Perhaps when one thinks of shepherding God’s flock, bringing his congregation to the mission field isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. However, there is much to be said for bringing a shepherd’s role to bear in a cross-cultural context, and the possibilities there for faithfulness, soul care, the spirit of truth, expository preaching, discipleship, and evangelism. Read on as we reflect on some of the things pastors and elders have had to say about their experience at MEDA International Missions, and the implications those have for the shepherd in short-term missions.
. . .
CHALLENGING FALSE Religion
There are some things that affect the church on a global scale, and consequently short-term missions.
“One example of that is the difficulty of different religious groups being in different parts of the world,” Stephen says, “particularly here, Roman Catholicism on the one hand, and Charismaticism on the other hand.”
“I've heard several stories of pastors coming out of different contexts like that,” he continues, “and the ostracism they face for doing that, and the difficulties and the challenges of standing alone, and coming to a community that believes in expository preaching and sound doctrine.”
The testimonies of students like Roni Zelaya attest to this, who can no longer serve in the charismatic church in which he both grew up and his father was the pastor of, due to doctrinal differences.
I was already aware that nearly everything I had learned and heard before MEDA was wrong, so I came in with the intention of starting over, desiring to improve my knowledge and learn everything I could. Everything was new for me.
The Lord has been working in my heart and helping me to respond correctly to this new teaching, a teaching centered on His Word, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It has been a remarkable experience – a huge blessing for me. Many of my convictions have been strengthened, and new convictions have emerged in me. Now I have a stronger longing for the ministry than I had when I arrived – a greater desire to serve the Lord faithfully.
Roni, a fourth-year seminary student at SEPE Honduras
Roni is not alone in the ongoing defense against false teaching. Wolves among the lambs is not a new construct, nor one limited by country borders, nationalities, or state lines.
“The challenge is denominational,” Stephen says. “And just socially, so that's one thing that is impressed on me more each time I come.”
But the answer to this worldwide problem is encompassed in the responsibility to preach God’s Word with power, passion, and precision.
“The second thing is what I appreciate most,” Stephen says. “So we have different language, different culture, different social problems to a degree. [But] seeing that we're really all trying to do the exact same thing. We're trying to preach the Word verse by verse and we're trying to make disciples.”
PREACHING THE TRUTH AND ENTRUSTING IT TO FAITHFUL MEN
Andrés had the privilege of preaching in Bethany Baptist Church, a local church that serves as a preacher’s training ground for many students during their time in seminary, and his team also used the distribution of water filters as a platform for presenting the Gospel to those in the community of Secorro, where seminary graduate, Carlos Aguilar, is pastoring another church plant of 15+ years.
“Since I have theological and biblical training from coming to seminary, this once again reinforced my philosophy of missions,” Andrés says. “We know that the Lord is the one who is planting churches all around the world. And He does it through men, which are prepared with good training, good preparation, and godly character.”
It is truly a beautiful thing to see short-term missions collide with pastoral training and church planting, because it is at that point that the shepherd not only gets to work alongside other shepherds, encouraging them in the trenches, but he also supports the training of more pastors who can plant more churches.
I've been in the classrooms. I know what kind of training they're having - the same training that I have with Hebrew, Greek, …hermeneutics, everything. They have my same training, so that's exactly what you need to look for a pastor to plant the church, wherever they are.
That's how the the Lord Jesus did it. That's how Paul did it. Before you plant the church, you need to find a godly man and be trained with the proper training, so they can plant that church wherever they are, and then continue to make disciples, for the glory of the Lord, to the end of the world.
That’s why I believe so much in MEDA and SEPE. Without a pastor, you cannot plant a church, and we see in America today…you have a big problem. You’re planting hundreds of churches without the good training of these pastors, and here, I can guarantee they could use, with the training, a pastor that can plant a church and make disciples the right way.
Andrés, a pastor over Spanish ministry
What blessings would you then forgo, to not share in the fruit of short-term mission labors - perpetuating the training of godly men and planting solid churches, until the summing up of all things in Christ?