Why do we raise thousands of dollars of monthly support, move ourselves and our families to foreign cities, learn their languages and cultures, and seek to plant churches or establishing disciple-making movements within those cultures?
Because Christ tells us to go and make disciples of all nations. Matt 28:19-20.
But the response we often get from those who have thought about the human and financial resources being expended in this effort:
Wouldn’t it be cheaper and more effective to train and support indigenous believers to reach their own people?
Is facilitating better than teaching for disciple-making? In my opinion, both are essential for disciple-making. An online search on the difference between facilitators and teachers found the following:
Traditionally, teachers are the ones with knowledge and expertise in a particular field. They impart knowledge through a variety of means to their students. Facilitators build on the knowledge base of the group of students to find the answers to questions. Both methods of instruction serve a purpose and allow students the chance to grow.
There is a lot of emphasis on coaching and facilitating in mission circles today. And rightly so – these are great tools! Teaching often does not get much space at the table though. It seems to escape everyone’s notice that those who advocate coaching and facilitating are in fact teaching.
Teaching is frequently caricatured as only interested in passing on information without much concern for life change. In all my education, I have never met that straw man! I never had a teacher or professor who was only interested in my mastering information. Yes, information was the primary focus of exams, but not exclusively. Even my high school Latin teacher sought to build character as we translated Caesar’s “Gallic Wars.” Throughout college and seminary, my faculty advisors ( and other profs) aimed to build character and a faithful lifestyle. Some were better than others, but all saw their role as developing the whole person. Maybe my education was unique, but I don’t think so. For 35 years, I taught at a Bible College, and none of my colleagues were satisfied with simply passing on information. Teaching gets a bad rap when it is portrayed as simply passing along information.
This blog post is contributed by Ted Szymczak. Ted is a SEND missionary who has served in Poland for several terms, and now champions training for church planters within SEND.
Everybody seems to be talking about coaching lately, but what is it and more importantly how useful could it be in my ministry? Keith Webb of Creative Results Management defines coaching as, “An ongoing intentional conversation that empowers a person or group to fully live out God’s calling.” The focus of Christian coaching is on the coachee and helping them hear God’s voice in their lives and follow through in obedience.
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. – Romans 1:8–13
Observation: Paul has heard about the faith of the Romans, and it encourages him (Rom 1:8). He prays for the church regularly (Rom 1:9-10). But he really wants to visit them, so that he can make them strong through his ministry of the Spirit in their midst, so that he and the church can be mutually encouraged by one another’s faith (Rom 1:12), and so that he can have a harvest among these Gentiles (Rom 1:13). Why does he need to come to Rome in order to minister to them? His epistle to them is obviously already an encouragement and a help to the Romans to make them strong. It is Paul’s most complete explanation of the Gospel. Why could possibly be still lacking in his ministry to them? Why does he need to go to Rome when he can send this excellent, inspiring and doctrinally sound “sermon” or article to them? Paul apparently does not know much about the specific problems and needs in the church and wants to interact with the Roman Christians to get to know them, and then address their situation more specifically. He wants to enjoy their company (Rom 15:24); he wants to be refreshed in their company (Rom 15:32). In order to do so, he needs to see them.
In a previous post, I talked about the Entrust training for women that we have been hosting on the SEND campus in Farmington, Michigan. One of our female workers in Central Asai recently attended the Entrust training in Switzerland and wrote the following article in our latest SEND Harvest Heartbeat publication.
“Who do you think these older women are who are to be teaching the younger women?”
We were reading Titus 2:3-5. Anyone who knows me, or who has been through the first course of the Entrust Women to Women Ministry Training, would recognize this as a leading question. But it was a question that needed to be asked. I wanted the women I was teaching to understand that they are the mentors and teachers that their churches need.
My daughter, a junior at Kiev Christian Academy, tells me that she is taking a course in “Government” this semester. What kind of a course is that? It has been a long time, but I was pretty sure that I had never taken anything by that name when I was in high school. I discover that it is focused on the government and constitution of the United States of America, and by all reports, despite the valiant efforts of their gifted teacher, is a pretty boring course. Why a Canadian living in Ukraine needs to take a course in US government is beyond me. But it is part of the KCA curriculum, and so Rachel is required to take it. What puzzles me is that Rachel is getting fairly high marks in this course, and seems to be motivated to study hard for tests and do her homework. I am, of course, relieved. I want my daughter to get good grades. But I doubt whether I would be as motivated, if I was in her place.
A book I recently have finished reading Training for Dummies explains why teaching children (pedagogy) differs from teaching or training adults (andragogy). Children or high school students study because someone else (the teacher) tells them they need to learn this material in order to reach the next level of learning. They learn what the expert has determined they need to learn, regardless of whether they, as students, see the content as relevant for their lives today or not. They have no right to question the value of the content, because it is assumed that they have little ability to assess what they might or might not need to know in the future.
explains why teaching children (pedagogy) differs from teaching or training adults (