The following is more highlights from Dr. Mark Batory's workshop on "Establishing Indigenous Ministries".
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Initial growth of ministries subsidized with foreign money typically seems promising. The long-term growth of the national church often plateaus or halts as the works became more and more dependent on foreign funds and materials.
3 Reasons for the plateaus (or stagnation) of the national work.
1. Loss of lay involvement - The lay leadership increasingly came to feel that the work of the church was the responsibility of the paid national pastor or missionary.
2. Loss of focus - They became more and more concentrated on pleasing the missionary.
3. Loss of loyalty - When the churches saw that the missionary was paying the salary of the pastor, they lost their sense of ownership of him, "He belongs to the missionary."
Perspectives on self-support
(The following men, though not in our camp, have been missionaries, done research, and put into practice self-support philosophy of church planting.)
Glenn Schwartz, founding director of World Mission Associates, says,
"We must be able to believe that churches in the non-Western world can do what God is calling them to do with the resources which He has put within their reach."
Jerry Rankin, president of the International Mission Board, said,
"...it is a mistake to try to accelerate growth in foreign works by an infusion of financial aid to build churches and support pastors. One thing inevitable occurs when North American subsidize the work of churches and pastors on the mission field: potential growth in stalled because of a mind-set that is can't be done unless an overseas benefactor provides the funds. People are deprived of growing in faith, learning to depend on God and discovering that He is sufficient for all their needs."
Rick Wood, editor of Missions Frontiers states,
"Many churches in the US have bought into this scheme...But what they don't realize is that this approach to missions...has created a dependency on the mission field to foreign funds that is deadly to the vibrant, reproducing church planting movements...Every church and every people has the God-given privilege and responsibility of supporting its own ministry and cross-cultural outreach. Foreign money robs these people of the incentive to give of their lives and resources to support the ministries of their own churches."
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(click for larger view)
Dr. Batory showed a chart (above) that pictures the results from a study by Wayne Allen did on three different models of missions funding.
The Red line shows the initial growth of totally foreign funded ministries but then a plateau and drop off as the foreign funds are reduced. (Makes for great prayer letters in the beginning)
The Blue line shows the results of a mixture of local and global funds but then another plateau and drop off when the global funds are reduced. (Also makes great prayer letters in the beginning)
The Yellow line shows the slow progress of the ministry only using local funding, but then rises exponentially when the nationals learn and sense ownership of the ministry. (Can cause said and unsaid pressure from supporting churches or the missionary for perceived "lack of" initial growth.)
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Applications and Implications:
-This is not an easy topic and does not have an immediate answer. You and I both need to think through these dynamics as we get involved with Great Commission living.
-Pray for our family to be balanced in ministry and guide others to have ownership in the ministry.
-We desire to train others to train others, not to create a long term dependency on our abilities, funds, and leadership.
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