"GRAB SOME LEADERS AND TAKE THEM ALONG"

by Jay Childs

I can still remember their faces as they sat around my dining room table. Until that moment, it had been a fairly typical elders meeting. But as I began to share about my recent missions trip to Southeast Asia, eyes began to glaze over. I had accompanied our outreach pastor to scout out a second people group for “adoption” (our first such group is located in central Russia). As I finished up my impassioned report, I suddenly realized that my guys seemed a little bored. Their exteriors were gracious enough, but their non-verbals screamed, “Enough already – let’s get back to the real business of the church.” I quickly threw down the gauntlet and said “You guys are bored – ok, next year (I was making this up as I went)…next year, I’m going to take you and your wives with me and my wife, and we’re heading to Southeast Asia!”

Immediately, my wife and I went into action. We planned and designed a leadership mission trip to Southeast Asia for the next year.

Since that first leadership trip, my wife and I have had the privilege to lead several more trips to Southeast Asia. We’ve also led modified versions of these trips to Russia and Ireland. Each time we have tapped influential leaders within our church to join us. The key is to not go alone and waste a great opportunity to train someone along the way.

Jesus and Ministry Trips
One of the things I have noticed about Jesus is the way that He trained his disciples. Robert Coleman and others have detailed this in a variety of books and articles. What becomes clear is that Jesus used “extended contact” with those He wanted to impact. Matthew records over sixty different occasions when Jesus and his disciples spent quality time together – sometimes in cross-cultural settings such as Decapolis. What is especially interesting is that much of this extended time occurred on the road. Sometimes these were short trips (ie., six miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem), and sometimes they were long trips (ie., over seventy miles from Jerusalem to the Sea of Galilee).

Think about it for a minute - Jesus and His disciples spent most of their three years together – walking! This is the theological and strategic foundation for leadership trips. While these trips were not always to far off places, they nonetheless afforded Jesus extended time with these men – time to talk, see God at work, and even minister in cross-cultural settings.

I have tried to duplicate this model in my own ministry, whether it is shorter ministry trips within our own state – or church visits to other states – or overseas mission trips. The investment is well worth the effort!

Comment about your church’s experience with these trips. Or, if you have never taken such a trip, contact connect@efca.org to get in touch with others who have.