Partnership Missions Ministry

A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick


When Jesus sent out His first disciples to preach, heal and deliver, they came back to Him for debriefing - to report to Him what had happened, to receive further instructions, and fresh inspiration. We might call this the first retreat, or seminar, for Christian preachers. It is a model that is still used today. Pastors come together for prayer, or attend any one of a large number of Leadership Conferences, Continuing Education Classes, Minister’s Institutes, Retreats, Boot Camps, Pastors' Schools, Schools of Evangelism, Councils, Conventions, Synods, etc. In addition to meetings, in America there are many other resources to assist Pastors: Libraries, Books, Magazines, Audio/Video Tapes, CDs, Internet, TV and Radio Programs - there is no lack of help available to inspire and equip today's Pastor, at least in the US.

Overseas it's a different matter.

Twenty-five years ago I was serving my denomination as Presbyter for a SE Connecticut group of about 12 churches. When I accepted the responsibility, I assumed that the primary role of the office would be to provide spiritual support and vocational counsel to the other Pastors in my area. However, I soon discovered that this was not a pressing need because Pastors had so many other resources to draw from. Besides that, the organizational duties of the Presbyter ate up most of the time available for someone who was fulfilling this role while at the same time serving as Pastor of his own local church. About a year later, I felt directed of the Lord to resign from that church and accepted the call to serve as Pastor in a Massachusetts church, and thus gave up my seat on the Board of Presbyters. Then I received an invitation from my friend of 20 years, M.C. Jacob, an invitation to make a month-long visit to the country of India. In 1988 I made that trip alone because my friend was not able to obtain a Visa, and it was during that trip that it hit me. Yes, in America Pastors have an abundance of resources for support, encouragement and training, but such was not the case in India. Out of that awareness came the call to start what has come to be known as "India Christian Partnership." This year I will make my seventh trip outside the US to fulfill this call.

There are three Bible passages which stand behind this ministry. While sharing them with you, my prayer is that you too will catch the vision for a different kind of missions involvement. Traditionally, missions is defined as a person, or more likely a young married couple, leaving family and friends to travel to a distant land to preach the Gospel to people who have never heard of Jesus. Before they go, they visit several hundred churches to tell them about the intended mission with the hope that these churches, or individuals in them, will support them financially. Two years later, when they reach an amount of money budgeted by the missions board of the denomination or sending agency, somewhere between $72,000 and $96,000 per year, they fly off to begin a two year language school so they can spend two years to learn the language of the people they plan on preaching to. After that is over, and after two years in the country of their choice, they return to the US for a year, during which time they attend Missions School, visit supporting churches, and hopefully get much needed rest. They often are given a new, even higher budget to raise because of inflation and cost of living raises in the country of their mission.

During my first visit to India, I was struck with another idea. I had discovered that 50 years earlier, there had been in North India at least 90 Assemblies of God missionaries from the US. Now there were five, and one of those was past retirement age and ready to return home. And still, less than 2% of the population identified themelves as belonging to any Christian church, and hundreds of thousands of villages had still not received the message of the Gospel.

It is said that Albert Einstein once made the comment that you cannot solve a problem using the same methodology employed to contribute to the problem in the first place. It was impressed on me that in India, and probably other similar places in the world, the missions methodology needed to be changed. Later on this was reinforced by a report I heard while I was constructing our new family room ceiling. The radio was tuned to PRI and there was a brief report on the outcome of a world population conference just completed in Egypt. When a statistic was given concerning India's population growth, my ears perked up. The commentator ran the numbers, telling how many babies would be born in that country in a single year, and how many deaths were predicted. The annual net population growth for this one country would be at least 20,000,000. While I kept on working, I did the math in my head and concluded that if each American Missionary could win 2,000 people to Christ in a year, it would take 10,000 Missionaries, at a total cost of at least $60,000,000 a year, just to keep up with the population growth! The old way of thinking had to give way to something more likely to be able to fulfill the Great Commission in our generation.

Don't you see it? If the American Church has $6,000 - $8,000 to spend in order to support missionaries in India and other impoverished countries, instead of providing for just one Missionary, we could easily provide for and supervise 400 - 550 church planting pastors who don't need to be sent to language school, and who are already adjusted to the living conditions and difficult culture. Wouldn't that make sense? To the contrary, last week I received a phone call from a former student of mine, a young man born and brought up in India, trained in the US and now serving as Pastor in a rural Nebraska town. He longs to return to his home country, but when he approached our missions representative for India, he was told that if he applied for missionary service, he would not be allowed to go to his own country, but would be sent to another. Why is that? Probably because of Jesus' statement, "No prophet is accepted in his own country." (Luke 4:24) But we all know that it is never wise to base a belief or practice on one Scripture alone; even Jesus, when He delivered the deranged and demonized man, specifically told him, "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." (Luke 8:39)

So the underlining philosophy is this, instead of sending people from one part of the world to another, we should find a way to support those who are already doing the job of evangelism as well as training and sending out missionaries from within the target country.

Within that larger picture, we come back to this matter of Pastors having access to adequate resources for encouragement and training. And that brings us back to the point of looking at these three pertinent Scriptures, which we will place under the headings of the names of the first missionaries, Peter, Barnabas and Paul.

I. Peter was a "Partnership Missionary"

The first is a comment Jesus made to Peter during the Last Supper as Jesus was preparing the disciples for His own death on the cross. Right after Jesus announced that one of the disciples would betray Him, they began arguing among themselves about who would be the greatest. Evidently they thought that the pecking order would be based on their individual level of commitment; Peter was confident he'd be at the top because he claimed that he was ready to die with Jesus. That's why Jesus spoke directly to him when He said,

    "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." (Luke 22:31,32)

Jesus already knew that Peter would fail and deny Him, even though he boasted, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death." It was as if Peter was relying on his own strength and saying "I'm strong enough, I'm with you all the way." Of course Jesus' sad prediction came true as later that night Peter went so far as to say that he didn't even know Jesus. The point for us is this, no Christian leader is beyond being tempted to give up, not even one whom everyone else looks at as being very close to Jesus. Jesus understood this and assured Peter of His own prayer on his behalf. But notice that Jesus also made a point of sharing this "strengthening" ministry with Peter. Peter would survive his failure, but then he would have the responsibility of turning around and offering to his brethren the same spiritual strength Jesus provided to him.

That's what this new type of "partnership missions" ministry is all about, strengthening the brethren - it's a Peter ministry.

Here are a few contemporary examples as to how this has worked through the India Christian Partnership Seminars for Pastors:

    "God has strengthened me through your teachings." Pastor B. Ramarao

    "I was fearful that I may not be able to continue in the ministry, but God has spoken to me through you, now I am sure that I can finish my race." Sister Ester

    "I was touched by the words that God spoke to me through you, especially the prophetic word, "don't lose heart" has strengthened me, when I was losing confidence in the ministry." Pastor K. Rejaratnaw

    "I have been inspired to rededicate myself into the hands of God with renewed spirit of faith, hope and love." Jayant Kr. Rejahansa

    "I came very much discouraged and cast down because of the situations in my family and ministry. God spoke to me through the messages. I am very much encouraged and comforted. I am going back with the zeal of God." Pastor Buchiyya.

II. Barnabas was a "Partnership Missionary"

The second example of this "partnership missions" ministry was demonstrated by Barnabas. By the way, it may come as a surprise to you that this man, a generous layman from Jerusalem, was also called an "Apostle." (Acts 14:14) However, before he ever earned that title by being sent out from Antioch with Paul (Acts 13:2,3), he was sent by the Jerusalem elders on a mission to Antioch, an important Gentile city on the coast. In line with what we're saying today, notice that he was not primarily sent to evangelize, although as a result of his ministry many people did turn to the Lord. Rather, the mission of Barnabas was to go see (and report back), and encourage. Listen to what it says,

    "When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts." (Acts 11:23)

This verse in the King James Version has the word "cleave," the same word used to describe the close, binding relationship between a man and wife. Barnabas wasn't sent with the authority of the Jerusalem elders to appoint leaders, or to tell the Christians at Antioch how to conduct the affairs of their church. Rather, they specifically chose him because his dominant spiritual gift was "encouragement" - that's why they changed his name in the first place. The leaders of the early church evidently recognized the importance of this same ministry we're talking about, someone from outside sent in to bring an exhortation about faithfulness, steadfastness, perseverance and endurance. Earlier, Jesus had expressed His own concern about this when He asked, "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8) The ministry of Encouragement doesn't get the fanfare of the ministry of Evangelism, but think about it, if Encouragers fail to do their job, so that Evangelists become discouraged and quit, how then will be the fulfillment of the Great Commission?

That's what this new type of "partnership missions" ministry is all about, strengthening the brethren - it's a Barnabas ministry.

Here are a few more contemporary examples as to how this has worked through the India Christian Partnership Seminars for Pastors:

    "Your teachings have helped me and strengthened me. I have decided to be a faithful leader." Pastor K. Timothy

    "I have been very much strengthened by this seminar." Pastor Isaac

    "I am a chef by profession, but have realized God wants me to be a missionary." Fabian Masingchao

    "I am really blessed by your messages. I decided to serve the Lord as long as I live." M. Danielu

    "I came to the seminar doing an ordinary ministry. Through the teachings I am encouraged, filled with the Holy Spirit and God spoke to my heart. I am going back to my village with new joy." Pastor Moses.

III. Paul was a "Partnership Missionary"

Our third example is that of Paul, as given to us in his letter to the church at Rome.

It's important to remember that this was not a church planted by Paul, he was not the founder, nor, as far as we know, was Peter or any other of the named apostles. Probably "visitors from Rome", who were in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:10), went back and started to gather for prayer and teaching. The reason Paul is able to name so many friends in that church is because they had moved to Rome from other areas where Paul had met and worked with them. And yet, for a long time he had planned to go there but had been hindered. In our chosen verses, he explains why,

    "I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong - that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith." (Romans 1:11,12)

There are two points to make here. 1) Paul understood that strength would result from his visit with the Romans, and that would be due to the impartation of "some spiritual gift." In other words, it wasn't because he would want or be able to psych them up with enthusiastic motivational speeches - he had given up on that long before. Rather, he believed that the Holy Spirit would use him in such a way that the church there would be edified. 2) In addition, he realized that he also, the great Apostle himself, would be benefited by this exchange - "We will be mutually encouraged," he said. This is the way it always is with spiritual gifts, the giver receives, and the receiver gives.

That's what this new type of "partnership missions" ministry is all about, strengthening the brethren - it's a Paul ministry.

Once again, here are a few more contemporary examples as to how this has worked through the India Christian Partnership Seminars for Pastors:

    "I have learnt not to lose my heart when I face difficulties sharing the gospel." Pastor G. Moses

    "I had a lot of confusions, doubts, and problems about my faith, calling, and ministry. Really I feel God has renewed my faith, commitment, ministry. I think God has sent you to minister, encourage my ministry." Pastor Eliphaz

    "Especially God spoke to me by Jack Kinard's message so I knelt before the Lord and re-dedicated my life and ministry to do more effectively in the days to come." Pastor Babu

    "Your teaching has strengthened me to the very core of my life. Now I would want to be a model leader." Pastor David

    "We need you not only this year, but every year . . . we thank all those behind you in U.S.A., in affording you to be with us. We appreciate . . . the time, energy, enthusiasm, and the pep-up you have given to us." S.H.W. Roy

To accept this message about "partnership missions" may require a paradigm shift for many in the Western, American church. There are three problems which must be overcome: Pride, Prejudice and ineffective Process.

    The problem of a prideful attitude is that we in the West think we are the best qualified to blanket the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

    The problem of prejudice is that we assume that preachers in poorer lands are impoverished due to their own lack of initiative and dedication, so we must come in and do the job for them.

    And third, there's this problem of being saddled with a process of missions support which is inefficient, not totally consistent with the Biblical pattern, and already proven incapable of fulfilling the obligation of the Great Commission.

Will you join with the growing number of people who are catching on and lending their support? With your support and theirs, this year over 1,000 pastors in Southern Asian countries will receive the benefit of at least a small portion of resources for encouragement, support and training.

In closing, let me relate the startling facts about how the church has contributed to the missionary work in India:

    96.8 cents of each dollar contributed by Christians is spent on the 2 billion people who call themselves Christians. (Christians spending money on themselves.)

    2.9 cents of each dollar is spent on the 2.6 billion people who have heard and rejected Christ.

    1/3 cent of each dollar is spent to reach the 1.6 billion people throughout the world who have never heard or had a chance to respond!

    Just one tenth of a penny goes to reach India, where a quarter (412 million) of the 1.6 billion unreached live.

If that's all we can contribute, let's be sure it has maximum effectiveness by following the examples of Peter, Barnabas and Paul and strengthen those whom God has already positioned to bring the Gospel to the millions of people who have never heard.

Discussion Questions
Partnership Missions Ministry

1. What did Jesus intend to do with His disciples when they returned from their preaching tour?

2. Why is it important for all Pastors to receive encouragement, support, and ongoing training?

3. What is the most common way to describe a "missionary"?

4. What Biblical basis can be found to support the idea that Missionaries should be sent to countries other than their own?

5. As seen in the case of Peter, leaders are obviously not exempt from being severely tempted by Satan. What farming analogy did Jesus use to make to point about the severity of the temptation?

6. What does this story of Peter tell us about the responsibility of Christian leaders who have themselves received strength from Christ?

7. Who was Barnabas, what was his dominant gift, and was he an "apostle"?

8. What message did Barnabas preach at Antioch?

9. What is the importance of the ministry of Encouragement?

10. Which Apostle founded the church at Rome?

11. What two main outcomes did Paul expect from his visit to the church at Rome?

12. What are the three words, all beginning with the letter "P" which are problems related to the paradigm shift from "the West will win the world" to a "Partnership Missions" approach?

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