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Teams

Pictures of the Goal: what a pioneer team looks like

In July 2006, we asked, “Where are we going?” that article looked at how the numbers of unevangelized peoples are increasing. In September, we asked, “What will it take to make a difference?” We looked at the need for more workers—tens of thousands of teams, over 150,000 workers probably—for the least-reached peoples. We examined different structures and proposed that a swarm structure would be the most ideal for raising these numbers. In November Jason Mandryk and I presented the State of the Gospel which clearly demonstrates the need to prioritize, mobilize, sacrifice, partner and pray. In January we analyzed how it is “1900 all over again”: an article that examined how many places (notably China) are today in the same place that the United States was in a century ago, when it launched its first attempt at world evangelization.

So, let’s ask: what would “team” look like? What would a team do? How would it function?

Teams will come from diverse places. First, let’s realize that teams will come from all sorts of places around the world. Several groups have goals to mobilize hundreds of thousands of workers: PMA, Back to Jerusalem, NEMA, to name just a few. Most teams will likely be ethnically the same, yet they will also be connected with other teams from other places, other ethnicities, other languages, etc.

Teams will have varied funding structures. There are many arguments and views on how to structure the financial support of a pioneer team. Since these teams will be pioneering new work amongst unreached peoples, they likely will initially have a mix of support from remote locations and local support. It seems obvious a team that is globally connected and at ease communicating with people from all over the world will gain support from other places, but the majority of their support will come from sources that are local to their ministry area.

Teams will be focused on raising up and serving others. A pioneer team cannot generally reach 100,000 people on their own. Instead, they will focus on working to make initial converts and to raise up local indigenous ministries. So, for example, we might find a team of Nigerians who labor in Egypt, make some converts of local Egyptians, and help them start ministries that can impact 100,000 people. In this role, the pioneer team would operate very quietly, seeking neither credit nor glory. The intent is to move the Gospel as close to the culture as possible, as rapidly as possible.

Teams will have clear goals to work toward. A pioneer team should have a clear vision and specific, actionable goals. They will be working in a measurable way. We know that church planting movements and people group movements come about as a result of God’s work, and we can’t dictate to God what will happen (He is “not tame lion,” after all). The point, however, is that we should be about the business we are called to, doing everything we can to seed and water the ground for harvest.

Teams will have a long-term commitment. In order to do these things, a team will have to have a long-term commitment. You cannot learn a language or a culture in 2 weeks—it may take more on the order of two years. Some peoples cannot be reached on a tourist visa. A team will have to have a long-term presence, which will require by definition a platform other than a tourist or a student.

Teams will work in the context of other teams. Nearly every unreached people group cluster, at this point, has some kind of partnership working amongst them. Some are bigger and some are smaller, but nearly all exist. Teams, therefore, must anticipate they will work at least partly in partnership with other teams.

Teams will be connected more than ever before. In our age of globalization, we can generally expect that teams will maintain significant connections with partners all over the world, including donor churches and individuals. They must have a clear vision of what they are attempting to achieve, so that they don’t get drawn off-course by the well-meaning desires of these partners. Likewise, they will have to manage their time and informational connections wisely. In connection-rich Western countries, many people think nothing of forwarding the most recent e-mailed joke, virus warning, or video—not realizing that in many places in the least-reached world, people pay by the kilobyte. Security, too, obviously will be an issue.

These are not your typical teams. They require a certain amount of ability, calling, and training. We need to next think through what is required to raise up these teams.

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© 2007 Momentum Magazine.
Related: The Mission Manual · Justin Long's Annotated Links and Notes