Scoundrel Men and Women Are The Best Church Planters

I'm trained in theology, missology up the wazoo. God has made it clear to me that what we view as our style of leadership in the west is not needed to advance the church. After working in pulpit ministry, and four pioneer works in French sub Sahara West Africa... The mass people movements taking place have many united characteristics (With asian people movements as well). The most interesting, and humbling, is that every one of them spread apart from theological school trained people or in association with theological institutions. 

In Mongola the Gospel was spread by young chtistian school girls. On weekends and school vacations one girls family would invite another friend home. And the young girl would tell their other friend the bible stories while they played. Not a planned thing. It just gappens, right.

The adults over heard them tell the stoies and listened in the yurt too. how do you get away in a yurt:-) By this the Gospel spread in a formerly inpenitrable region to foreign lead mission activity.

There is no talk about APEST gifts or leadership in these circles.

Old women, of no apparent leadership attributes have planted more churchs than I have. I've come to believe (shoved down my throat) no gift qualifies or disqualifies anyone from loving others, sharing Jesus, or from church planting. Church planting is the result of sowing Jesus....

We turned over a new work of eighteen communities of believers to a mission agency, and moved to start another new work.  The agency sent five mission families in... and the expansion of comminites stopped instantly. Four years later the westerners asked me to come back and do something, anything, to get mission and church planting to begin again. I spent 30 days in the bush with the local men and listened and listened some more. Did the same after that with the westerners... they were very critical of one farmer.
Finally,  I asked the five families how many church communities they started here. "None", they said.
"How many communities have you started anywhere in your life?", none they said.
I said, well, that farmer you are criticizing has brought the gosoel to nine villages. With no pay, no salary, no expense money, no bible college training, and he did it without your fancy training programs designed to teach him, and the others how it's done. (Same for every community. No western money was used for salaries, positions, constructing church buildings etc.) I share his story, and how this farmer has more gospel living and church forming experience in his pinky fingernail, right now, than all five western families will ever have in a lifetime, combined. So why don't we get out of the peoples way.

The uneducated rural farmers were defaulting to the educated imporant people, as they always do in those cultures. The farmers were submitting to all of the westerners meetings, classes, and training programs.. but for four years the advancement of the Gospel slowed to a trickle.  not one new community
Anyway, the five mission family team agreed to step back. So we went back to the bush, and all of the villages met. Within thirty days a new community sprung up, and by three months there were four new Jesus communities.

One of the worst men I know, he is an unusually large man among his ethnic group. He is brash, a big village bully, drinks a lot, and screws around with dozens of other women, sired children, gave his actual wife a STD because of it.  He and I locked horns many times. We loved, and hated each other at the same time, at various times. But coming from a fisherman family i'm used to brash burley men. 

He is not a leader, as he does not qualify in character. But the gospel is in his village because of him, and spread to four others because of him. Sometimes, I've seen him do it when visiting him,  telling other men the stories in a drunken stupor over too much palm wine that fermented a little too long. You can't kick him out of the local church, as church discipline, because he rarely attends one because of his life. You can't tell him, or make him stop talking about Jesus, because he sees the church men as brothers, not authority... who can deny a man the right to talk?

So he keeps talking about Jesus.... and the church spread where ever he goes, but he never leads the new groups, and is rarely part of them...
APEST, who's authority he's under, leadership traits, rights or qualifications were never discussions in these circles. We were unable to stop him from sharing Jesus, even though, as we would point out, he was "unqualified"

I Wanted To Kiss You This Way.

"I didn't want to kiss you goodbye- that was the trouble- I wanted to kiss you goodnight. And there's a lot of difference."  -Ernest Hemingway

Women in Missions- Examples of Invaluable Contributions! Suck it up Men?

"Overall, probably two-thirds of the missions force has been, and currently is, female. Many mission executives agree that the more difficult and dangerous the work, the more likely women are to volunteer to do it! David Yonggi Cho concludes from his experience that women are the best choice for difficult, pioneering work. “We have found that in these situations, women will never give up. Men are good for building up the work, but women are best for persevering when men get discouraged” (p271)

(Example Illustration)

"After the last road ended, it was a two-day hike to where the Balangao people lived. The Balangao, a tribe of former headhunters, still sacrificed to powerful and demanding spirits who caused sickness, death and constant turmoil. Two single women missionaries, trained in Bible translation, were on their way to work among them.
When they arrived, they were greeted by men wearing G-strings and women wrapped in cloth from homemade looms. It is hard to say who was more amazed. The Balangao had asked for Americans to come live with them and write their language, but they never dreamed the Americans would be women!

An old man offered to be their father and was faithful in looking after them. Besides the work of translation, these women began giving medical assistance, learning about the spirit world, and answering questions about life and death. One of them, Jo Shetler, stayed for 20 years, winning her way into the hearts and lives of these people and completing the New Testament translation. Because of this dedication, thousands now know Jesus as Lord of the Balangao.
Jo Shetler, a shy farm girl with a dream, has stirred many with her story. However, stories remain unwritten of multitudes of women who likewise obeyed the call of God to serve Him on the far horizons. Many women do not realize how greatly God can use their giftedness and commitment in situations such as this.” (p 269)

("Women In Mission” , Marguerite Kraft & Meg Crossman. "Perspectives on the world Christian Movement", 1999, William Carey Library, Pasadena California . Pg 269, 271)

Tears Of Lady Christian Missionary Converted A Muslim!

"Si Mebarek was a young Qur’anic student who taught the boys in the mosque to recite their holy book. For many years he had attended Sunday school classes, but the teaching had left no impression on him. He hardened his heart to the gospel and mocked his teachers. When he was eighteen and very proud of his knowledge of Islam, he went to the home of a woman missionary and asked for a gospel in Arabic, saying he would very much like to read it again. The servant of God was thrilled. Here was an answer to her prayers: a young man seeking the Lord. Si Mebarek took the gospel in his hand, glanced at it, and then, with a look of defiance, tore it to shreds and threw it on the ground, trampling on the pieces. He quite expected to receive a sharp reproof for having treated the Word of God thus. Instead he saw tears come into the eyes of the servant of God. With a look of inexpressible sadness, but of genuine love, she turned away without a word, going into the house to pray for him.

Si Mebarek headed for home, but that expression of the patient love of Christ, of his meekness and gentleness, really reached his heart. Within an hour, he was back again, now a convicted sinner seeking salvation. That simple expression of the love of the One who wept over Jerusalem achieved what the years of teaching had failed to accomplish."

("Sharing Our Faith With Muslims. Charles R. Marsh. Chapter 8 in "Encountering The World of Islam" Authenic books Atlanta 2005)

Contextualizing Your T Shirt , Sandals, Short Skirts & Bare Arms in Muslim Contexts

"The most important part of contextualization is to present ourselves in such away that our lifestyles demonstrate, and even enhance, the message we want to communicate. If a single woman says she has been set free from sin but dresses and acts as would a prostitute in the target culture, no one will believe her message. If a man says he is a teacher but dresses in shorts, t-shirt, and sandals as if he were a useless young man on the streets, no one will believe he holds such an honored position."

("Contextualization and Community. Roland Muller. in Encounter the World OF Islam, Lesson 7 extra Readings online to text.)

Reachable! Bible Translation & Language Learning Pays

Testimony Steve Saint End of The Spear

Testimony Steve Saint End of The Spear (Get some tissue!)