Enduring Relationships
Are you interested in serving God as a lifestyle? …as a career missionary?
If you haven’t already, start thinking community.
Who will you bring along with you in your journey of faith?
Whose faith in Christ will be built up because of the choices you make?
Who will you allow to be close enough to you to lovingly speak truth into your life?
Who are the people God has brought or will bring into your life as partners to accomplish His purposes?
"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
Ephesians 4:4-6
"Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal." ... "But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him." ... "And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you."
1 Corinthians 12:4-7, 18, 21
The mission that God is accomplishing on earth is happening with Christ as the Head, directing the Body, with each member using their gifts and abilities to accomplish His purposes.
This means that, in the work God is doing in the world, you have a special role that is not independent from the rest of the Body but is a very much needed part of it.
Your role may or may not include serving somewhere overseas, but wherever God has placed you, you are a key member of His Body. You have some choices as to how you will use your gifts to glorify God and serve the Body while bringing other people to know and serve Him.
You have begun a relationship with some people of Ethnos360. This page was written because we want to cultivate that relationship inasmuch as we can glorify God through serving Him together.
If you didn’t know Ethnos360 before, this could be the beginning of a lifelong relationship with some amazing people. Whether joining the team in working overseas, serving with another organization, or ministering in your local church community, God will bring people across your path who are exploring ways to serve Him with a focus on the people groups who are the least reached with the Gospel. You may have an opportunity to introduce them to the missionaries of Ethnos360.
Even where you are now you will have opportunities to engage with people about what God is doing around the world. So, we hope that God will bring Ethnos360 to mind in His timing, only because we want to partner with you in bringing glory to God; especially among those people groups who have no other way to learn of Him.
God designed us as relational beings. He normally accomplishes His objectives through us in the context of the communities in which He has placed us.
Often a young person will express a desire to do something of eternal value in a short period of time such as an internship, a retreat, or a short-term missions trip. This is amazing; a great help to the missionary team! The need for more workers is great. Willing souls are a big part of accomplishing the physical work of ministry and preparing people to serve long term. At the same time, a traveling team can not accomplish the Biblical objectives of Matthew 28:20 on a quick trip.
Commitment to Relationships
Effective ministry requires commitment to relationships.
Going to ethnolinguistic people groups that are unreached with the gospel, preaching, baptizing, and teaching people to obey all that Christ has commanded takes time, commitment, faithfulness, and perseverance.
How fast does growth occur in your own church, where you have a common language and culture, as well as a complete Bible in your language? How long does it take for a new believer in Christ to be qualified as a deacon or an elder?
Do you think it will happen as fast where have to start without having in common a language, a culture, or even a Bible?
The reality is that accomplishing something of eternal value in missions is more like a marathon than a sprint. At almost every level it is about relationships.
Yes, the Gospel is simple enough for a child to understand. (A Holy God, A Helpless Sinner, A Sufficient Savior, and Personal Faith.) Evangelists balk at the idea that ministry takes time. What is often forgotten is that evangelists usually work with reached people groups – people who have a Bible in their language and some common knowledge of a Holy God, sin, heaven, eternity, judgment, and Jesus Christ. In cultures where Judeo-Christian foundations have been established many people have become believers by reading John and Romans. Where those foundations do not yet exist, ministry often is quite different. (1 Corinthians 3:10-15) (Did you know that there are at least fifty things in the first chapter of John that a person without a Bible background would not understand?*)(The Bible Taproot by Dr. Ed Skowron)
At times people may think of missions similar to how they think of a rodeo where a cowboy comes in, rides his bronco or steer, and passes his hat so that he can move on to the next rodeo. That is not the model shown in Scripture. The Biblical model is one of a Body, with many individual parts and differing functions that work in harmony with one another to accomplish the objective of the Head. (1 Cor 12:4-31, Eph 4:4-6, 11-13) Instead of thinking of people in terms of short-term relationships for a purpose, begin thinking of the them as the people God is bringing into your life as part of the team He is assembling to accomplish His eternal purposes over your earthly lifetime.
The mindmap below gives a glimpse into some of the relationships I have had and you might have as a missionary with Ethnos360. It’s not so much about what we will do as individuals to glorify God as it is about what God will do through us as we serve Him in the Body as part of the team.
Relationships in Missions or Cross-cultural Ministry
The work of missions is primarily about long-term relationships, so it’s best to be thinking that way early. You will need to establish patterns of relating well with other people and engaging in community as a lifestyle if you want to serve well in cross-cultural church-planting ministry among the least-reached people groups. Ministry is about opening your heart to God and other people and being close enough to be shaped, or even vulnerable enough to be hurt as you grow together toward God’s eternal purposes. Giving of yourself to God and other people in committed, intentional relationships is where spiritual life and growth thrive.
- Relationship/Fellowship with God – Your fellowship with God will be your biggest lifelong battle as a missionary: cultivating your personal intimacy with God through the disciplines of reading His written word and devoting time to pray. Work to establish patterns that will sustain your growth over a lifetime. Attending a school such as Ethnos360 Bible Institute can help you understand why and how to lay good foundations for persevering in faith. The good relationships, skills, and thought patterns you develop will serve you for the rest of your life.
- Home Church Relationships – The Biblical model is that people who are already ministering in the local church community are marked as having integrity and ministry capability at home before they are recognized by the congregation, the church leadership, and the Holy Spirit to be sent out as representatives and messengers from the local church to proclaim Christ where He is unknown. The local churches have a responsibility before God to send qualified people and they will not be as ready to lay hands on someone they do not know to represent the Church at the ends of the earth. Knowing people and being known by them is one of the ways God sets apart people for His purposes. Work to develop relationships as if these people will be your partners in a lifetime of ministry.
- Sending Relationships – Once recognized as people to be sent, missionaries engage other people in their local churches to join the team in faithful prayer, practical assistance, finances, accountability, and leadership. The local church cannot accomplish ministry in faraway places without the missionary, and the missionary cannot accomplish the mission of the local church in a faraway place without the teamwork and partnership of the people in the sending churches. Again, people usually support people they know and trust. That means cultivating relationships, imparting vision, building trust, and reporting what God has done.
- Sending Agency Relationships – Mission agencies, as part of the Church at large, have a responsibility to guard the integrity and unity of the missionary teams, the message they propagate, and the churches that are established through their work. Accountability, direction, teamwork, and growth toward maturity occur within the context of loving relationships that glorify God. Building long-term relationships with your sending agency team is a huge part of being effective in ministry in the difficult circumstances where you desire to engage. It’s a good idea to begin early in communicating with your intended sending agency and developing relationships with the coaching team that allow you to give or receive input as you move in the direction of ministry.
- Church-Planting Team Relationships – Ethnos360 missionaries usually work in teams of two, three, or more families. Those relationships are where the enemy and the people you serve will try to cause division and get you working against one another.
- Ethnolinguistic People Group Relationship – Do you think people who speak an unwritten language will share with you the deep secrets of their language if they do not trust you? Attaining a high level of language fluency will require developing relationships of trust. (Someone has to tell you their words and what they mean.) Those relationships of trust will enable you to speak the truth of God’s word into the lives of the people you serve, leading toward evangelism, discipleship, and spiritual maturity.
- Support Team Relationships – When you live near the ends of the earth, it really helps to have an aircraft to get there. You can spend your time being independent and self-sufficient – and maybe never accomplish your objectives – or you can work as a member of a larger team of people who serve each other to establish thriving churches more quickly. Some people are very gifted at teaching the Bible, translating the Bible, analyzing languages linguistically, and church planting strategies. Other people are not. But God. God gives some individuals impressive skills in building houses, managing accounts, handling information technology, teaching children, or purchasing and shipping supplies. If each member of the team uses their best skills to serve each other, then the whole team can be more effective and more efficient, resulting in more people coming to faith in Christ and joining us as co-laborers in ministry. Many of these people live in very stressful and challenging circumstances in the process of establishing thriving churches among remote people groups. As a result, it is easy for high expectations to develop and for conflicts to arise when expectations are not met. There are lots of opportunities to extend grace to one another and to serve one another to meet needs that become apparent. Cultivating an attitude to serve and assist one another in love as unto the Lord is vital for effective ministry in a community. (Ephesians 4 & 5)
Think Big?
My point in all of this is to assist you in thinking bigger than just what you can do. Look at God’s eternal purpose on earth and engage with Him in that. Look to engage with what He will do in and through your life as you give yourself to the opportunities that are in front of you now. Don’t think of short-term ministry as an end in itself, but a step in what God is doing eternally throughout your lifetime as you walk with Him today.
After you have finished your glance at Ethnos360 as a possible avenue for serving God, you will still have the rest of your life ahead of you. During that time God will bring other people into your life who may consider investing their lives toward engaging ethnolinguistic people groups who have no access to the Gospel.
You might be involved in leading your local church, engaging in a missions committee, participating in youth programs, or going on short-term missions trips. However God directs you in the days ahead, there will be opportunities to engage other people about God’s eternal purpose on earth and His heart for people around the world, even the least-reached ethnolinguistic people groups.
Would you consider continuing your relationship with Ethnos360 in prayer, awareness, or other ways as God directs you?
Here are some ways to be connected…
Learn More:
- Ethnos360: Who or What is Ethnos360?
- Full Time: Serving as a career missionary
- EBI: Ethnos360 Bible Institute (also Online!)
- Wayumi: Intro to Cross-Cultural Church Planting Missions
- Short-Term: Interface, Encounter, Volunteer
- Internships: Field Support/Stateside
- Support: Teamwork for Thriving Churches
- Sending:
- Aviation: Millions Unreached None Unreachable
- Leaders: Church & Discipleship Resources
- Enduring Relationships: Thinking Eternal
- FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
- Representatives: Meet, Coffee, Lunch, Zoom, FaceTime
- Randy Smyth
- Testimonies
- More pdf & pubhtml5