People are moving into large cities and visiting them
E. Yes the smaller cities need to be reached but can be reached by training and sending nationals out.
F. It is far more intelligent to go to a central city and train men to go out. I can’t be everywhere, all the time.
III. Choose the right part of the city
a. Middle Class people
b. First class church reaching all the classes
c. Don’t go to the poorest people or garbage dumps etc.
IV. Biblical basis for the strategy that we have
· Ephesians 4:11-16
· II Timothy 2:2
· Matthew 28:19-20
· Acts 19:9-10
V. Begin praying for a man to take the work from day one.
VI. Count down the days you have left
a. Win souls
b. Train all you get as far and deep as you can
c. Watch for those who want to know and go further
VII. Be sure you can cast your vision
a. You must know when you arrive what you want to have at the end of this term
b. Attendance or number of souls saved is not the goal
c. The goal is to find and train those who will carry on the ministry
d. Follow the example of Jesus, he went about his ministry but looked for men to be with him and learn from him, to catch his vision, he tested those men
VIII. Refrain from ministries that produce numbers but not leaders.
a. Sunday School, children’s ministries, showing films, etc.
b. Numbers are not the goal but the result of an effective ministry.
c. Do not do radio, TV, Children’s ministries, children’s homes, etc.
IX. Get the right goal—training leaders
a. Get the right attitude, they must be trained, there is no good material to start with
b. This type of training will require that you spend a great deal of time with them.
c. You will have to teach character, how to live and be
X. Every ministry you do should only be done as a training ground for your men
XI. Learn to make others a success
XII. Think of yourself as the coach and not a player
a. Recruit the team
b. Train and equip the team
c. Let them play
d. Look for young men 15 to 25 years of age primarily so that you can train them.
e. Remember you can never do it alone
f. Jesus trained men
g. Paul trained men
h. Moses divided his work
i. God made folks with differing abilities
XIII. Pyramid of ministries
a. Priority is to be a leader trainer
b. Public is Church planter
c. Personal is to be a soul winner
d. Private is Devotions, personal separation family etc
