It is assumed your local church already has in place some type of discipleship program for grounding believers in their faith and developing ministers to fill the needs for your “Jerusalem” ministry. The discipleship goals about to be addressed have to do with making disciples for ministry outside of your “Jerusalem”. However, there is some duplication of what takes place in “Jerusalem” discipleship programs. This is due to the fact that for many, particularly youth, it will be their first intensive discipleship program they have been through. While the goal of the program is to develop an effective cross-cultural minister, realize that a disciple that can minister effectively in a cross-cultural context will also be competent in ministry back home in “Jerusalem”. Therefore, the local church ministry will also benefit from such a discipleship program.
Part of the struggle in making disciples in the local church is to get them to step out in faith and try their hand in ministry they have never done before. Many will come to teacher-training and evangelism classes. Getting those same participants to volunteer to teach and evangelize is often a major hurdle. They fear doing a poor job before their peers. Sometimes it is just too intimidating to make a first attempt at ministering when they know they will be compared to the abilities of the seasoned veterans of ministry. The fear of failure in their own eyes and in the eyes of others has prevented many a disciple from ever taking a step or two down the ministry road.
The advantage of the Acts 1:8 discipleship format is that most of the ministry experience opportunities will not be in their “Jerusalem”. They will be in our “Judea and Samaria” or in some other country. The major reasons for hesitating to minister in “Jerusalem” are removed once they leave town. The number one reason given by disciples to explain why they will try to minister on the mission field in ways they have never done back home is because: “These people don’t know me and will probably never see me again.” They aren’t worried about what others will think. They are willing to try ministering with little concern about failing.
Count on it. The team that put on the crusade in Lima would not have tried to do the same thing in the town park back home. Because of their inexperience in crusade work, their fear of failure in their hometown would have quenched the Spirit and kept them from stepping out in faith to minister in such a new way. But in Lima, where nobody knew them, they did not worry about failure or how they would look to anyone that saw them.
The same is true when teaching youth evangelism. Any youth worker who has tried to get the youth to do personal evangelism knows it is an uphill battle. In my first year of youth ministry, I had my core group ministry with the top youth. They loved digging deeper in Bible study and prayer. They even liked to learn about evangelism. After they had been trained in how to present the gospel and had practiced it for several weeks on each other, I announced at the beginning of one meeting that we were going to the mall to talk to people.
All of them totally rejected the idea. They made it very clear that there was no way they were going to do this. If I headed to the mall for evangelism, I was going alone.
Their problem? Fear of failure and being seen by somebody that knows them. It was after this eye-opening day that I began planning my first mission trip to get them out of their hometown and away from their major excuses.
Once I started taking youth on mission trips where they gained experience in sharing their testimonies and the gospel, they came to the realization that they could do the same thing back home. They had gained confidence in their ability to share and in God’s willingness to use them to reach the lost. The disciple, once afraid to minister in “Jerusalem”, went elsewhere to minister and came back with greater confidence to minister back home.
In making an Acts 1:8 disciple, realize that a disciple who has confidence to go anywhere to minister will be a confident minister in “Jerusalem” as well. So there is no need to fear that such a discipleship program will interfere with raising up the needed workers for the “Jerusalem” ministry. Most of those going on mission trips will not become career missionaries. However, we must pray and expect that God will take some of these disciples beyond our “Jerusalem”, short-term and full-time.
God’s taking some of your disciples beyond your “Jerusalem” may mean some will be missionaries in foreign lands. Some may be missionaries in our own country. Some may become pastors. A greater number will be laymen who move to other parts of the country. In our transient society we live in today, congregations are constantly losing members as they relocate for employment purposes. Typically, church leaders view it as unfortunate when one of their promising and/or highly involved disciples must relocate.
We hear such lamentations as, “They had so much potential…She has grown so much…He was just beginning to really take off…They had just finished the (training)_ program and had begun leading the _________ ministry.”
Remember, God wants us making disciples not only for our “Jerusalem”, but to serve elsewhere too. We must expect God to take some of our best disciples and move them elsewhere. When one of these trained disciples is transferred to another part of the country, it is not unfortunate. It is a time to rejoice. For that trained disciple will be an immediate asset to a church elsewhere.
God will not let a local church hoard all of His trained servants in one place. Just as persecution got the disciples out of Jerusalem (Acts 8:4), job opportunities are moving disciples out of their “Jerusalem” to other parts of the country today. Most churches have one or more individuals actively serving there that were grounded in the faith and trained to minister in some other church. The people praise God for sending them such servants. Then let us also praise God for the privilege of being used to train and send out such servants.
As the Holy Spirit molds disciples to be more like Christ, He will unleash them into the world. That has always been God’s plan.
Local Church Leaders! Is that your plan?
Youth Leaders! (Since you tend to fail to look at yourselves as a part of the Church Leaders.) Is that your plan?
We are talking about using mission trips as a part of that plan. The plan will help make disciples for all parts of Acts 1:8. For, a disciple with confidence to minister anywhere will be effective in your “Jerusalem” or any other church they move to in our “Judea and Samaria.” Still, the proof that you have a “Complete Commission Discipleship Program” will be if you are sending out disciples as missionaries to other countries for full-time service.
Making disciples in your church who know from experience that they can minister in the remotest parts of the world, greatly increases the possibility of your church sending more of its own members out as missionaries. Why do I say this? Because you are training them and giving them ministry experience in all parts of Acts 1:8. Going to all the world with the gospel is the heart of God. A discipleship program that strives to make those kind of disciples will see God bless beyond what you ever expected.
Do you want to see your church used this way by God? Of course you do! Or, you would have quit reading this book a long time ago. So we have a big discipleship goal, a “Complete Commission Discipleship” goal: make disciples to be witnesses in our hometown, across the country, and around the world. Mission trips are the life-changing means God uses in the process. Now we need to clarify some discipleship goals in this process that uses summer mission trips.
Before doing so, this is a good place to be reminded that our confidence is in God, not our “brilliant” plan. All efforts to make disciples must be bathed in prayer.
In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. (Prov. 3:6 NASB)
Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established. (Prov. 16:3 NASB)
A summer missions discipleship program assumes the participants are involved in worship and the local church’s Christian education programs that meet on Sundays and mid-week. One who isn’t actively involved at those times should not be going on a mission trip. We wouldn’t send out a full-time missionary that exhibited such negligence. Neither should we send out summer missionaries that are not committed to regular involvement in the local church.
The assumed involvement in other aspects of the church’s Christian education or discipleship programs means there is an expectation that the disciple involved in summer missions has some familiarity with the Bible. It is assumed the disciple is continuing to gain further insight into the Scriptures through Sunday and mid-week programs.
Just as other discipleship efforts have stages or levels the program desires to take people through, the summer missions program needs to be a multi-level program. This means multiple trips offered each summer to accomplish different levels of discipleship goals. One trip with a mixture of first-timers and summer mission veterans is better than no trip. But it would be more beneficial to have multiple trips meeting different levels of discipleship goals and have different levels of ministry expectation.
Discipleship Through Multi-Level Summer Mission Trips
Every summer mission trip should have clearly stated discipleship goals. Once these goals are established they will dictate the type of trip selected and the type of training the team goes through. Out here in the cornfields, we have three levels of mission trips. While these levels were developed with youth in mind, many adults have also joined in. Level 1 is a 7-to-10 day trip somewhere in the U.S. to a different sub-culture than what we have in the cornfields. Level 2 is a 12-day trip to a border city in Mexico. Level 3 is a 12-to-16 day trip beyond North America.
Level 1
Primary Goals:
1) The disciple learns how to give a clear testimony where upon hearing the testimony only, an unsaved person understands why the disciple thinks he is going to heaven. (Why does the disciple think he is going to heaven? Because somewhere in his life, he realized he was a sinner who could not save himself, God loved him enough to send His Son to die on the cross for his sins, and he put his faith in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins and eternal life.)
2) The disciple learns how to give a simple, but clear, gospel presentation.
The most important ministry tool any Christian has is his personal testimony of how he became a Christian. Unfortunately, many Christians cannot give a clear testimony of how they came to faith, nor can they give a clear gospel presentation. Because they know they can’t do either of these very well, they don’t have the confidence to be the very witness Christ has called them to be for Him.
Secondary Goals:
1) Have the disciple in the Word of God for a good amount of time, by means of the assigned preparation work. The Word of God changes lives!
2) The disciple learns to trust God for his support to come in.
3) The disciple develops confidence to pray aloud when situations call for it, by means of small group and team prayer times and being called upon to lead in prayer at different times throughout team meetings and on the trip.
4) The disciple has opportunities to practice servanthood in team meetings and on the trip.
5) The disciple gets a taste of biblical fellowship through the victories and trials of living, serving, and worshiping as a part of a team for the duration of the trip.
6) The disciple gets to experience being a public visible witness through distributing tracts on the streets of a city in route to the trip destination. The disciple is not required to try to share the gospel with people. (However, many will find themselves doing so as they get into discussions with people.)
7) The team is always to be prepared to minister through singing.
8) The disciple has a ministry role in a VBS program, beyond being simply “crowd control” or games.
The type of trip desired for Level 1:
1) The people we are going to must be different from rural Midwesterners.
2) It must not take more than two days to get there by church bus.
3) The basic ministry must at least be a Vacation Bible School (VBS) or else there are other types of outreach ministries the team has been equipped for.
4) There must be a construction or physical labor project to ensure a sense of accomplishment in these first time summer missionaries who have little confidence to minister. However, the labor project must not be so time consuming that there is little time to minister to people.
Level 2
Primary Goals:
1) The disciple sharpens his evangelism skills.
2) The disciple ministers, through translators, in a cross-cultural context.
Now that the disciple has mastered being able to tell a clear testimony and simple gospel presentation through the Level 1 experience, we now want to build confidence in the disciple’s ability to share his testimony and the gospel. We will teach the team several different gospel presentations, with illustrations. Each disciple picks a presentation he prefers and learns it well. There will be ten hours of street evangelism in the U.S. before ever getting to Mexico. Then, in Mexico, while there may be VBS and other outreach program opportunities (see Secondary Goal #7), the ministry focus is door-to-door evangelism. Team members evangelize in pairs. One gives his testimony. The other follows up with a gospel presentation. The one not talking prays silently.
Secondary Goals:
1) Have the disciple in the Word of God for a good amount of time, by means of the assigned preparation work. The Word of God changes lives!
2) Building off of last year, there is a heavy prayer focus on all aspects of the trip. If the disciple prays a lot, he’ll see a lot of answered prayer. The disciple learns to trust God for this higher level of support to come in.
3) The disciple learns perseverance through the trials of hot weather, unreceptive people, and culture shock.
4) The disciple gets a taste of biblical fellowship through the victories and trials of living, serving, and worshiping as a part of a team in a cross-cultural context.
5) We seek to minister not just to the U.S. people on the streets and to the Mexican people, but also the project leaders, other church groups on the project, and to our fellow team members.
6) Always be ready with the universal ministry tool of singing. Songs in Spanish will be learned. The repertoire will include both children’s songs for VBS, and songs appropriate for a worship service.
7) The team is to be prepared to put on a program of songs, skits, and testimonies in case they go to a worship service, nursing home, rehab clinic, or orphanage.
The type of trip desired for Level 2:
1) The organization we go with must have the translators available for us to evangelize.
2) The hosting missions organization must partner with a local church that will do the follow-up after we leave.
3) If our team is needed for a construction project, we will rotate part of the team so that evangelism and construction can go on at the same time.
4) VBS is not a priority. We are targeting adults with the gospel. Get the parents saved and there is a much better chance of getting children saved and regularly attending church. However, if we are needed for VBS, we will come prepared and part of the team will conduct VBS while others are out doing door-to-door.
Level 3
Primary Goals:
1) The disciple, now equipped and experienced, learns how to spot and seize the open doors of opportunity for ministry in a cross-cultural context. (This is cross-cultural bridge-building, discussed further in the next chapter.)
2) The disciple, while held accountable, capably and confidently ministers with little or no supervision.
3) The disciple, working with the other team members, can quickly put together an impromptu ministry program on very short notice.
By this stage of the discipleship process, the disciple has proven ministry skills in a variety of areas, the first and foremost being in evangelism. The disciple will also be capable of conducting a VBS or teaching discipleship lessons in a small group setting. Level 3 teams are told very little about what their ministry will be. They are to prepare themselves for any type of ministry they may be called upon to conduct. Spreading the gospel is the primary ministry. However, much may need to be done in order to build bridges of relationships and understanding prior to getting the opportunity to share the gospel. There may be servanthood and other less glamorous forms of ministry required of the missionary in order to win a hearing for the gospel. The challenge is to discern how to best build a cross-cultural bridge by which one may carry the gospel across to an open heart. Working with national Christians, teaching them how to minister, is often a part of the ministry.
Secondary Goals:
1) Have the disciple in the Word of God for a good amount of time, by means of the assigned preparation work. The Word of God changes lives!
2) Continue to bathe all that we do and need in prayer.
3) If songs can be found, the team will be prepared to minister in song in the native language of those on the field.
4) Strive for opportunities that will push team members to practice leadership skills.
The type of trip desired for Level 3:
1) The organization we go with must have the translators available for us to evangelize.
2) The organization we go with must partner with a local church that will do the follow up after we leave.
3) The organization we partner with must provide a setting whereby the team is encouraged to pursue ministry in accordance with the Level 3 goals.
4) Choosing a country must be governed by the ministry, not the desire to go to a “new” country. A new country is nice, but not at the expense of discipleship goals.
Discipleship goals determine the kind of trip you look for. With these goals for the three levels, most of the trips on the Summer Missions Smorgasbord are eliminated from consideration. With these goals, the Service/Ministry and Ministry trips are the only ones that will fit the bill. All three levels can work out of a Service/Ministry format. While the Ministry Trip format is best suited for Level Three, such a trip can be adjusted to meet Level Two goals as well.
A second look at the Primary Goals
These are few in number and clearly stated. The disciple must accomplish the level’s primary goals to move up to the next level. To move up to the next level, the disciple must want to try reaching the next level’s primary goals. If the disciple fails to meet the primary goals, or isn’t ready to shoot for the next level’s goals, then the disciple can repeat the same level or lower level trip. Some adults are already proficient at the primary goals of Level 1 and can start at Level 2. But, if the adults cannot give a clear testimony and gospel presentation, then they need to start at Level 1 as well.
Having observed many other church groups in action on the mission field, it is obvious that for some mission teams, putting on a VBS or a mime is a primary discipleship goal. While those are valuable abilities that can be used on the mission field, they are not necessary skills needed to make a disciple that can reach others for Christ. Do we see local church discipleship programs putting a high priority on teaching how to do VBS and mimes? How many of your church’s full-time missionaries know how to do mimes?
Again, these are useful ministry programs, but should not be the primary discipleship goals. They are secondary goal skills. Primary goal skills are what the disciple needs to be a witness in any situation anywhere in the world. When a youth gets back to school in the fall, that VBS or mime isn’t going to help win classmates to Christ. (Unless he learned how to share the gospel for VBS.)
Sadly, I have encountered many people who have been on multiple mission trips who can do VBS or mime, but still haven’t mastered a clear testimony or gospel presentation. This lack of evangelistic ability tends to make a mockery of the summer teams being “real” missionaries. Everyone knows “real” missionaries share the gospel to reach the lost for Christ. If we want to make disciples who will be Christ’s witnesses even to the remotest parts of the earth, then these disciples need to see God can use them in personal evangelism in a cross-cultural context. Developing skill in evangelism is essential.
Jesus said, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. (Luke 10:2) There can be no harvest if the laborer does not share the gospel.
Look at the primary goals again. Notice the simple progression.
Level 1
1) The disciple learns how to give a clear testimony where upon hearing the testimony only, an unsaved person understands why the disciple thinks he is going to heaven.
2) The disciple learns how to give a simple, but clear, gospel presentation.
Level 2
1) The disciple sharpens his evangelism skills.
2) The disciple ministers, through translators, in a cross-cultural context.
Level 3
1) The disciple, now equipped and experienced, learns how to spot and seize the open doors of opportunity for ministry in a cross-cultural context. (This is summer missions bridge building.)
2) The disciple, while held accountable, capably and confidently ministers with little or no supervision.
3) The disciple, working with the other team members, can quickly put
together an impromptu ministry program on very short notice.
The nature of the Secondary Goals
The secondary goals are very important, or they wouldn’t be listed. Some are the same on each level. So they are not unique to any level of trip. The degree of accomplishing some of the goals is not easily measured. Everyone must trust God for their support. Everyone will sing and pray a lot. Everyone will experience fellowship, trials, culture shock, servanthood, and being a visible witness for Christ. As important as these things are, there is no real way of measuring the impact God is having on each individual as a result of these experiences. There is no level of proficiency or maturity that must be attained to move to the next level.
At each level, the last secondary goal is a ministry performance goal of some kind:
The disciple has a ministry role in a VBS program, beyond being simply “crowd control” or games. (Level 1)
The team is to be prepared to put on a program of songs, skits, and
testimonies in case they go to a worship service, nursing home,
rehab clinic, or orphanage. (Level 2)
Strive for opportunities that will push team members to practice leadership skills. (Level 3)
The ministry goals are listed as secondary because they are secondary to the corresponding level’s primary goals. If a secondary ministry goal is not reached, but the primary one is, then the trip was a success and the disciple can move up to the next level. For, sometimes there is no VBS on Level 1. Sometimes Level 2 never has an opportunity to put on a program of skits and testimonies. Besides, testimonies will be given while evangelizing. Not every Level 3 trip has ample opportunities for everyone to practice leadership skills. Plus, we must recognize not everyone is called to be a leader. Many faithful “team players” have no aspirations to be leaders.
In Christ’s call for every Christian to be His witness, Jesus expects His disciples to be able to give a testimony and a clear gospel presentation. When Jesus saved the demoniac in Gerasenes, He told him, “Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you,” (Luke 8:39a). Then the verse concludes with, “And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.” Being a witness for Christ is giving testimony others about what Jesus has done in your life. This is what Jesus means first and foremost when He says we are to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8). All disciples are also called to “preach the gospel” (Mark 16:15). This requires the disciple to be able to clearly proclaim the plan of salvation.
The ability to produce a VBS, skits, and songs are not ministry skills Jesus expects of every disciple. These are secondary skills for ministry. Unfortunately, too many mission teams have these as their primary, if not the only, goals. This error makes disciples who then, at best, view the ability to give a clear testimony and gospel presentation as being of secondary importance. At worst, it is of no importance at all.
If you are a mission trip leader, do you have your primary and secondary ministry skill goals in the correct order? If not, will you make the necessary changes to get things on the right track? Most discipleship programs in the local church make the same mistake. They are so busy training disciples to work in the church building on Sundays that they often drop the expectation and training for the disciple to be able to give a clear testimony and gospel presentation.
Mission trip leaders! Don’t continue making the same mistake!
A Word About the Type of Trip Desired for Each Level
You can have all your primary and secondary goals in place and have your team prepared to execute them. But, if the hosting missions organization has a whole different set of goals to accomplish with your team, it will be a disaster. Therefore, you must share with potential hosting organizations what your goals are. It might be good to first ask the organization what their goals for your team are. Then share your goals. If they are not excited about helping you reach those goals, then don’t go with them.
Level 1 trips are the easiest to find. Level 2 requires a little more effort. For, not all organizations want the summer missionaries out sharing the gospel with the locals. Not all organizations working right across the border in Mexico will have an ample supply of translators available for your team. Level 3 trips are the hardest to find. For, summer missions organizations don’t see many teams, particularly youth teams, with the experience and training to do that level of ministry.
A Level 2 trip can be done in other countries besides Mexico. Just remember that working through translators is a vital part of the Level 2 trip. We need to get passed the American mindset that everyone else should learn English. We need to give the disciple the opportunity to be immersed in a culture where he cannot depend upon English. The disciple needs to discover God can use him to minister to non-English speaking people.
If we hope to send out disciples to the non-English speaking world, then we need to expose them to that world.
Any time a team goes to a foreign country there is always the problem of the location appealing to the “vacation mindset” we all have. We have tried Level 2 trips in other countries besides Mexico, particularly Caribbean nations. Those locations had so much “fun in the sun” appeal that motivations for going were extremely mixed. English speaking locations had the problem just mentioned above. Non-English speaking locations, even with extreme poverty, still had the nearby beautiful beaches and laid-back lifestyles that rat-race Americans find so refreshing.
On the other hand, a squatter’s village in a Mexican border town has little vacation appeal beyond the bartering for souvenirs for a few hours in the market. The rest of the time is spent in the heat, dust, and filth of the colonia. Whiffs of open sewage drift by. The most stunning aspect is that familiar, clean, and rich U.S.A. is just right across the border from where your team is ministering. The stark contrast between this Mexican border life and what the team takes for granted in the U.S. forces the team to deal with the tensions of culture shock that can be easily set aside in more appealing locations. We have even taken teams to other parts of Mexico, along the coast and up in the mountains. While the people may still be poor, the setting is much more beautiful. The despair (and smells) of the border colonia are missing. These other settings in Mexico end up having the same appeal to the vacation mindset as the Caribbean nations.
We have discovered that, in order to best accomplish our discipleship goals with the least amount of distraction, the Mexican border town ministry is the best. We must remember that meeting discipleship goals is the priority. Once an individual as attained those goals in his own life, then he is a much more focused disciple for whatever location the next year’s Level 3 trip goes to. By then, it will be the disciple’s third trip. God has been molding him for cross-cultural ministry. He has seen God’s hand at work through him. He is confident in his ability to be a witness for Christ. His motivation to reach the lost is higher than it has ever been before. This stronger focus upon the Great Commission helps prevent the “vacation mindset” from becoming the dominant motivation that is often present in less trained and experienced summer missionaries.
Finding a Level 3 location will depend entirely on the hosting organization’s willingness to work with you. Most likely you will end up on a project where the organization is used to having Level 1 or 2 types of teams. So there is a good chance the project leader has never seen this type of team in action. The team may be coming to do ministry the project leaders, themselves, have never done before. As long as they are supportive in allowing your team to minister, that’s all you need. Often, the project leaders will be very curious to see what your team can do.
However, since most summer missions project leaders work with Level 1 and 2 types of teams, they aren’t always prepared to unleash a Level 3 type of team that is equipped for a cross-cultural bridge-building ministry. So, you, the team leader, must do your best to explain to the project leader, preferably before you get to the field, exactly what your team is trained to do. The team must have the freedom to pursue cross-cultural bridge-building. And what is cross-cultural bridge-building? What does it look like?
That’s the next chapter.
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