Late 2009 and early 2010 I read several books and many articles on Business as Mission (BAM). I had discovered this field through the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course. As I worked through these I kept encountering an aversion to missions organizations and missionaries. I actually found it quite puzzling and at times frustrating.

Earlier today I re-read an email I sent to a friend that has given me cause for pause. Maybe this is part of why BAMers are apprehensive of traditional missions practices.

Let me share part of the email I mentioned:

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Some good things will come from me being here. They already have some agriculture projects going on that can dovetail nicely into some things I have been thinking about. The brother who oversees those projects, went through David Watson’s level 1 training. He already has some early successes of using drip irrigation and compost training as access ministries into nearby villages.

When I told him about the treadle foot pumps and mentioned that some people use them to water tree seedlings that they sell as a cash crop he got excited. He took me outside and showed me rows of tree seedlings that are growing in small black plastic bags filled with compost. He told me they sprout under the fruit trees during the rainy season, but will die during the dry season. He paid three cents each for the bags, composted the soil and then transplanted the seedlings. These will be watered through the dry season and then can be sold to local people at the start of the next rainy season. If planted at the start, they will develop the root system to survive the next dry season.

He has started these seedlings because he takes a few along to the irrigation/compost trainings he does in rural villages. He shows them the trees so they see the value of the compost in developing a cash crop. He said, “I know they could care for so many more seedlings with one of those pumps.”
 
My challenge is getting this brother to not just see these projects as great means to gain access to villages, but as ways to help their Access Ministry division to become self-funded. Missions people are so fund-raising focused that they don’t seem to see a business opportunity that bites them in the behind.

They have a well and water towers here so they do not need the foot pumps, but he sees how valuable they could be in the villages. But his first thoughts are on raising U.S. money to give pumps to these groups.

Sustainability seems to be a word everyone knows, but is blinded to seeing the obvious way forward. They have lots of men working here on building projects, carrying supplies, and even sweeping the driveways. But the funding for these jobs is all being paid for by American donors. Right now they have big projects on hold because of the lack of funding due to the American recession.
 
It is good for me to have to wrestle with this within myself because these are the kinds of issues we will face all over Africa—especially where we have people who are already receiving support. This brother showed me a row of fruit trees loaded with produce and when I asked he said they would bring $1.00 a piece in roadside markets and $2.00-3.00 apiece in the local super markets.

Why aren’t they growing groves of this fruit on their open land and selling them to fund the purchase of drip kits, foot pumps, etc.? I will probably ask these questions before I leave, but want to earn more of their respect/trust and make sure I do not raise them with the edge I feel right now. I know they fear getting absorbed in the business of business, but instead they are absorbed in the business of fund-raising.

I know that such projects will take some money on the front end, time, and lots of hard work. But they have an incredible cash crop and so many unemployed people around. One of these nurseries could support a CPM trainer. A grove of these trees could support a CPM trainer. But you have to train a faith community to see that their work can further the spread of the gospel and improve their lives too.

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Business people don’t trust missions because they never get enough donations. Missions people don’t trust business people because all their focus is on business. Does it have to be this way?

Truly sustainable missions practices will have to produce income. They may start more easily with adequate capital on the front end, but they have to reach the point that they pay for their own upkeep and expansions. We can learn more of this from business people. But we must not lose sight of the fact that when our goal for these businesses is to further the spread of the kingdom, then we will probably have a different outlook than many business people.

God has ordained both fields. God calls some to business. God calls some to missions. I truly believe there are people he calls to both–simultaneously (think about Paul’s words to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20). Can we not marry the best of both worlds? Can we not use BAM to further CPM? Can we not begin access ministries that grow into Christian Community Development? These are places to teach for the increase of knowledge, coach to pass on new/improved skills and mentor to increase capacity.

When I recently taught and coached CPM principles and approaches in Africa, I had a student from Malawi. He was attending a Bible college in neighboring Zambia and became very engaged in the class. I knew he was on board when we chatted during one of the breaks. He told me about a study group that he had started near the college.

Early on he had success with the head of the household through personal evangelism. But lately the man had been absent and was clearly avoiding my student. He wondered out loud  if the situation would be different had he used a household evangelistic approach. He was not approaching my classes as an abstract exercise, but was thinking experientially.

So much Western education works counter to this happening because it is a slow tedious knowledge-based process that runs counter to the hands-on learning demanded by discipleship. The more highly educated in Western traditional practices the individual is, CPM strategies generally prove to be little more than mind-game diversions. Unless one has already become highly frustrated/disappointed with traditional practices and has actively begun the search for new ways, the less likely he/she is to attempt CPM approaches.  To become open to experience-based learning, one must acknowledge that the old paradigms will not get the job done and begin applying CPM strategies to real-life situations.

Interestingly, though, it is best if this dissatisfaction arises from within the person being discipled without being forced by the trainer. When the motivation to change is primarily external, there is an internal frustration that hinders transformation because this person is not yet equipped to counter the opposition that will naturally arise to changing.

Just as you do not learn to swim without getting into the water, people will not learn to disciple in CPM ways without attempting them. Implimenting CPM strategies in North American contexts will demand we identify people who are working in settings that are very difficult or it is highly unlikely they will make the effort to experientially learn new ways. As long as people assume they can do traditional things better, more, and/or smarter they will refuse to invest the effort change demands. For example, when people have been called by God to reach an immigrant community that is close-knit and using their native religion as a way to maintain their sense of identity, traditional practices will not work. Only a total novice will assume that doing traditional things better will result in a breakthrough.

Like my student in Zambia, these workers are more likely to consider CPM approaches. But they will have to begin using them personally before they are likely to train someone else. (When I shared how to do a 3-column study with my dentist, he replied matter-of-factly, “That’s not how I study the Bible.” While he acknowledged that his personal practice of opening half a dozen commentaries, a Bible dictionary and a concordance was not feasible for men in jail, he refused to consider the possibility that maybe he needed to learn a simple, reproducible approach that he could share with them.)

You must do it before you will train someone else. You may teach information you do not practice daily, but most people will not coach skills that they do not personally utilize. Since CPM is fundamentally about hearing Scripture, preparing to re-tell what you are hearing and identifying what you need to do to obey the passage, you must do these things personally to coach someone else in doing them. You have to get into the water to learn to swim.

I have a friend who works in the “home-flipping” market. You know, buy cheap, re-hab the neglected home and then sell it at a profit. While some people do not like this industry, it can really help folks who are in desparate financial situations.

He and I were talking today at lunch about my recent trip to Africa. When I told him about the time I spent with a guy who is focusing on training small-plot farmers to use appropriate technology, he chuckled and quoted some speakers who periodically make presentations to the regional “flipping” group: “These principles will work in every city of the nation, except yours!”

That quote was used to point out our human tendency to rationalize our unwillingness to change. Most human beings will find reasons why the successes that come in other places cannot be duplicated where we live. We are often our own biggest obstacle to healthy change.

Why won’t they change? Why won’t we change? Those two questions came to my mind as I discussed the situation with my friend.

One of the techniques my new friend in Africa uses is side-by-side comparisons. He has trained people to do “no-till” farming of maize (corn)–the grain staple in the country where he lives. Rather than trying to get the small-plot farmers to convert all of their land to no-till, he gets them to agree to plant half of it no-till and the other half using their traditional method. The beauty of this methodology is the people get to see exactly how much the change helps. One half of their land produces the usual amount. What will they think when the other side produces 4-5 times as much? They cannot attribute the difference to the luck of a better year. These two sections received the same rainfall. The difference is the preparation of the small planting holes that were prepared during the dry season, just prior to the rainy season. A small amount of manure is worked into these holes and the micro-organisms of the surrounding areas are not disturbed. The ground holds its moisture better because it has not been tilled. Here the farmers are allowed to discover for themselves the reality that healthy changes can be fruitful.

I am excited about using such agricultural practices as access ministries because they model kingdom living. Think about how many of Jesus’ parables were based on agriculture. There is great benefit to learning from God’s design for our world to be fruitful and multiply. We learn patience. We are reminded of mystery. But we also learn the incredible role of the wise gardener–the importance of the vinedresser.

What might happen in sub-Saharan Africa if church planters train people in the best of small-plot farming? What kinds of transformation might come as emerging churches begin to use appropriate technology and are thus able to support sending church planting trainers out to nearby villages and regions. What might happen if sustainability became more than a buzz word thrown out at missions conferences and fund raising events.

Maybe I am just a dreamer. Maybe, just maybe, though, there is a way we can catalyze significant changes. The God of Scripture cares about the whole of life. Shalom involves wholeness.

I am excited about what the future may hold. I am excited that I get to spend time with people who don’t discount the concept that real change is possible. A wise friend has reminded me through the years, “If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you will always get what you have always gotten.” Maybe there are people who are waking up to the possibility of changing some of what we are doing to healthier, more fruitful practices in hopes of getting better results!

We already know the results of traditional practices. Maybe some side-by-side comparisons will help us all.

In a recent round-table digital discussion of efforts to develop Strategy Coordinators for CPM, one of the participants raised the suggestion of getting CPM training into seminaries. He hopes we can get people to consider ways to plant the gospel into clusters rather than personal and mass evangelistic practices that often prove extractional.

This suggestion caught my attention because I am currently teaching for two weeks in a small Bible college/seminary in south-central Africa. It turns out that the President of this Bible College is a long-time friend. After he and some of the senior staff attended one of David Watson’s level 1 trainings in Livingstone, Zambia a couple of years ago, we had a lengthy conversation on CPM. (I also spent half a day introducing his brother—who had been my roommate in Bible College for two years—to CPM. This brother is a major donor to this school.) Because of their interest in CPM, this leadership team reached out to Shodankeh Johnson to see if there was someone from his team who could be sent here to assist with implementing CPM in the school’s training program.

The whole program here is in a state of flux (I believe it has strong potential to move in some excellent directions). It is a Church of Christ affiliated school in a nation with some very legalistic churches in our fellowship, so there are some potential pitfalls, but there are also some wonderful opportunities. I am being given total freedom to teach whatever I want and was encouraged to do some CPM training. I have spent this first week training 35 second semester students to do 3-column Bible studies and oral Discovery Bible Studies. The timing of me being here at this point in the school year is truly a God-thing.

One of the new emphases the school is addressing is the need for spiritual formation of the students. A second group of 35 students, who just arrived on campus this week, are starting a first semester that focuses exclusively on developing their spiritual character. They will be paired with older students who are to serve as spiritual mentors. These older students are being mentored by faculty and staff. They began in January and are my immediate students. Because of this arrangement when I assign my students with the responsibility of teaching someone else what they are learning, they have these newer students to teach, coach and/or mentor.

My students are quickly gaining a deeper appreciation of the Discovery Bible Studies. I taught them how to do a 3-column study on Monday and then gave them homework where they had to do a passage. They turned those in on Tuesday and we went over more of the process and introduced doing it in an oral format. They gained new insights into familiar passages by this approach  so they realize this can be beneficial for them—not just lost people. I gave them more homework to prepare for doing a study tomorrow in a totally oral format. I am hoping to build their confidence in the methodology over the two weeks.

Having such a readily available opportunity to pass on what they are learning is a real blessing. As we all know, you must actually train someone else quickly in what you have been learning, or you don’t get the experiential learning. The new group of students, who arrived on Sunday to start their Spiritual Formation semester, is motivated because their future here is tied to character development. Those who grow spiritually will be invited back for further study, but they are not automatically guaranteed a slot.

On Wednesday I followed up on the assignment of sharing what they were learning.  Out of 35 there were only three who had done the assignment. I was so shocked, because they had done everything else I had asked. I expressed my disappointment and then stated that maybe I was not doing too well as a teacher if they were not willing to share what they were learning. The class leader apologized for them and asked for more time to complete the assignment. On Thursday almost every hand went up when I asked who had shared with a new student. I asked how it had gone and they were pleased. They said there were some good questions raised by the new students.

Also, I had them write a prayer for believers in their nation based on Paul’s prayer at the end of Ephesians 3. I had four of the students to stand and read their prayers. They were excellent! Everyone gave me a copy of their prayers and kept the original. For homework for Friday their assignment was to re-write the same prayer, but personalize one copy for the new student that they spoke with on Wednesday. They were to get with that student, pray the prayer for him/her and then give them the written copy. Also they were to re-write the prayer and personalize it for the staff member who is serving as their spiritual mentor and give him/her that copy and tell them, “I am praying this prayer for you.”

When I dismissed the class I failed to pray for them, as had become my pattern. The oldest of the students came quickly to me and said, “Pray for us as you have the other days!” I called the class back to order and prayed a prayer of praise for their hearts and their work. I lifted the stack of prayers up and asked God to multiply them many times over for the sake of their nation and the surrounding ones. It may have been the most special prayer of my life! My heart was overflowing. They made me so proud!

On Friday they were very happy to share about their interactions with the newer students. I also met with the staff mentors and a few of the students that have been selected to be spiritual mentors with the newer students. I asked the staff mentors if they had received anything on Thursday afternoon. They were beaming. One said, “I am going to paper the wall of my apartment with those prayers!”

In addition to my time with the students, I have been able to participate in a couple of the staff meetings and it has given me opportunities to reinforce some of the things Bro. Sandi Mustapha (the believer from Sierra Leone that I trained to do DBSs in 2005) has already been introducing. The meeting was focused on how the spiritual mentoring is going and I will be doing some training of those mentors who are being selected to work with these new students. I am getting to work with every level of the staff, faculty and student body (either directly or indirectly). It is pretty incredible how much the president has pulled me in even though there is much about CPM that he still does not fully appreciate, yet. But that is not totally surprising since he brought Bro. Sandi here.

I have also had some great conversations with the man who works with their agriculture/Access Ministry area. He is the first person who has a vision for using/selling the treadle water pumps. He immediately recognized their potential value when I talked about using them to water tree seedlings which could be sold as a cash crop. He got excited and took me outside to see several small black plastic bags filled with compost and small fruit tree seedlings that he has started to be able to take with him to the villages where he is teaching people to use drip irrigation kits and composting. While the campus has a well, electric pump and a storage tank that keeps them from needing to use these pumps personally, he realizes that these will be very valuable to the villages that have nearby water sources, but would have to haul water to raise such seedlings. Some people in the villages are already raising seedlings, but he knows they could be so much more successful with a pump.

I came to assist a long-time friend, assess how I might partner with them in Access Ministry development and to see if teaching/training the students in CPM might work. Obviously it is too early to really know how fruitful this will be, but I am recommending that round-table team to stay prayerfully open to one member’s suggestion. We all need to investigate whether or not we could nurture a working relationship with the schools where we attended Bible College and/or seminary. Maybe we start by developing a curriculum that could be used in a two to three-week intensive missions course. There is certainly some excellent material in the Perspectives course that could be utilized. The fourth edition Perspectives Reader would be an excellent resource.

There is also some excellent systematic theology material that one of my friends has available online that could be very useful because of how focused it is on the Bible being first and foremost about God. You can access and read through that material at http://johnmarkhicks.wordpress.com/serial-index/. Using it will require some adaptation, but provides a great overview of God’s self-revelation in Scriptures. John Mark Hicks, the author, listened to the CPM training CDs from Sierra Leone in 2006 and finds the approach of having people learn a simple study method very desirable. He loves the fact that the first question we train people to ask of a text is, “What do we learn about God from this passage/story?” We may need to start tuning our sensors to identify “Persons of Peace” within Bible Colleges, Universities and Seminaries.

I am excited thinking of what God may bring out of our discussions. The timing of me receiving the compilation certainly caught my attention. Being part of a multi-national team keeps life interesting. Join me in praying that God will use us to fulfill his purpose of people from every tribe, language and people group gathered around his throne worshiping him in adoration (Revelation 7).

Your sense of identity shapes your choice of activities. If you are a carpenter then you build things. If you are a librarian then you purchase, catalog, and arrange books. If you are a child of the king then you…? If you are a disciple of Jesus you…?

In the Scriptures we find that God changes the people he calls by giving them a new identity, challenging them to live up to that sense of self-definition and empowering their new walk. Because our relationship with Jesus makes us “holy” we are called to live holy lives. Here we see the connection between indicatives and imperatives in Paul’s writings. In the first half of most of his letters he discusses the identity of people “in Christ.” The second half shows how that new identity in Christ changes the way we are to behave and determines to a great extent what we do.

If you begin to see yourself as a church planter that self-definition will change what you do in significant ways. You will begin to pray for wisdom to discern which communities need churches. There will be care to identify the obstacles to planting churches there. Care will be given to discover the profile of the ideal person to transmit the gospel in that community. “Who has access to the majority of that community?” is the kind of question that will capture your attention.

Two large draft horses placed first and second at a horse pull. The second place horse pulled a sled weighing 400 pounds. The winner pulled 450 pounds. When someone suggested the two be harnessed together they were able to pull 1,200 pounds as a team. Church planters realize the task is too great to be accomplished alone. They recognize their work will require a team. Their thoughts swing to recognizing who else needs to be involved. Concern is given to who needs additional training and what kind of training is essential.

How different would our lives be if we saw ourselves as church planting missionaries? Did you know there are five different great commissions? Jesus wants all his disciples to recognize that following him means we begin to search for the people God wants matured into new church plants. Jesus said his disciples would be like their master. Are you like him?

Last week something special happened. It was the fulfillment of a dream from more than thirty years ago. I made the right choice twenty years ago when I chose to release the dream at that time.

You see, when I attended Bible college the greatest influences on me were professors, not preachers. Yes, I ended up being a preaching minister, but my dream in college was to become a professor. I actually only knew one man who was a full-time preaching minister while I was in college. The peopel who influenced me most were college professors. It’s no wonder I graduated with a dream of being a professor.

My early plans were to pay off my student loans and move to Memphis to attend Harding Graduate School of Religion and earn a Masters degree. But that was 1980 and high inflation was causing a recession that made finding employment very difficult. After applying at several businesses I heard about an opening at a rural congregation where I had preached some during my junior year in college.

While evaluating whether or not to accept the work when it was offered I remembered a statement from one of my professors. He said, “Boys if you have to choose between two works, go where you believe you can do the most good. I accepted the position. Little did I know that while working there for almost five years I would meet and marry my wife and earn a Masters degree. Sometimes God blesses your dreams through avenues you would never imagine.

As we moved to Maryland in 1985 it appeared my dream of becoming a professor was drawing closer. I would work with a congregation in Maryland and try to get admitted to a PhD. program in Philadelphia. Two things arose that altered this plan. First, our son was born and second I discovered I needed additional hours to be accepted to doctoral studies. I started working on some classes and realized that the rigors of education where challenging while serving a congregation and caring for my growing family. I decided either my family or my ministry would suffer if I enrolled in the program I had planned on taking.

For the next fifteen years I poured myself into being a dad who was invovled in the lives of my children. Home, church, school and sports were places where we spent time interacting. I was present for most of their events because I chose to forgo the additional schooling.

Six years ago, God started me on a remarkable journey. Late in 2003 my wife and I attended a fund-raising dinner. I never would have dreamed that this would be a way God would alter my course. I met three people that night who have become very significant friends–Jerry Trousdale, David Watson and Terry Neu. I will tell you more about Jerry and David in later installments, but this blog has more to do with Terry.

Terry Neu is a regional coordinator for Perspectives on the World Christian Movement classes here in our part of the country. Jerry taught some classes that Terry organized and took me with him to two of them and I enjoyed the stimulating discussions. I bought a reader and workbook at the first one and started working through the material. It was a godsend because I knew a young man in jail who wanted to take a college level course while incarcerated. While he did not earn credit, he was able to work through that material after I purchased a set for him.

Eventually Terry encouraged me to serve as the host of a Perspectives class here in Murfreesboro. I audited the course and also taught lesson four. Every semester since then I have taught at least one of the classes. Now I have a new title through Perspectives. I am a Professor of Record for the Perspectives classes that are taking place this spring.

Who would have thought I would serve as a professor of a missions mobilization class? God has fulfilled another dream related to me and education. I am enjoying the ride. Next month I will be teaching a two-week class at a Bible college in Zambia. Wow! It is amazing where God has taken me.

Dream big dreams! If you will give them to God, he will fulfill them in ways you could never imagine. One of the great results is he gets the glory.