The Facilitator Era by Tom Steffen

Author:Tom Steffen [Steffen, Tom A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion, General
ISBN: 9781621891918
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Published: 2010-12-06T08:00:00+00:00

Case Study 6

Growing an Evangelical Church in Southeast Asia1

In 1997, a partnership began between my mission organization and Paul Benjamin, the founder and leader of the Transforming Grace Evangelical Church2 in South Asia. The goal was to multiply churches among a Hindu minority scattered in isolated villages of this country, beginning in the northwest. The partnership wed my organization’s Global Village Campaign (GVC) ministry and resources with Paul’s passion, vision, and entrepreneurial gifts and leadership.

As the primary facilitator, called a GVC Shepherd-trainer, working with Transforming Grace, I made three to four visits a year to spend a few days to two weeks to advise, train, problem-solve, and hold Transforming Grace accountable to the partnership principles. When I began, Transforming Grace included only Paul and his wife, Rachael, located in the capital city, one paid evangelist whom they supported from Paul’s wife’s income with a Christian NGO, and twenty-nine small village churches in the far northwest. Paul was also in the midst of constructing a five-story building that would become Transforming Grace’s national headquarters, home of a multifaceted Child Development Project, and his personal residence.

In March of 2009, Transforming Grace celebrated the planting of one thousand churches and a host of support ministries that included five children’s homes, four regional training centers, a burgeoning micro-credit ministry, nearly one hundred village primary schools, several income-generating secondary schools, a number of smaller projects, and periodic relief work. The following paragraphs attempt to capture some of the factors, pro and con, that impacted the growth of the church, focusing primarily on my role as facilitator.

The Primary Players

My organization, an evangelical faith mission based in the United States, focuses on reproducing Christ-centered churches among the nations. GVC serves as the primary church-planting ministry arm of my organization. GVC partners with national churches in other countries to plant new churches by combining funding, strategy, accountability, and oversight with the national church’s vision, personnel, and experience.

Local evangelists, who usually work in teams, establish new churches through a program of extensive evangelism. When I began in 1997, teams were required to follow GVC guidelines, including submitting detailed monthly records of their activities to GVC headquarters.

Paul and Rachael grew up in Christian homes in adjacent villages north of the capital. Both of their parents were converts to Christianity from Hinduism. Paul and Rachael were good students and natural leaders. After high school they went on for advanced training, Paul in accounting and Rachael in public health.

Both also completed one or two years of Bible school. When I began, Paul had just resigned from his job as the leader of a small Christian media organization to devote all of his time to his growing ministry and vision.

As a mid-career missionary I was invited to coach the partnership in 1997. My prior experience included earning an MDiv from Fuller Seminary, with an emphasis in cross-cultural communication in 1978, helping direct the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course from 1978 to 1981, pioneer church planting in the Philippines from 1982 to 1987, and training and coaching North American missionaries from 1989 on.

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