Reading the current comments in the Guest section about evangelism, it got me thinking:

You know, there are Christian communities in pretty much every country we can think of. If the people in those countries are simply building their church in their own way, isn't that the bigger picture of going "into all the world"? By focusing on our own community in our own nation? I'm not trying to defend one church or another, but aren't we spreading ourselves way too thin if we constantly ship people overseas? With no knowledge of the language or culture, usually no local contacts, etc. It seems to make more sense to help support a bible-believing church that is already in the country and knows the ropes.

Now definitely people will feel called to go to certain countries and that shouldn't be squelched, but if we're just trying to up our 'church-count' by running a blitzkreig on the world every conference, then we've lost our focus and efficiency at using the resources we've been given. We can either spend $100,000 supporting a couple to go overseas and tough it out for two years, or we can send $100,000 to a godly five-year-old church already established in that country, that already has equipment, contacts, and knows the needs of the community. $100,000 sounds like a heck of a lot more when you put it in that context. In fact, you could impact ten or twenty overseas churches with that kind of money, and the gain would likely be far more than what could be accomplished with a pioneer couple in two years.

Just a thought.

Hi Dave,

You make an interesting point.

Thing is many churches like to send out as many couples as possible even if the people know little of the language/culture of the country they are going to. I do believe God can send people to a country where to do not know the language but so many are being sent with limited support and aren't very successful. It is actually rather reckless and the damage to those couples and families can be huge.

Another mistake churches make is they think new plants only need some financial support and for short periods when often these new churches also need people support as well.

So I agree with you. I think it is better to send less couples and support them better, financially and with people and for longer periods. You get more success that way.

Bang for your buck!

I've been thinking about funnelling my pledges toward Voice of the Martyrs, Barnbas Fund or the like and help them have a greater impact in their location.

Axe

Different churches reach different sections of the community. The more churches there are, the more chances you have to bump into a witness. If we are all one church under christ, then it doesnt matter. In fact, Im more likely to give to a church that needs the funds, than to an established organisation.