Well hello, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Anabaptist Perspectives.
I'm here with Mike Allgyer who has worked with Destinations International
and that has a lot to do with sending people into ministry.
How did you first get involved in going, helping to send people out
so that they can make more disciples?
I was pastoring a church, and we had a couple
from our congregation that was serving under DNI, and so I was getting their
information and seeing there was a request for people to help on the
administrative team in member care. So my thought at first was for me to pass
on as a pastor. I would pass this. The Lord told me very clearly "that's for you."
Was not looking for something else to do, but God changed the calling and here we are.
Okay, so are you still a pastor?
No.
You're not anymore, okay, but you were at that point.
At that point in time I was pastoring inner-city mission churches.
Okay, and so now you would serve on the administrative team with Destinations. Is that ... ?
Correct.
Okay. Gotcha. Okay. Very good. Now, how long have you been in this new postion?
We are on our fifth year.
Fifth year. Okay. A couple years now. Very good.
For some people watching this -- and I know for me when I first heard your presentation,
there were some new concepts here as far as churches
being the sending agent for people going into ministry.
Can you just elaborate more on that? What does that look like and and what's the
Biblical basis for doing it that way as opposed to say some other model of
someone going into service?
I'm a very strong believer that when God calls an
individual to a work, that it is an extension of the congregation -- his home congregation --
and that calling also needs to be also felt by the congregation and
the congregation then sends those that are called.
A very good Biblical example of that, we find in Acts 13 where Paul, Barnabas were
called to go share the gospel among the gentiles. It says that as the church was
worshiping, the Holy Spirit spoke and then called out Paul and Barnabas to go.
Then it says as they prayed and fasted, that the church then laid hands
on them and sent that. That's really a beautiful concept when we think about that.
The congregation sharing that call, and that's where we get the concept
of it's an extension of the church.
It's removing the individualistic mindset
that some people might have when going into ministry. Like "oh I'm just gonna go do this"
And it's so important to be in tune -- the church being tuned with the calling.
Even sometimes the church does the calling and sending.
Oh. Interesting.
When there's opportunities, it's that of finding gifts and
talents that the Lord gives each individual and it's a beautiful thing when that can really work together.
I'm pretty sure there's probably
someone watching this or listening to this whose church is considering
sending someone or there's someone from their church that's wanting to go.
What would you say are some first steps that a home congregation can take in getting
involved in that process and in actually sending that person? Where should they begin?
The person that feels called or the couple that feels called
need to share that calling. They need to share that calling with their leadership team,
and then as the leadership team processes that with that person or a couple.
It should be presented early on so that the body of believers can be
praying about this and hearing the Holy Spirit. It's that of really a working together
and that's how it becomes an extension of the congregation.
That goes really well with the
next question then because what responsibility does the person who sent
(or the missionary), what responsibility do they have to their home congregation then?
Those that are sent obviously need to be in tune with the senders -- that home congregation.
The sender's need to be in tune with those that they send.
It's a two-way communication and it needs to start early on.
It's very clear in the scriptures that God gives each one of us gifts and talents for
the edification of the Body. It's that of working together in God's Kingdom.
That can be really hard though can't it? Because if you
have someone on the other side of the world and maybe a small congregation who
doesn't really understand all of the things that they're facing.
It's got to be a two-way street though right with them contacting home and home base contacting them?
Absolutely. When we look at that account there in Acts 13, it says that Paul and Barnabas
(when they came back) shared and rehearsed of all that God has done.
Today we live in an age of technology. We have instant -- I mean many different platforms
that we use -- instant communication around the world, and we don't have to wait til
we come back to rehearse all that God has done (it's good to do that when the
person does come back) in everyday life, and it keeps those that send them in
tune with what God is doing.
Yeah, because what can happen is then you have --
like you're saying, this is an extension of your congregation, but then they might
feel like the congregation's here doing their thing and living their lives and
I'm way out here on a limb somewhere and I have no idea what's even going on back there.
That can't be a good feeling.
No, and again that's a two way street.
Even those that's sent need to communicate with the sender what's happening,
and that's beautiful when that can happen.
One that I've seen some because I've been involved with a lot of
organizations is when you have someone who's been serving (you know, whatever it
is that they might be doing on the field) they come home, and they're just kind of
plopped back into normal life again. So we were talking about all this
responsibility for sending people staying engaged while they're gone,
but what happens when that person comes home then? What should the church's role be in that?
The church needs to take care of that person or persons when they return.
Even a family -- to think about the children to make those adjustments and
it depends on where they were serving. It's sad when we see a congregation
almost expect a returned missionary to just fall right in place immediately
when there's so many cultural changes, so many different types of stresses.
If the sending congregation isn't in tune with that, it even adds more stress.
So it's a huge responsibility.
But a lot of just awareness of what they're doing when they come back.
I'm pretty confident it's not that churches don't care.
It's not that people don't care about when a missionary comes back,
but I wonder, just don't think people really know
what it's like -- what that person is going through. That would be challenging I
guess for your church to understand what this person is doing when they come home.
Yes, but if they have been good senders, they're in tune.
That's true. That is very true.
You know, the work doesn't start and neither does the
work stop when they return from the assignment. It continues. If they didn't do a good job
in staying in tune and really helping them as they sent them, they're not going
to do a good job when they return because that's not where they're gonna start.
It needs to happen long before then.
Yeah. That makes very good sense.
I think that's one that can be easy to
forget cause they're like, "oh they're back home now." You know, "we don't need to be --
-- we see them in church. Everything's normal again," but it's not.
In your presentation you mentioned how if you're gone in a foreign country for
five years or something, and you return home,
how much has changed in your church in five years? That's a lot of change
that can happen in five years and that person's gonna feel like they're trying to grab
years to catch up. That can't feel good.
Just think when they left, it was a certain way. To come back three years later as with DNI and just
think about how much change happens in three years. Again that can be
cushioned by continuous communication. It doesn't start when they return.
That's a bad time to start. That makes really good sense.
If it didn't happen while they were on the field, it's not going to happen when they return.
Again, I really think a lot of cases, it's that the church just doesn't really think about it.
I was talking to Joel when his family returned from
Grenada after I think it was eight years or six years. He said it was just brutal and it's
not like their church didn't care, it's just that they just didn't
really realize what all those struggles would be and what all was needed for a
family like that adjusting back into life at home.
But where's home -- here or where they came from? It's just very confusing for those people.
Don't neglect the children.
Yeah, exactly!
When the children aren't happy, Mama's not happy. If Mama's not happy, nobody's happy.
So what advice would you give to someone who feels very strongly that they're called to go serve
in another country or with a different people group and maybe especially in a
case where they want to go long-term,
but their church doesn't really share that -- doesn't share the vision,
and said, "no, we're not really interested in you doing that."
I've worked with a lot of people that felt called. I've seen a lot of bad
experiences with people that feel called and that calling isn't shared.
At that point, it takes some real -- number one -- inner reflection. How do I process that call?
What is God's timing in that call?
Maybe God's timing is different than my timing. When we get a call from the Lord,
we get all excited about it and we're ready to go, but there may be a lot of preparation.
I've known people that felt a call. That call didn't actually
materialize til maybe 10 years later. We have to have inner reflection. We have to be very careful.
We don't want to run ahead of God, but
neither do we want to lag behind Him. To be in step with the Lord.
Would you say it's not an option to send someone if they don't have a home church that's behind them?
Where do you draw the line there?
This gets really complicated.
I know there's a lot of different opinions on this, but I'm really curious what would you do?
I think DNI's policy is they won't do that. Am I right on that?
We don't have a hard policy on that, but we like to see that happen.
We really want the congregation's blessing to send them.
That's a valuable thing when that person's on the field
knowing that their church has blessed this and is behind them and is praying for them.
That's worth a lot.
Absolutely. It's really needed to take care of those that are sent.
So would you say there would perhaps be times
though where you would send someone whose home church isn't necessarily
going to send them? You don't have to answer that, but it is very challenging.
Should maybe that person consider going to another church that would be willing?
Again it gets very sticky.
Yes, it does.
I'm sure there's not cut and dried answers on this.
No, there's not cut and dried answers and you have to proceed with caution. Try to discern what is happening.
Why isn't the calling affirmed? How strong is the calling that the person has?
Is it the right timing?
Is the congregation in tune? Are they a congregation that is really worshiping the Lord? Praying and fasting?
Are they seeking after the Lord? Are they entrenched in everyday life
and life is just happening and it's not thriving.
Because there's a reason. There's a reason somewhere and it's worth trying to discern what that is.
Absolutely.
Well, very good. Very good.
I think we'll call that a wrap. Thank you all for watching and listening.
Come back each week for more content like this.
If you have questions for Mike or something we said maybe piqued your curiosity, leave a comment.
Let us know what you think. Feel free to email us and come back for more material like this each week.
Thanks again for watching. We will see you in the next video.
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