(An International Ministry to equip Christian Leaders for Evangelism)
Forty women leaders from 25 so called Third World Nations converged last January onto the beautiful island of Maui in Hawaii, USA. They were from Asia, Africa, Eurasia and Latin America. One was a Member of Parliament from Uganda; three were Lawyers, with one having her own Private Firm in Malaysia and another representing the US Embassy in Togo as the Fraud Prevention Investigator. There was an Indonesian Businesswoman with 400 employees; three Medical Doctors, one of whom is flown to different countries for her expertise in rare genetic diseases; several University Lecturers; an IT consultant; two Psychologists; Counselors, and a few Pastoral ministers and Financial experts.
They had been handpicked and recommended by those who had been previously trained in Haggai Institute, to attend this intensive 4 weeks Leadership for Evangelism Seminar. Over a dozen Facilitators from these countries flew in to facilitate in turns on a variety of subjects such as the Biblical Mandate to Evangelise, Developing the internal as well as external discipline of a Christian Leader; Models or methods of Evangelism; impacting people of other Faiths; Responding to modern Pluralism; Stewardship of Resources; Setting personal, professional and spiritual Goals. The uniqueness of the learning was that these Facilitators were Christians in secular leadership positions who were sharing out of what they were practicing. Of the three Lawyers, one had served as the Legal Counsel to the President of her country. One other Facilitator was a Professional Social Worker in an Arab country; another had previously launched and edited well known Indian Magazines such as Stardust.
Although the participants paid a small part, the bulk of the expenses of their Training were borne by Christians in America and Canada (Rs. 5 lacs per participant), who made sacrifices to do so for two reasons. Firstly, God loves all and wants to redeem the multitudes of unsaved in these Nations. Secondly, it made brilliant sense to equip national/local Christian Leaders to evangelise their own people. They knew the local Culture, language, conditions better than the best Western Missionaries who were in comparison small in number but very expensive to send and maintain.
In addition, they were in the professional world where the presence of Full time Christian ministers did not abound. In January 2011, when I was the Resident Coordinator for yet another batch of such women leaders, 31 of the 62 were sponsored by a Canadian Couple who saved for years to do so on their earnings as AMWAY Ambassadors!! They dressed decent but simple, stayed in the same Quarters as we did, queued up like us for meals in the Dining room. In short they sought none and got no extra attention and glory. They could have built mega multi storied Buildings; bought latest models of cars with their wealth like we see so often among us. But they did not, probably knowing they cannot take these luxuries with them into the next life (something that some of us are forgetting big time).
There was yet another group that bowled over the ladies. Besides a skeletal paid staff for technical and administrative support, all the Cleaning and Maintenance were done by Christian Volunteers mostly from Canada: vacuuming Classrooms and Bedrooms, doing general laundry, deep cleaning all nooks and corners, Toilet cleaning, taking trash out, maintaining the Swimming Pool, Jacuzzi, artificial Waterfall and Fish pond etc. As they joined us each evening for Dinner, they encouraged the Participants who shared about their lives and work, building into their lives. As I spent personal time with the participants, sometimes long into the night, listening, counseling and praying, I discovered how God was equipping these ladies by first transforming their personal lives. A disillusioned woman, bitter at her corrupt leaders, forgave them. She became a joyful Christian who sought out those who seemed low in spirit. A fear riddled lady broke that bondage of stage fright and led us in the most vibrant worship service.
The greatest discoveries they made were:
The Great Commission to preach the Gospel is not an option but a command. It is not meant just for Pastors, Evangelists and Missionaries but for every Christian to obey. They need not quit their jobs for a foreign mission, their Workplace was their Mission Field!
So they set goals, wrote them up and prayed for them. The MP committed to share the Gospel to her colleagues this year. The Businesswoman assured her husband over the phone, that she would cover the designing aspect of their Company but was delegating the rest to him so she could set up a Charity Foundation for their Company to help the poor in their city and share the love of God. One Lawyer committed to train her Christian employees to share the Gospel with their Clients and also give free counsel to the many Divorce applicants. A School Principal said she now knew God placed her there to impact the students and their parents with the message of love and hope. A University Lecturer promised to set up an Open House at her residence to guide those transiting into the big wild world of the University from School. Another vowed to open up their University TV Channel to the Gospel. A Pastor in a Mexican township across Texas asked for prayer covering as she pledged to target the youths caught up in cross border violence. Then they set up an E-group so that they could be accountable to each other with their goals as well as encourage and pray for each other. We have the same God and Gospel and we too can make that change if we are not already doing so. Oswald J. Smith said: “Oh my friends, we are loaded with countless Church activities, while the real work of the Church, that of evangelizing and winning the lost, is almost entirely neglected.”
John Wesley added, "Untold millions are still untold."
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