STAGE FIVE
ENGAGING THE PEOPLE GROUP
This stage begins with the
establishment of an effective ministry among the target people
group, and continues on until they are reached, or until God leads
the church to do otherwise. The challenge during this stage is
maintaining focus and commitment over long periods of time when
there may be very little to report in terms of tangible results.
Church planting among unreached peoples is often a long and challenging
process.
Five Potential
Forms of Engagement:
The church
can . . .
-
Send its own church planting
team, facilitated through an organizational structure (apostolic),
the church itself forms
-
Send a church planting
team in partnership with a mission agency
-
Send some of its members
as part of another church planting team, in partnership with
another church or mission agency
-
Render practical support
to a church planting initiative already underway among the target
people
-
Provide assistance to
the emerging national church among the target peoples as it
seeks to reproduce
Three Post-engagement
Things to Keep in Mind:
-
Additional personnel
will probably be needed . . . Over time there is every likelihood
that some original personnel will need to return home. And as
the initiative matures, a different gift and skill set may be
needed. The training process can be ongoing, with new team members
continually in preparation.
-
New partnerships can
be forged - Sometimes the most powerful partnerships are those
begun through informally working together while actually "on
the field."
-
Pastoral care for long-term
field personnel is critical. Living and ministering among an
unreached people for months and years is very demanding spiritually,
emotionally, and physically. The strains on family life are
intense. Healthy churches are filled with pastorally gifted
and experienced people who can be employed in the long-term
care of "those who go." Developing the capacity to
deliver that care, and sustain it over the long haul, once again
highlights the level of commitment required on the part of the
whole church, both leaders and people.
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