There are so many transitions, unknowns, and moving parts when new teams launch to the field. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is a document that most missions teams have to provide clarity in the midst of those unknowns. We would define an MOU as a non-binding agreement created between two or more parties explaining how they will work together and interact with each other.

As common as MOUs are on missions teams, there’s surprisingly few examples or short articles out there to help with how to write one. But, “can you help me with how to write our team MOU?” is one of the most common questions we get from team leaders. Vision of the Possible by Daniel Sinclair is a really good book about missions teams in pioneer church planting, and has a short appendix on MOUs/VSPs that we’d recommend.

One of the agreements in our MOU was no dating in the first year. The two single guys on our initial team took that to heart… and both asked out another teammate on a date at 1 year plus 1 day. I guess they technically followed the agreement. I’m happy to report they both ended up marrying those teammates.

Why are MOUs important?

I quickly wanted to address why this document even matters and why it’s worth the time for team leaders to work through this.

1. Clear Expectations. As I mentioned above, clarity is kindness. New teammates especially are being introduced to a new country, culture, community, career all at the same time. What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to interact? What is success every day? These are questions that every new goer faces in their early season on the field. As much as is possible, an MOU can lay down some basic foundations of clarity and expectations for your team. 
   
   For a new TL, it can feel overwhelming and difficult to write down all of these expectations. Write down what you know, and put down a ‘TBD’ in the categories that you’re not sure about yet! But provide as much clarity as you can in this document for your teammates, and then you won’t have to answer it in person that many more times.
   
2. Sets Team Culture and Values. An MOU is also one way you can write down and reinforce your team culture and values. What you talk about and what you do on your team will influence your team culture and values more than a document, but it still acts as a cornerstone for your team.
   
   How often will your team interact? What values do you want to have as a team? What’s your expectation on learning language? Many of these things can be expressed in an MOU.
   
3. Guidelines for Challenging Situations. Team conflict is a guarantee on missions teams, and some of it will certainly come out in the early season of a team forming. A team MOU is a good tool for outlining solutions to potentially challenging situations.
   
   In our experience, topics that result in conflict tend to be things in the ‘personal’ realm – vacations, parenting, travel, money, decision-making that infringes on what people think to be their own personal boundaries, etc. Teammates will mostly be willing to discuss things like team rhythms and ministry approaches with openness, but those ‘personal’ topics will get teams and team leaders in hot water. It’s important to write down some basic expectations and guidelines for how those things will be approached before you get into conflict.
   
4. Brief Summary for Outsiders. An MOU can be a good document to share with people in your team’s ecosystem that aren’t teammates. Church support teams, sending agencies, potential new recruits, etc. It will give them an idea of who you are, what you’re there to do, and how you want to interact.

How to Write an MOU

Some tips: don’t worry about perfecting the language. It’s not a legal document. This was a huge roadblock for me in trying to ‘wordsmith’ the MOU into being really professional or airtight. That’s not the purpose – write in common language that your team can understand easily and discuss.

Think of your first draft as just that – a draft. It’s not something the TL writes and then the team just agrees and signs. You want the first draft to be something your team can discuss and then incorporate their feedback into the MOU. It’s an agreement you enter into with each other, not a contract between you and your team members.

Here’s our step-by-step guide for how to write an MOU for your team.

1. Consider the requirements from your sending agency or church. If they already have staff handbooks, you don’t (and shouldn’t) need to rewrite everything that is already in there as all your staff have to adhere to that handbook anyway. If there’s additional aspects that aren’t outlined in the staff handbook, then go ahead and include that in your team MOU.

2. Consider what categories you want included in your MOU. This isn’t exhaustive, but below we’ve outlined some potential MOU categories into “core” which we’d recommend most MOUs have, and “optional” which could be added on a team-by-team basis.

Core Categories

• Purpose of this Document
• Vision and Mission Statements
• Strategy Summary / Ministry Distinctives – short summary that should refer to a Vision and Strategy Paper (VSP) or Strategy Plan
• Team and Leadership Structure – potentially including decisions that the leader reserves the right to have the final say
• Process and Requirements to Join the Team – if your staff handbook already has this, only add the parts that are unique to your team
• Preparation and Language Learning – pre-field requirements, commitment to language learning, hours and timeframe, approach
• Decision Making Process – general description of how decisions are made, potentially can cover decisions that will be by vote, consensus, consultation, and command
• Conflict Resolution
• Vacations, Home Assignments (HMA), and Travel
• Communication and Reporting
• Crises and Emergencies – basic overview that should refer to a Crisis and Contingency Plan document
• Restrictions and Recommendations – including security considerations
• How Future Changes to this MOU Can Be Made

Optional Categories

• Core Team Values
• Philosophy of Ministry
• Accountability Groups
• Expectations of the First 2 Years
• Job Descriptions and Team Roles
• Partnerships with Local Churches and Believers
• Contextualization
• Statement of Faith / Theological Distinctives
• Family / Children / Parenting – becomes very important if there are children on the team, but not necessarily beforehand
• Team Life and Lifestyle – general guidelines about team life and lifestyle
• Dating and Relationships
• Team Funds – running a team will include expenses; it’s easier to pull a regular amount from each unit and be support raised before launching to the field than to figure out finances for every gathering
• Visas / Identity

3. Read other example MOUs. Contact the other TLs that you know, or ask your sending agency for examples if they can provide them. Add categories that you might be missing.

4. Write down quick points of what you know in each category. Feel free to just copy and paste whole sections from other MOUs if it says what you want. If you’re not sure, write down ‘TBD’ or the questions you need answered in that section.

5. Let your draft sit for a while and have some informal conversations with your team or other advisors on the topics you have not yet filled in or need questions answered.

6. Take your last pass through filling out the MOU with coherent language and incorporating the feedback you’ve heard.

7. Bring your MOU draft to your teammates during a team meeting and read through it, asking for their feedback. Again it may be good to explain the purpose of the MOU is for mutual agreement, not to be ironclad against all situations or to be wielded against one another as a ‘gotcha.’

8. Incorporate your teammates’ feedback as best you can. Bring it back to them for final review. Have everyone sign and date their agreement with the MOU. Our recommendation is for new teams to set a 1-year evaluation period for the MOU because there are so many things you don’t know yet and may need to change. You could possibly edit the MOU earlier than that if needed. With future teammates, it will most likely be that they are joining an established team and simply need to read it, ask any clarifying questions, and sign it. But with your initial team (if you have one), it’s good to solicit feedback in the MOU’s creation.

9. Update the MOU as needed. Our recommendation is when there are significant team transitions – from language to ministry season, when teammates start having children, moving cities, changing platforms, changing ministry approaches – it’s a good idea to take a brief look at the MOU and see if everything still aligns or if anything needs to be added. 

Attached is an example of our original team’s MOU with some of the specifics removed, just so you can have a place to start. We have other team MOU’s that we can share as well. If you want some other example MOUs, want some guidance on how to write your MOU, or just someone to review your current MOU, please reach out at contact@missionsleaders.com. We’d be happy to help you!

Remember, as a team leader, your role is to serve your team members and help them to thrive and stay on task. Bringing clarity to some major categories through an MOU is one way you can serve them. The goal isn’t to be directive or controlling – a pushback you may receive – but to provide guardrails for your team members so they can move forward through all the unknowns.

Most-Read Posts in 2025

1. Be Barnabas – What is a NAV?
   • See other posts from the Be Barnabas series
2. What is the “Apostolic” and Why is it Important?
   • See other posts from the Apostolic series
3. Spiritual Warfare
4. Two Types of Kingdom Fruitfulness
5. Team Conflict

Being Barnabas – the role of an outsider in partnering with cultural insiders towards movement continues to be a key missions principle that we believe can unlock many missionaries’ most effective role in the Great Commission. In particular, finding a National Apostolic Visionary (NAV) to partner with can result in exponential multiplication among the unreached.

In order to find these NAVs, we focused on better understanding around the Apostolic gift, the Five-Fold gifts from Ephesians 4:11, and how to practically discern, partner with, and equip these apostolic leaders.

Understanding the Two Types of Kingdom Fruitfulness – the fruit of the Spirit and the fruit of multiplication can help us pursue the good works God has prepared for us with healthy balance. Of course, we want to see multitudes of people worship Jesus among the unreached. And, we want to see their lives and our own lives changed to look more like Jesus every day. Both are necessary!

Team Conflict and Spiritual Warfare remain as two critical topics that most missionaries face on the field and need equipping around. Without healthy conflict resolution and team interaction, it can be really difficult to concentrate on the ministry God has called you to do. Similarly, when we’re feeling discouraged and overwhelmed by spiritual attack, that can take over from everything else. Coincidentally, spiritual warfare can many times take the form of team conflict. Clearing both of these issues through community and reliance on Jesus can help you and your team focus on what you and your team are there to do!

Our Favorite 2025 Posts

1. Listening Prayer Part 1 and Part 2
2. Men and Women Leading Together
3. The Five Essential Elements of an Apostolic Leader
4. Bonus: The Dare to Multiply Podcast
   • See all the Dare to Multiply Podcast episodes

Listening Prayer is an aspect of interacting with God that permeates our everyday lives. It is a critical component of not only effective ministry, but daily obedience. Our movement coaches helped start the Listening Prayer Movement, where their primary tool when faced with any obstacle or opportunity is to ask God what He wants for them. It has grown into one of the biggest movements in the world off of that one question.

Men and Women Leading Together is something near and dear to our hearts as it’s how we operate in ministry and life. We think that learning how men and women work and lead together can lead to healthier and more impactful leaders, units, and teams. We’re excited to have some future posts around this topic in 2026!

Obviously in finding a NAV, it’s important to understand what the Apostolic gift is first. But the Five Essential Elements of an Apostolic Leader isn’t just another ministry tool or framework to find leaders. These elements are actually a result of a life surrendered to God, set apart for great works that will impact the unreached for eternity! Perhaps other than the Be Barnabas approach itself, these essential elements might be the ‘secret sauce’ in actually seeing movements catalyzed.

Lastly, the Dare to Multiply Podcast has been an exciting and stretching endeavor for Jenn as she both shares and learns from other missions leaders and movement practitioners. We hope this resource will be a blessing to many multipliers!

On to 2026!

In early 2026, we’ll publicly launch the coaching ministry that we’ve been working on for the past couple of years. We’re excited to provide opportunities for missions leaders to not only learn from our blog but to get hands on coaching and cohort-based training on topics around partnering with national believers, forming and developing teams, deepening your abiding, and other topics essential for leaders.

Our prayer for ourselves and for all of you is that 2026 would be marked by a deeper abiding and a richer fruitfulness than we’ve ever experienced before, resulting in worshippers from every tribe, tongue, and nations to the glory of God.

Happy New Year! Lastly, a poem that encouraged us this year that we hope will bless you.

Furnace by Gerard Kelly

May God in whose furnace faith is forged
In whose being beauty breathes
From whose dawning darkness flees
Shine on you

May the Father whose love for you
Beats with a rhythm time itself can’t stop
Whose presence in your exile
Is the promise of home
Whose certainties are deeper
Than the cellars of your city
Whose breath is life
Breathe on you

May the son whose story
Is a mirror of your own
Who has journeyed into darkness
To find a key to your prison
Who has dived the deepest oceans
To find pearls for your wisdom
Who has looked into your heart
And found a beauty worth the battle
Who has written your name
On a white stone carved in secret
Hold you

May the Spirit
Who has waited millennia to fill you
Who shaped the word that moved the wind
Of the morning that conceived you
Who holds the earth on which you stand
As a midwife holds a newborn
Who fully knows you
Wholly own you

So may God
The faithful Father
God the scarred Son
God the sculpting Spirit
Journey with you

‘Be Barnabas’ is what we call the role of the outsider in finding, equipping, and empowering a national apostolic visionary who is a cultural insider to catalyze movements.

We’ve written a number of posts about this Be Barnabas concept to help people understand the biblical background, learn how to get started, and some posts that go into further depth about finding apostolic partners.

Vision + Biblical Background
I. Intro + Mint’s Story
II. Why Be Barnabas?
III. Who was Barnabas from the Bible?
IV. What is a NAV?

How to Get Started
V. How to Find a NAV
VI. How to Partner with a NAV
VII. Life Together

Spiritual Gifts + Missions
VIII. Spiritual Gifts and Missions
IX. Spiritual Gifts and the Missions Field
X. Spiritual Gifts and Missions Teams

Partnering with Apostolic Leaders
XI. What is the “Apostolic” and Why is it Important?
XII. The 5 Essential Elements of an Apostolic Leaders
XIII. Indicators of an Emerging Apostolic Leader
XIV. Partnering with and Developing an Apostolic Leader

If Being Barnabas to find a national partner to pursue movements with is something you desire to do, we facilitate ‘Be Barnabas’ cohorts for people to learn and collaborate with other practitioners from similar contexts and stages of ministry. Learn more and contact us at yieldleadership.org.

1. Spiritual Gifts and Missions
2. Spiritual Gifts and the Missions Field
3. Spiritual Gifts and Missions Teams
4. What is the ‘Apostolic’ and Why Is It Important?
5. The 5 Essential Elements of an Apostolic Leader
6. Indicators of an Emerging Apostolic Leader

In this series, we’ve discovered what the word “apostolic” means, given the 5 essential elements of an apostolic leader, and discussed potential indicators of an emerging apostolic leader.

In this final post, we’ll talk about how to partner with and develop these proven or emerging apostolic leaders.

We’ve previously given some very practical steps for how to network with believers, build relational trust, and filter for a potential NAV through a “NAV Process.” This includes introductory meetings, discerning if they fit the NAV profile, vision casting, participating in ministry together, and finally piloting a training with them and their group.

Hopefully by the end of this process, you have 1-3 good candidates to partner with. As you partner together, keep the 5 essential elements and the indicators in mind to help you discern if they’re truly apostolically gifted.

But what happens if it turns out that they aren’t apostolic? What then?

Then you’ve spent time either learning about what you’re really looking for and / or you’ve found a local partner who has the vision to pioneer and multiply but may need some help in certain areas to see breakthrough. Either way, it’s time well spent. We’d encourage you to shoot for an apostolic leader because it’s a gifting that God clearly uses to pioneer. If He grants it, great. But any and all gifts can be used for the Kingdom. Any believer can be given a vision for multiplication and may have a crucial role in it. 

You’ll still likely find other faithful, vision-driven local believers that want to pursue multiplication – you should absolutely work with them! It could be that one of them has latent apostolic giftings and needs more time for those things to emerge. And no matter what, these local believers will have much greater effectiveness as cultural insiders in making disciples than we will. They may eventually help you find an apostolic leader that leads to breakthrough by training other believers or through the harvest, like how Paul raised up Priscilla and Aquila as leaders in Corinth who eventually found and developed Apollos. We believe that it’s best if the apostolic gift is involved somewhere in the movement work – through the insider believer, the outsider partner, a movement coach, or through the harvest. He will lead you to these types of people in His timing! Until He does, keep praying, looking, and partnering with faithful disciple makers towards multiplication.

Partnering With an Apostolic Leader

Here are some things we would encourage you to do with an emerging or established apostolic leader that you want to partner with. Some may happen earlier or later in the process of ministry, but all are beneficial in pursuing multiplication, identifying emerging leaders, and developing and using the apostolic gift!

Pioneer Together. As apostolic leaders are called to pioneer among new peoples and places, the first step is to do pioneering work together! Whether entering and preparing new areas through prayer walking, sharing with the lost, or catalyzing others through training, apostolic leaders will thrive in a pioneering environment. You can follow a MAWL (Model-Assist-Watch-Launch) process if you’re working with a potential apostolic leader who has never engaged in pioneering before. You’ll quickly be able to gauge their faithfulness, capacity, and gifting in harvest and catalyzing activities like seeing a fish in water! During the early stages with an emerging leader, you may need to set the parameters and guide a little bit more, but the apostolic leader will intuitively and earnestly start to generate more of the initiation of pioneering activities. Encourage them to pick the target people or places to start harvesting, the groups to train, the tools to use, and help them to gradually refine the vision that the Lord has given them. The goal is to empower them to grow into their gifting, not for them to become cogs in our ministry machine – so empower them by letting them take the lead and make decisions!

Train in Multiplication Principles and Practices. Being in the pioneering environment will feel natural and exciting for the apostolic leader, but pioneering activity does not necessarily equate to multiplication activity. Train and coach the apostolic leader in multiplication principles and practices. It doesn’t need to be a formal classroom setting to train; simply sitting together in a tea or coffee shop and talking through these things with a potential apostolic leader is great! Walking through the apostle Paul’s journeys is probably the best tool in showing a combination of principle and practice. Telling stories of movement, reading case studies, and introducing apostolic leaders to movement sources can help broaden their vision from simply expanding the Kingdom to catalyzing a multiplication movement. It can also be really helpful to show a process of how multiplication can happen, whether the 4 Fields or T4T or DMM processes. We use this Multiplication Cycle that combines elements from different streams of movement to help our partners understand how to pursue multiplication. For the sake of simplicity, we generally lean towards biblical training and tools over movement-jargon types of curriculum, though both are needed and helpful.

The apostolic leader will differ from other types of leaders when engaging in a vision for multiplication – they’ll believe it can be done. It’s the faith gifted to an apostolic leader to believe that God can and will do this miraculous work in their field, where many others may feel resistance or hesitance that it can happen. As with the first point – try to empower the local leader to make decisions about what ways are best to apply these multiplication principles in their context. As the cultural insider who is a foundation and DNA setter, they will likely be far more effective in choosing multiplication practices for their context after some initial guidance.

Focus on Apostolic Functions. Clinton’s Leadership Commentary on 1st and 2 Timothy has a number of very helpful articles around the Apostolic Function and Gift. He highlights 7 functions in particular:

1. Start New Ministries
2. Appoint Leaders
3. Establish Works (help newly started works to develop and grow)
4. Intercede for Works, both new and old
5. Combat Heresy
6. Resource New and Old Ministries
7. Test New Ministries for Validity

The last 3 functions – combat heresy, resource ministries, test validity – are probably later stage functions as opposed to the first 4 focused on starting new ministries, appointing leaders, and doing the work of intercession.

As we said in the post about indicators, an apostolic leader is likely to be a jack of all trades, multi-gifted in order to help the new ministry or work get off the ground. In a given week they might end up training, evangelizing, interceding, teaching, preaching, healing, shepherding, administrating ministry, leading worship, cooking food for the group, taking care of a believer’s kid, driving between multiple locations, answering the phone, helping a business, problem solving a strategic problem, encouraging a hurting believer, and 100 other things. As a leader of an emerging or multiplying work, they’ll have full plates! Your job as a Barnabas is to help them to focus. Spinning too many plates is one of the big pitfalls we see for apostolics, as their competency and the breadth of their vision drive them to end up doing everything.

As with any believer with a spiritual gift, they’ll be most effective when they can spend the majority of their time serving out of their gift instead of other things. Of course there’s some percentage of our time where we have to do things that we’re not gifted at – but honoring the Lord by releasing responsibility to other leaders is the role of an apostolic leader. Help them focus on starting new things, clarifying vision, investing in leaders, and interceding for the works! That leads us to…

Collaborate with and Release Authority to PESTs and Other Gifts. Again, one of the main pitfalls for an apostolic leader is to get caught up with all the needs of a new work and try to overcontrol everything by doing everything themselves. A critical component of an apostolic leader is to identify, appoint/recruit, develop, and release new leaders! Not just other apostolic leaders, but other Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, Teachers especially. These other gifts are greatly needed to establish and deepen the new works that the apostolic leader has started. Our post on the “Apostolic” covers some of the different functions of APEST leaders in a movement.

Many times a headstrong apostolic leader can butt heads with other types of leaders, especially shepherd/teachers who are particularly drawn to shepherd needs and grow maturity through teaching, which can feel slow to an apostolic leader. But a mature apostolic will be able to see their own limitations and know that Scripture teaches that we are all one body in need of each other (1 Corinthians 12). The apostolic really, really, really needs the other members of the body. A good way to see a ministry start quickly and burn out just as quickly is to leave it under the control of a fast-moving apostolic that never appoints other types of leaders to focus on health and depth.

Withdraw, Reflect, Listen, and Plan. With the apostolic leaders’ high proficiency, numerous responsibilities, and big vision, it’s likely that they will work themselves to the bone and straight to burnout. You as the Barnabas can play an intensely important role simply by reminding them and creating opportunities for them to do as Jesus did – withdraw to be with God (Luke 5:16). Many times, we’ll ask our partners to come meet us somewhere away from their place of ministry so that no one can knock the door down looking for them. We tell them to shut off their phone, and give them the first half of our time simply to rest and pray and spend time with God alone. We might spend the second half debriefing, hearing reports, training, and planning for future ministry, but our role is primarily to make space for them to rest in the Lord. In the whirlwind of busy ministry, the apostolic leader desperately needs to find the quiet space to reflect, listen to the voice of God, and plan and prioritize where they need to invest their limited time. These times are critical for them to evaluate and refine the vision they’ve received from God. When we cease to do this, we are doing ministry out of man’s power instead of God’s – and we’re guaranteed to fail one way or another.

Pulling our apostolic partners out of their ministry schedule for just a couple days of quiet, rest, and listening can make all the difference in seeing breakthrough in multiplication. But more than the strategic and ministry pieces, the apostolic leader desperately needs to focus on their intimacy and relationship and abiding with God. He cares so much more about our being than our doing. Allow them time and encourage them to hear from God for themselves and what He wants for them, not just the ministry.

Be a Friend and Encourager. Lastly, as the apostolic leader jumps into an emerging and thriving ministry, the list of problems, crises, needs, difficult people, conflicts, and burdens increases exponentially. Any ministry, and certainly pioneering ministry, can be extremely isolating and lonely for leaders. Not many will understand what they’re going through.

They need to first and foremost surrender those things to the Lord and find their motivation and peace in him. And they need a friend. Someone to listen to their frustrations, to be thoughtful in loving them, to point them to Jesus, to encourage them to persevere.

There’s a reason why Barnabas was called the Encourager. What a role he had in encouraging, supporting, empowering Paul. Without Barnabas, we don’t get the book of Acts.

I think Paul could call Barnabas a lot of things – mentor, advocate, co-laborer. My guess is when I get to ask him, he’ll first call Barnabas his friend.

How to Develop an Apostolic Leader

All of the above things will be great for an apostolic leader’s development in learning through doing. But there’s other ways to help them understand more about the apostolic gift that God has given them and use it effectively.

Study the apostolic. There’s plenty to study in the New Testament about the apostolic gifting, function, and ministry – basically anything about who Paul is or what he does will be informative. The book of Acts reveals much about the pioneering aspect and his letters give more insight into his own development, perseverance, and heart in being an apostolic leader. If you’re able, we’d recommend diving into some of the resources we listed in the 5 essential elements post. The more you can understand what the original model of the apostolic gift looks like, the better we can imitate it. It can also be helpful to read books and biographies about other pioneering leaders.

Interact with other apostolic leaders. If you’re able to, interact with other apostolic leaders. It’s hard to describe this but an apostolic leader is probably more used to resistance, hesitance, rejection from others around them when they begin talking about big vision and multiplication. Others can feel intimidated by their intensity or just the scope of their work. But when they’re in a room with other apostolic leaders that they trust, there’s a freedom and an excitement in getting to talk to others who get you. Others who won’t frown at their big ideas but encourage them and share their own experiences and ideas. It can make them feel like they’re not crazy – at least when they’re in a room of people as crazy as they are!

A couple of disclaimers in this – just because someone is an apostolic leader doesn’t mean they don’t feel insecurity or deal with comparison. Naturally when apostolic leaders gather the focus will be on ministry. But it’s a smart idea to bring the focus on God. Highlighting shared experiences and sufferings will draw out vulnerability and increase trust before you start trucking ahead on ministry topics. Creating safety in the room before jumping in to discussing ministry can help the interaction. Secondly, although we’d encourage apostolics to interact with other apostolics, there can be some intense friction in working together. We’ve had mentors advise us that apostolic leaders can probably agree or work together at a high, 30,000 foot perspective (let’s generally share tools, or have a semi-frequent coaching meeting together, or strategically parse out people and places to focus), but can step on each others’ toes when working closely together. The apostolic leader probably wants some freedom to pursue their own ideas, and working with another highly opinionated, highly confident leader might cause some problems. This isn’t always the case but just something to be aware of.

Find apostolic mentors. This is similar to the previous point, but finding an older, more experienced apostolic leader to mentor you, especially in personal development, can be a gold mine. Hopefully this mentor has experienced and gone through many of the pitfalls and problems that an apostolic leader faces and you can learn from their wisdom. Again, the apostolic leader will want freedom to try new things on their own, but they also will value a mentor’s wisdom and shared understanding of their experiences.

Develop other leadership skills. Since the apostolic leader has so many functions in establishing a new work, it can be helpful for them to also develop leadership skills that will support their gifting. Clinton lists out several including strategy, planning, change agent, leadership styles, motivating, inspiring, mentoring, organizational skills, team building, identifying and developing leaders, and communication skills. Even though an apostolic leader may do these things intuitively, equipping them with skills and frameworks to boost their efficiency is a good idea. Or focusing on shoring up weaknesses that they may have like shepherding skills can be beneficial.

Develop intimacy with God. Whether as an apostolic yourself or in helping your apostolic partner – focus on developing intimacy with God. Learn to hear the voice of God for everyday direction and decision. Being surrendered to God is an essential element for an apostolic leader, so practice the process of surrendering and receiving from God. The pioneering ministry has an avalanche of challenges and trials that we’ve noted repeatedly. At times, Paul mentions feeling “so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself” (2 Cor. 1:8). If God grants fruitful multiplying ministry, the challenges will also multiply accordingly.

Without this critical foundation of intimacy with Christ, the apostolic leader is guaranteed to fail. The Enemy is prowling to take out those that will greatly expand the Kingdom through isolation, sin, discouragement, and spiritual warfare of many kinds. Guard yourselves in His armor and through intimacy with Him. Fight to not allow ministry to become your idol. Fight to have Philippians 2 humility in the midst of ministry fruit.

It’s an example for all believers but especially the apostolic leader that we see Paul’s own dependence on the Lord grow over the years of his ministry, from being the least of the apostles (1 Cor. 15:9), to the least of the saints (Eph. 3:8), to the foremost of all sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). He constantly prioritized his intimacy with God, withdrawing to be with God as we see our Savior did.

If God’s pattern throughout Scripture and history is to raise up apostolic leaders to pioneer the least reached people and places for His glory, then there are people He has prepared in your field.

I firmly believe there are in- or near-culture believers that He intends to use to finish the Great Commission. If you’re reading this, and you have the heart to find these modern-day “Pauls,”’ then I believe you can be a Barnabas to them. Ask the Holy Spirit, have a heart to serve, have eyes to see these people, and He will lead you to them. Remember, it only takes one.

I’ll finish this series with an exhortation to the apostolic leader reading this or the Barnabas who will empower a national apostolic leader. Sometimes we feel the temptation to cut corners or skip over inconvenient things or treat people unlovingly in pursuit of the big vision. And we use the defense – “those people don’t understand us” or “it’s worth it to see more multiplication” or something of the sort.

Apostolic gifting without apostolic character produces apostolic malfunction.

Steve U.

What’s really happening is that ministry success and numbers and fruit have become our idol. Being overly busy is a badge of pride instead of a warning indicator that we are allowing our doing to overcome our being with Jesus. Increased isolation or surrounding ourselves with only others who enable us is explained off as being a contrarian, a pioneer, a barrier breaker instead of the truth that we’re not willing to humble ourselves and submit to a group of brothers and sisters in Christ.

Scripture is abundantly clear – the ends of ministry don’t justify the means. Being an apostolic leader doesn’t give us license to trample people, to steal and extract sheep, to be disingenuous about ministry numbers, to ignore clear discipleship and maturity problems in pursuit of the more and the faster. Unfortunately, we’ve seen apostolic leaders pursuing movement do these types of things repeatedly. I won’t attempt to judge their hearts, but there often is not a humility to even admit to these things or correct them. The very thing we claim to be effective at in catalyzing movements, the apostolic gift, becomes a testimony against the ministry we are doing and against ourselves.

Matthew 7 has a haunting statement from Jesus, that “on that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not do… many mighty works in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

My prayer for myself and to others reading this – 

May we keep our hearts tender before the Lord. 
May we always mirror the character and heart of Jesus to others in pursuing big vision for him. 
May we not twist the gift He has given to us for our own personal and selfish gain. 
May we not allow ministry to become an idol that keeps us from worshipping Jesus.

I’d recommend Andrew Murray’s books Humility and Absolute Surrender as regular reads to help us check our hearts. And about this specific topic of losing our way in pursuing movement, I highly recommend my friend David’s book, How to Pursue Great Works without Losing Your Soul.

Every believer, every gift can be used towards completing the Great Commission, but I believe that He means to use those with the apostolic gift as first in sequence to pioneer. My hope is that these few at the tip of the spear could be surrendered to Jesus and become who God has called them to be, leading to multiplying movements among the remaining unreached peoples and places of the world.

The world has yet to see what God can do through a man [or woman] who is totally yielded to Him.

Henry Varley

In our last two posts, we’ve defined what the “apostolic” is, and 5 essential elements of an apostolic leader. An apostolic leader needs to have all 5 elements of big vision, risking faith, foundation setting, leader developer, and surrender to God.

If you can find a clearly apostolically gifted, mature, national believer to partner with, that’s awesome! But, someone that gifted and experienced will likely already have many ministry responsibilities and it may take time to build trust with that leader in order to partner.

However, we are often looking for leaders with latent apostolic giftings that have not yet fully emerged. For one, I think apostolic leaders are relatively rare – there’s no research around this but talking to other CPM practitioners, generally the number is <10% of believers, if not <5%. Secondly, a fully mature apostolic leader is rarely available.

It may feel like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack. But our encouragement is this: It only takes one.

All it takes is one national ‘Paul,’ with the vision, faith, giftings, and surrender to catalyze a movement that will change the trajectory of a nation.

In the early 2000s, the president of Campus Crusade in Thailand, Pastor Nok, used his significant influence to gather 80% of the pastors in Thailand in a Congress to ask the question, “What will it take to complete the Great Commission in Thailand?” From that, they formed the National Plan to see the gospel go to every district and village in Thailand. The churches that our team currently work with came through introductions from leaders within the National Plan.

I asked one ex-pat worker who knew Pastor Nok well, “What is his story? How did he come to faith?” He told me that Pastor Nok was the first Thai Cru staff ever, and that he was led to faith by one American Cru staff member named Chip, who only managed to win and disciple one Thai person to faith in 10 years in Thailand. That was Pastor Nok.

It only takes one.

But how do you find that one? How do you discern if they have the elements to be an apostolic, multiplying leader? What do you do with them to develop them and help their gifting and vision emerge?

Barnabas: Recognizing Hidden Apostolic Potential

Out of anyone in Scripture, Paul was perhaps the most unlikely candidate to be transformed and used by Jesus for his purposes. Often the apostolic leader may emerge from the most unexpected of places. Barnabas saw the latent giftings in Paul – that he had a miraculous transformation from a persecutor of Christians to a chosen instrument to bring the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15), that he immediately and boldly shared the gospel with the Jews in the synagogue (Acts 9:20), and that he needed an advocate before the disciples in Jerusalem that didn’t trust him (Acts 9:27). Eventually, Barnabas spends a year with Paul in Antioch discipling others (Acts 11:26), likely identifying and developing Paul’s strengths, before the Holy Spirit sets them aside for the first journey in Acts 13.

When everyone else saw Paul’s evil background, Barnabas saw his new transformation and calling.

When everyone else didn’t trust who Paul said he was, Barnabas advocated for his faithfulness.

When opportunities arose for new ministry, Barnabas went to recruit Paul, developing his giftings and maturity.

And when the Holy Spirit called them to be set apart to start a new work in new places, Barnabas was beside Paul as he stepped fully into his giftings as an apostle.

We need to be like Barnabas, to have the eyes to see the potential in latent apostolic leaders, and the ears to hear from the Holy Spirit how to help them fulfill their calling.

Indicators of an Emerging Apostolic Leader

When we are looking for these apostolic leaders, we are certainly checking for the 5 essential elements. We’ll ask them questions like, what is your vision? How did you come to faith? What does your ministry look like? What obstacles are you running into? And we’re listening for big vision, willingness to risk, methods that look like multiplication or at least are different from the norm, leaders that they’ve developed, and signs of surrender. But a latent apostolic leader may not have had the chance to step into pioneering ministry, and therefore may not yet exhibit some of these elements. Apart from directly evaluating these 5 elements, we’ve observed some other hints of someone having an underlying apostolic gifting.

They don’t need to have all of these indicators, and just having one doesn’t mean that they are certainly apostolic leaders. But if you see some of these, it may be worth building trust and listening to the Holy Spirit about helping these leaders emerge into their calling and gifting.

Black Sheep – Often, latent apostolic leaders can be seen as black sheep that don’t fit the mold of their church. Other words could be non-conformist, oddball, contrarian. They are still part of the flock, still a sheep, but different from the rest. Sometimes church leaders don’t know what to do with this person who rocks the boat and may have a lot of new ideas that others aren’t willing to do. Whenever someone in Thailand tells me that another believer is interesting / weird / eccentric / not like the others – my radar immediately pops up. The latent apostolic leader is dissatisfied with the status quo, and it can cause friction with people in the church because their drive and desire is to pioneer, though they may not have personally clarified that vision yet.

Failed Entrepreneurs / Not Afraid to Start Things / Flexible Methodology – “failed entrepreneurs” was often a phrase that we were coached to look for in identifying apostolic leaders. That desire to set foundations, without a clear vision of their calling, can result in starting a lot of new businesses, ministries, and start ups. This boldness and risk-taking demeanor could be indicators of an apostolic leader. When we meet new leaders, we also want to see if they’re willing to be flexible in their methods or if they’re strongly tied to some kind of program or curriculum. If they’re willing to try new things to pioneer, that’s a good sign. If they’re wanting to simply grow their own ministry flavor, we would probably move on.

Anointed / Fruitful – Even before Paul started on his missionary journeys, he was faithfully sharing and discipling in Damascus, Jerusalem, and Antioch. He boldly and powerfully proclaimed the gospel and made disciples. Many times, we can meet a person that is saying all the right things – that they’re excited about multiplication, that they have a vision to pioneer – but the fruit of their lives doesn’t reflect that at all. It could be that they’ve never been empowered or equipped, and then there is an opportunity to help them live out that vision. But often, there is a lot of exciting talk without the actual faithfulness and fruitfulness indicative of a leader that God desires to use. Given the choice between someone who says the right things versus someone who has the fruitfulness of disciples and a godly life, I am taking the latter every time.

Character Immaturities – I’d imagine Paul was pretty rough around the edges when he first came to faith. Although he was certainly humbled by his Damascus road experience, there was still much of his old life – the prideful, highly positioned, well-known persecutor of Christians – that needed to be transformed. Though some of the disciples in Acts 9 were afraid of Paul, Barnabas came and advocated for him, eventually recruiting him and developing him into the minister to the Gentiles that he was called to be.

Similarly, a developing apostolic leader probably has some character immaturities that might be signs of opportunity. Sinclair says “self confidence, overassertiveness, and independence” along with stubbornness and overcontrol could be some character issues that an immature apostolic might struggle with. Miley adds impatience and being overextended in their commitments. You can see in these developing leaders the innate vision, passion, and drive to accomplish great things for God, but without the humility, testedness, and surrender needed for them to succeed. 

An immature apostolic has probably had many people in their church exhort them in their impatience and roughness, probably almost condescendingly so – “you’re young so you don’t get how things work.” “It’s nice that you have big goals and new ideas but we have to be realistic.” Increasingly they can balk against authority because of their internal conviction and what the Spirit is stirring up. When someone validates the vision they’ve received as well as challenges them to grow in their leadership to meet that vision, we’ve seen apostolic leaders respond with eagerness. There is a great opportunity for a Barnabas-type leader to say, “I see the potential in you and love your vision. I’d love to walk alongside you to help you grow in your ministry and your walk with God to see those things happen.”

Jack of All Trades / Multi-Gifted – For a yet developing apostolic that has started some new ministry, you may see that they are at least competent, if not gifted, to do many different types of ministry – evangelism, leader development, teaching, shepherding, mercy, administration, etc. In the pioneering environment, it may be necessary for an apostolic leader to play a lot of roles to get things started and God empowers them to do so. But the opposite pitfall for a multi-gifted leader is to hold on to control because they are so competent at so many things. Which leads us to…

Releasing Authority – The apostolic leader is willing and quick to release authority. As new disciples grow in their maturity and gifts, the apostolic leader is quick to empower every disciple to step into their authority to make disciples and serve God. Over control by leaders is a major barrier to multiplication. Apostolic leaders understand that they will play an important role of spiritual parent to many leaders, but they are also active in helping disciples step out in faith to grow in their dependence on God. If a leader expresses too much hesitation in letting disciples take simple steps of obedience like sharing the gospel or leading a discovery Bible study without them, that could be a barrier.

In coaching movement practitioners, identifying a national partner with apostolic gifting is one of the most complex and difficult parts of the process and something we get the most questions about. How do I know if it’s worth investing in this person? Should I spend more time with person A or person B?

Going out to share the gospel takes boldness but it’s relatively simple and straightforward – people are interested to know more about Jesus or they aren’t. But getting to know believers, building relationship with them, navigating language and culture, discerning their words, their actions, their vision, and their character is an art, not a science. It takes a lot of prayer, getting to know people, trying new things, and failing forward repeatedly before you might find someone. Sometimes, we’ve partnered with people for 3, 4, 5 years before it becomes evident that they are missing an essential element of an apostolic leader. And that’s OK. We don’t think of that time as wasted, but as time invested in trying to find a pioneering leader and learning what that might look like in our culture and mistakes to avoid. It’s also never a waste of time investing in local believers to grow in their disciple-making.

Hopefully, knowing the 5 essential elements and some of the potential indicators of a latent apostolic leader will help you in the process. Some practitioners we know met their apostolic partner in their first ever training – hooray for them, really. We were relatively fortunate and found our partner after about 3 years of ministry, 5 years in country. Some people we know took 10 years and hundreds of trainings and relationships to find their partner. It’s up to the timing of the Lord.

But remember – it only takes one.

Reflection Questions

1. Do you have a personal bias toward or against any of these indicators? Why?
2. Consider the local believers that you know. Do any of them display these indicators or essential elements?
3. Do you know local believers that seem to “say the right things” but lack demonstrated faithfulness and fruitfulness? Why do you suppose that is? How should you continue to engage with this believer?
4. Where are some networks or communities that you could build relationships to get to know potential apostolic leaders?

In this post we will get more practical with the 5 essential elements of an apostolic leader and a compilation of potential characteristics and functions of apostolic leaders from 5 authors: Clinton, Hirsch, Miley, Cole, and Sinclair.

Previously, we gave a basic definition of an apostolically gifted leader as one who God has supernaturally gifted to pioneer new works in new areas. But what are those gifts? Why are apostolic leaders uniquely suited to pioneer? How do I know if the person I’m partnering with is an apostolic leader?

The 5 Essential Elements of an Apostolic Leader

In their books, these 5 authors provide various characteristics and functions of an apostolic leader that we’ve compiled at the bottom. From their writings and our personal experience, we believe there are 5 essential elements that every apostolic leader must have. (This is an expanded version of what we’ve outlined in our Be Barnabas post, What is a NAV? )

1. Big Vision – An apostolic leader has a God-given, God-sized vision that extends beyond their own church.

An apostolic leader has a God-given, God-sized vision that extends beyond their own church.

We gave a definition of a spiritual leader adapted from Clinton previously as one who receives vision from God to influence the people of God towards the purposes of God. So any spiritual leader needs to have God-given vision. 

But the apostolic leader is given vision that is big – big enough that to many, it will seem impossible. They are given a vision that is beyond their own church, called by God to start a new work in a new place. Many times it is for whole regions or people groups that are not yet reached with the gospel. The apostolic leader is driven by this vision, constantly thinking about what it will take to accomplish this vision in a future-focused, big-picture perspective.

It’s the demand of Caleb who was 85 when he said, “Give me this hill country of which the Lord promised me (Joshua 14:12),” the most difficult land with the strongest opposition.

It’s the ambition of Paul to “preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation (Romans 15:20)” after he had already sparked movements of the gospel from Jerusalem to Illyricum.

It’s the declaration of Hudson Taylor in pursuing the interior peoples of China when no one else would go, to say,

If I had a thousand lives, China should have them. No! Not China, but Christ. Can we do too much for Him? Can we do enough for such a precious Savior?

Hudson Taylor

It’s the passion of Samuel Zwemer, called the Apostle to Islam, who said,

The great Pioneer Missionaries all had ‘inverted homesickness’ – this passion to call that country their home which was most in need of the Gospel. In this passion all other passions died; before this vision all other visions faded; this call drowned all other voices. They were the pioneers of the Kingdom, the forelopers of God, eager to cross the border-marches and discover new lands or win new-empires.

Samuel Zwemer

2. Risking Faith – An apostolic leader has the faith to believe God can accomplish the vision, and the faith to take big risks for God.

This God-sized vision is accompanied by a God-given faith – faith to believe that God can accomplish the vision He has given, not just through the apostolic leader but beyond them. Clinton says that apostolic leaders generally have the gift of faith to go with their apostolic gift. This gift of faith doesn’t only believe God to accomplish the vision, but is a faith to risk doing big things for God in the most difficult circumstances. It would seem obvious that if a leader receives a big vision from God, that they would have the accompanying faith, but we have seen many situations where a leader has the big vision but lacks the faith. They are hesitant, cautious, afraid to take the steps necessary in pursuit of the vision that God has given. An apostolic leader must have this risk-taking faith in order to pursue a God-sized vision.

This faith allows apostolic leaders to fail forward, as the pioneering environment is a difficult and unknown situation and will require innovation, experimentation, creativity, and repeated failure. This faith strengthens apostolic leaders to be resilient against opposition and isolation. By trying big and new things for God, the apostolic leader will certainly face spiritual warfare and resistance to the gospel among the people they are trying to reach, but they should even expect opposition from believers and peers that don’t understand what they are doing. 

Many times the fruitfulness that comes from the risk and innovation of an apostolic leader can shine a light on other believers or ministry workers that can cause insecurity or comparison. Cole explains that “new approaches will always threaten the established and calcified systems left over from previous movements. It is quite common for apostles to be labeled as heretics by their peers and to be pushed out of the mainstream and into the margins.”

The apostolic leader has the faith to move forward in the face of opposition, whether from inside or outside. We have seen many apostolic leaders lose friendships, mentors, even family members who don’t understand what they are doing and why. Some of the authors mentioned an apostolic leader having thick skin, but I think that is an overly self-dependent description of their resilience in the face of opposition. It is the apostolic leader’s faith in God, to believe God for His promises, that gives them their safety against criticism, isolation, loneliness, and trial.

Unless there is the extreme element of risk in our exploits for God, there is no need for faith.

Hudson Taylor

Daily I expect to be murdered or betrayed or reduced to slavery if the occasion arises. Yet I fear nothing, because of the promises of heaven.

St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland

3. Set Foundations – An apostolic leader is able to set foundations through establishing the systems, structures, and DNA needed to start a new movement.

As we’ve mentioned, the apostolic leader is called to the pioneering environment, where there isn’t a successful playbook that they can follow. Paul said he does not want to build on someone else’s foundation because apostolic leaders are foundation setters. They create and cultivate the DNA, systems, and structures that are required for new movements to catalyze. Many faithful servants of God will have an apostolic passion, vision, and faith, but perhaps will lack the giftings and skills to see the breakthrough needed to multiply.

The process of what some people call the “Core Missionary Task” drawn from Acts is relatively clear – enter a new area, share the gospel, make disciples, plant churches, and develop leaders. Rinse and repeat to see multiplication. The difficult part of this is figuring out how to do each of these things. 

For example, Paul frequently entered a new place by going first to the synagogue to share with Jews or God-fearing Gentiles (Acts 13:5, 14; 14:1, 17:1, 10, 17; 18:4, 19; 19:8). With this approach, he was able to find people ready to hear the gospel and plant a house church that would be his center of operations for that city. Similarly, he created and adapted different methods of sharing the gospel, discipling, planting churches, and developing leaders for different places and different situations. The underlying principles and DNA of multiplication were the same, but he was gifted and in-tune with the Spirit’s direction to create the systems and structures that would multiply in each context.

When goers are sent to unreached places, the scope of the task can be overwhelming. Even if we can successfully adapt to living in a new culture and learning language, the challenge becomes learning how to create and contextualize effective methods for the process of multiplication. How should we enter new places and find spiritually interested people? What’s the most effective way to create interest and share the gospel? What methods of discipling would work among new believers in this context? What form should church take? What does a leader look like in this culture and how should we most effectively develop them? These questions are difficult enough without the complexities of trying to figure them out in a completely foreign culture!

The apostolic leader is gifted to generate new ideas, create contextualized applications of biblical principles, and are not afraid to fail in trying them. However, when the apostolic gift is missing, we find that movement practitioners can run into the same obstacles over and over again, unable to figure out a way to move forward.

This is why we believe that the outsider’s role is to find a National Apostolic Visionary leader to partner with. The National part because they understand the culture, and the Apostolic part because they will be gifted for the work. It’s best when the insider is the apostolic leader, but if the apostolic perspective is involved somewhere in the work – insider, outsider, coach, or from the harvest – there is an increased chance for multiplication.

Beyond just the initial foundations of gospel sharing and discipling, further foundations will need to be set by the apostolic leader including cultivating a multiplying DNA, establishing theological foundations, guarding against heresy and opposition, and ultimately cultivating networks and environments where other ministries can emerge.

4. Develop Leaders – An apostolic leader is able to recruit and develop leaders.

Another key function of an apostolic leader is the ability to raise up leaders – to identify, attract, recruit, develop, release, and send leaders out.

As a biased San Antonio Spurs fan, I believe Gregg Popovich is the greatest NBA coach. It’s evidenced not only by the championships and wins, but by his coaching tree – the number of players and coaches that have been produced under his mentorship. Pop is undoubtedly a great leader developer.

The Apostle Paul’s leadership tree is bigger and more impactful. In the New Testament we see him associated with Timothy, Silas, Titus, Priscilla, Aquila, Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Tychicus, Trophimus, Junia, Andronicus, Lydia, Jason, Titius Justus, Dionysus, Damaris, Crispus, and many more. Paul and Barnabas raised up local elders in every place that they started new work (Acts 14:23), as well as journeying with an apostolic band of co-laborers like Timothy, Titus, and Silas. He had a constant lens of identifying, attracting, and recruiting leaders.

I would say that Paul was a “machine” of leadership development, but that would only capture his output and not the posture in which he developed leaders. He says in 1 Thessalonians 2 how he was affectionately desirous for them and cared for them like a nursing mother (7), and how he exhorted, encouraged, and called them to walk in a manner worthy of God like a father with his children (11).

The apostolic leader has a unique ability to attract leaders. We’ve lost count how often people have said to our partner, Mint, “I want to be like you! Can you disciple me?” There’s a constant stream of people coming in and out of her home base in northeast Thailand, to be trained, developed, and modeled for, before being sent out as church planters to new provinces and coached toward further multiplication. Mint, almost aggressively, releases authority and sends out new leaders. She doesn’t keep them around to help her local ministry grow but empowers them to hear from the Lord to start new ministry. This last aspect is a critical indicator of whether someone is an apostolic leader – the push to release authority over leaders and disciples to multiply. Some great leaders may attract and develop leaders well, but ultimately keep them in-house to grow their own ministry. The apostolic leader’s vision will compel them to release and send out leaders. We pray that Mint’s leadership tree will surpass Pop’s and maybe even Paul’s!

5. Surrendered to God – An apostolic leader is surrendered to God, willing to give everything toward the vision, and prioritizes intimacy with God above all else.

From our experience, this 5th element is the most critical and can be the biggest barrier to an apostolic leader stepping into what God has for them.

The apostolic leader lives and labors out of surrender to God. In Romans 1:1, Paul describes himself first as a “servant of Christ Jesus”, and secondly “called to be an apostle.” It is out of his life belonging to Christ that his calling and ministry as an apostle flows.

Pioneering new works in new areas comes with unique challenges and complexities. But as we mentioned before, it also comes with unexpected opposition, isolation, failure, spiritual warfare, sin, and pride. Even the most driven personalities with big vision will find themselves battered and broken down in pursuit of the apostolic calling.

Paul describes being “so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself” (2 Corinthians 1:8). At some level, it’s true that all believers and all leaders will encounter suffering. But I think Paul’s example is that the apostolic leader is particularly tested through suffering. As we learned during our cancer journey, the thorn given to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 is to bring Paul to a point of suffering and surrender and weakness. That weakness is given to humble Paul from his pride so that he can receive true resurrection power for the apostolic calling!

When faced with suffering, trial, and sin, the apostolic leader responds in surrender. They hunger for deeper intimacy with the Lord. They find their safety, strength, wisdom, and perseverance for the difficult work from Jesus. They seek His voice for the pathway to breakthrough. They understand that prayer and intercession is the work, and are unceasing in prayer for the churches as Paul was.

We’ve seen more than a few leaders with the first 4 elements fall to moral failure, burnout, pride, and isolation. To reframe Matthew 16 for movement practitioners – What will it profit us to gain ministry fruit but lose our own souls? Without surrender, it is impossible for leaders to fulfill the vision that God has given them.

One does not surrender a life in an instant. That which is lifelong can only be surrendered in a lifetime.

Elisabeth Elliot

In the next post, we’ll give some identifying indicators of an apostolic leader, and talk about how to partner with and develop an emerging apostolic leader.

Table of Apostolic Characteristics & Functions from 5 Authors

This is the compilation of the characteristics and functions of apostolic leaders from the authors we’ve referenced. A disclaimer that not everyone gave neat and tidy lists of characteristics and functions, and that these categories are a paraphrase of complex ideas from each author around the apostolic leader. Even if there isn’t an ‘x’ by a certain author for a certain category, they very well could mention that characteristic outside of their lists. If this is a topic you find important or interesting, I’d encourage you to read their books! I also put the lists / summaries of characteristics of each author at the bottom from which this table was created.

Lists and paraphrases of characteristics and functions of apostolic leaders

Robert Clinton – 1 and 2 Timothy: Apostolic Leadership + Unlocking Your Giftedness 

• A strong sense of call by God for establishing new works.
• An equally strong confirmation on the part of the leadership of the local church of which he/she is a part.
• A forceful personality which can trust God to do what is necessary in unusual situations in order to establish authority for God’s work.
• Usually will be a multi-gifted person having one or more other leadership gifts beyond apostleship.
• Ability to face new situations.
• A clear understanding of the nature of the church and its purpose.
• A personality which attracts people to follow.
• A person who can sense what God wants to do and is not afraid to try.
• A drive from within that cannot be satisfied apart from seeing people presently unreached being reached and included in a community of God’s people.
• Initiating new works of God, especially the planting of churches. (Paul & Barnabas, Acts 13; Paul Acts 16,18)
• Appointing Leaders – leadership selection (Paul & Barnabas do on fist missionary journey; Paul does on all his mission trips; Titus in Crete; Timothy in Ephesus)
• Laying foundations & overseeing these new works/churches – Leadership development; Teaching; Sending workers to solve problems, help develop leaders, teach and help followers mature. (Paul does this in Phillipi, Corinth, Ephesus, Rome & Crete)
• Serving as spiritual fathers and mothers. Paul sees himself as a father to his churches because he was the catalyst who brought them into existence by the Gospel. As their spiritual father, he retains the right to step in and intervene in communal affairs when he perceives they have deviated from the essential truths of the Gospel.
• Interceding for works, both new and old – carrying a burden for the works they initiate, resulting in intercession; release of spiritual power in situations (Paul does this for the churches he established.)
• Managing Crisis/Combating heresy – problem solving; correcting and stabilizing a deteriorating situation; Paul does this somewhat in Corinth and Crete and much in Ephesus.
• Resourcing new ministries and old ones – Resourcing apostolic ministries; mobilizing help to needy church situations (Paul & Barnabas in Acts 11; Paul in 1 Cor and 2 Cor)
• Contextualizing the Gospel to cross-cultural situations – applying truth to complex cultural situations 

George Miley – Loving the Church, Blessing the Nations

• They want to take on new initiatives.
• They have their own ideas of what they want to do.
• They easily influence people and gain a following.
• They do not fit the mold. They color “outside the lines.”
• They have a genuine hunger for a deeper relationship with God.
• They show impressive spiritual insight.
• They have noticeable areas of character immaturity.
• They are broad in their horizons and think beyond our church.
• They thrive on doing things that are challenging and risky.
• They claim loyalty to our church, yet seem critical and impatient.
• They tend to become overextended in their commitments. 
• Is like Jesus (Heb. 3:1). 
• Is a servant (Luke 22:24-27)
• Is tested (Matt. 4:1).
• Renounces his own life (Matt. 16:24-25).
• Walks in humility (Phil. 2:5,8)
• Is familiar with a sense of personal weakness (Luke 22:41-44).
• Carries spiritual authority with gracious restraint (Luke 23:34). Models the life of love (John 15:12-14). 

Alan Hirsch and Tim Catchim – The Permanent Revolution: Apostolic Imagination and Practice for the 21st Century

• Seeding the DNA of the gospel and the church by pioneering new ground
• Guarding the DNA of the Gospel and Ecclesia Through the Integration of apostolic theology
• Cultivating translocal, fully networked movements through vision, purpose, and the management of meaning
• Creating the environment in which the other ministries emerge

• An ability to invent the future while dealing with the past
• A willingness to break with traditional ideas and methods
• An ability to play multiple roles at the same time e.g. Paul as planter architect foundation layer ambassador partner
• High tolerance for risk
• A need to be different while supporters want the pioneer to be the same
• An understanding that many want the pioneer to fail
• Internal freedom to explore
• Sense of holy dissatisfaction
• Capacity for ideation
• Ability to take on risk
• Permission and the space to experiment
• Dogged resiliency

Daniel Sinclair – A Vision of the Possible: Pioneer Church Planting in Teams

• People readily catch their vision and feel led to join in.
• They have gifts of Bible teaching and leadership.
• They can be quirky and sometimes hard to get along with.
• They can have thick skins and hard heads. They tend (right or wrong) to not back down very easily—on anything!
• Areas of the flesh can include self-confidence, overassertiveness, and independence. When this is the case, you can see the Lord taking them through a process to grow in these areas toward greater fruit of the Spirit and total dependence on Christ.
• They want to have a good handle on everything in the ministry. This can seem like a tendency to overcontrol.
• They tend to become overextended in their commitments.
• Desire to pursue the impossible
• Desire to pioneer where others won’t or can’t go

Neil Cole – Primal Fire: Reigniting the Church with the Five Gifts of Jesus

• They are sent out to new people and new places.
• Apostles lay a foundation in a region or people group.
• Apostles are architects of multiplying methods – strategy / catalyze / systems.
• Apostles are custodians of DNA – guard against heresy.
• An Apostle is a planter of the gospel and of churches.
• An Apostle is a spiritual parent – model for others, relational authority.
• An Apostle is the scum of the earth – face a lot of opposition because they pursue new things.
• An Apostle’s authority is relational and results-oriented.
• An Apostle is at least competent in all the other roles – but can be tempted to be isolated and do it all themselves.

In the last few posts, we’ve given a broad overview on why spiritual gifts are important for the mission field and how they can apply to the field context and on missions teams. In this post, we’ll try to address the term ‘apostolic’ and the critical role this concept plays in catalyzing movements among the unreached.

In our experience learning about and pursuing movements, the word ‘apostolic’ is thrown around a lot. Apostolic leaders, apostolic giftings, apostolic ministry. Coming from a background that essentially never used this word, it felt like everyone else understood something that I didn’t. But the more we asked about this, the more it was clear that many people were unclear about what apostolic really meant. We heard things like ‘failed business entrepreneur,’ or ‘charismatic leader’ or things of that nature that still left us confused.

12 years ago, I was in a missions training program that had us go through a spiritual gifts survey that included the APEST giftings from Ephesians 4:11 – Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd, Teacher. It was the first I had heard about APEST giftings. I took the test, and the facilitator asked the group of about 30 people to split into groups according to your highest rated APEST gifting. The two biggest groups were the evangelist and the shepherd, with some teachers and a few prophets sprinkled in. I went to the apostle group since that was my highest grade, and only one other person was there – my group leader who eventually recruited me into full time ministry and helped to mentor me. Puzzled, I asked him, “What the heck does apostle mean?”

Understanding APEST and the Word “Apostolic” from the Bible

In order to discuss the word ‘apostolic,’ we first need to understand what some people call the five-fold model of APEST leadership from Ephesians 4:11.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…

Ephesians 4:11

Alan Hirsch and Tim Catchim break down APEST and particularly the word apostolic for Western church contexts in their book, The Permanent Revolution. They argue that “the church’s capacity to embody and extend the mission and purposes of Jesus in the world depends largely on a… restructure of the ministry of the church as fivefold and to reembrace the revitalizing, intrinsically missional role of the apostolic person (emphasis added).” For them, the decline of the church in the West and the slowness of Kingdom expansion among the unreached is largely due to our misalignment with this fivefold ministry that was a defining marker of Paul’s ministry in the New Testament.

Originally, I intended to break down the word apostolic from Scripture as well as summarize several helpful resources around the term apostolic and the APEST framework. Thankfully, Mark G of Multiplying Disciples has already done so in a much more thorough manner than I could’ve done!

Please read his two posts first! The rest of this post will then expand on those ideas and give practical steps for how to identify and develop an apostolic leader towards catalyzing movements.

1. Apostles Meaning: Unlock Biblical Roles, Greek Origins, and Modern Mission

In ‘Apostles Meaning,’ Mark deep dives into the etymology and historical context of the word apostle and distinctions in usage of the word in the New Testament. He defines apostles as “representatives empowered with the authority of the sender and commissioned for specific purposes.” In the case of the New Testament apostles, they were sent out as representatives of Jesus on mission for expanding the early church. Mark explains that their core functions were to proclaim and evangelize, model Christian life, lay foundations for new ministry, and have a pioneer focus. Of note, Mark concludes and we agree, that “the role of the twelve apostles was unique and unrepeatable – no one today can claim their position as eyewitnesses of Jesus’s ministry and authoritative founders of the universal church. However, the New Testament pattern of missionary apostles – those sent to establish the church in new areas – continues today through pioneer missionary work. While many modern missionaries don’t use the title “apostle,” their function often parallels that of New Testament missionary apostles like Barnabas.”

2. Unlocking the Power of APEST: The Ultimate Guide

In ‘Unlocking the Power of APEST,’ Mark provides a summary of APEST drawing from important resources like Neil Cole’s ‘Primal Fire,’ and content from Alan Hirsch including ‘The Permanent Revolution.’ Specifically, Mark outlines how each of the APEST giftings apply to movements. He also provides the characteristics, functions, and examples for each of the fivefold giftings.

In addition to the Hirsh and Cole resources, we’d also recommend content from Robert Clinton (like his Leadership Commentary on 1 and 2 Timothy and related articles on leadership, including apostolic ministry, gifting, functions), George Miley’s Loving the Church, Blessing the Nations which has a number of chapters on apostolic leadership, and Daniel Sinclair’s A Vision of the Possible. I also have to credit Steve U’s resource Exploring the Apostolic Gift that put me on to many of these resources.

Definition of an Apostolic Leader

Mark G’s article gives Hirsch, Cole, and Breen’s definitions of an apostle:

I’ll add Clinton and Miley’s definitions as well:

Clinton: “The gift of apostleship refers to a special leadership capacity to move with authority from God to create new ministry structures (churches and parachurch groups) to meet needs and to develop and appoint leadership in these structures. Its central thrust is Creating New Ministry.”

Miley: “Apostolic leaders go first in sequence (1 Cor. 12:28). They are to blaze the trail, to pioneer, to initiate kingdom breakthroughs in new areas, and to lay foundations on which others can build.”

Simply put, apostolically gifted leaders are ones that God has supernaturally gifted to pioneer new works in new areas. In the next post, we’ll explore the characteristics of an apostolically gifted leader to understand how they are uniquely positioned to catalyze new Kingdom work.

Why is it Important to Understand the Term “Apostolic?”

Sinclair’s book captures how it can feel odd to talk about the term apostolic but also why it is critical to understand:

For years we have shied away from using the word apostle in relation to church planting work overseas. After all, people know that apostles were the “big shots” in the New Testament. To say, “God has called me to be an apostle,” sounds somewhere between gross arrogance and a delusional break from reality. This is an unfortunate confusion, because the ministry of apostles is at the very core of the Great Commission as well as the current work to bring the good news to those who have never heard. 

If this is true, then the calling, gifting, and nature of apostleship today is more vital to us than even concerns such as cultural anthropology, methodology, and missiology. What was true in the first century is just as true in the twenty-first century: without apostolic ministry the gospel does not break new ground. With regard to pioneer work, apostleship is everything. Indeed, it is why, in the Lord, the impossible is actually possible. 

Dan Sinclair, Vision of the Possible

Sinclair goes on to say that it can be more helpful to talk about the apostolic gifting, engaging apostolic ministry, or being on an apostolic team as opposed to using the title “Apostle” to avoid confusion in thinking someone is calling themselves one of Jesus’ 12 Apostles.

For those pursuing movement among the unreached, understanding the term apostolic is absolutely vital. We use principles from the book of Acts as our guidelines for movement, which is, after all, called the Acts of the Apostles. It is the work of God in multiplying the early church through the activities of those with the apostolic gift and calling!

As a disclaimer, I also understand why people can be nervous about exploring the word apostolic. For one, as mentioned above, the term is confusing and requires specificity when using it. This post and the related resources attempt to bring clarity to the confusion around the term. At the bottom we’ve added an “Apostolic Cheat Sheet” attempting to define various terms, including the difference between apostolic passion and apostolic gifting. The term apostle also means something different in more charismatic circles. But I think even more than confusion, embracing the importance of the apostolic gift means doing some reconciling with our own hearts.

When we talk about spiritual gifts, for the most part it can be an encouraging exercise because it means you have some kind of gift from the Holy Spirit to be used for ministry. But if we start to highlight that the apostolic gift is important for catalyzing movements, it can immediately shine a spotlight on ourselves – what if I’m not apostolically gifted? Can I still be a part of movement work? To me, the answer is emphatically YES. More on this later.

Secondly, and this is painful to admit, but some who claim to be apostolically gifted can have immaturities and pitfalls that can be a turn off to others. Clinton highlights that pride and isolation are some of the biggest issues for apostolics, because their nature is to be a barrier breaker and pioneer where few others would be willing to go. It’s almost in their nature to be a contrarian, to go against the grain of what the majority would imagine, to stand on the calling God has given them when no one else can see what they see. As a result, some can give off a stand-offish, defensive, prideful, and prickly demeanor. These are all legitimate critiques. I’ve also observed that the mature apostolic leader has been humbled through suffering, and that God can give a thorn in order to keep them humble, like He did with Paul (2 Corinthians 12).

Despite these issues, if we are pursuing movement among the unreached and we ignore how God uses apostolic leaders to pioneer, we are missing the pattern of the New Testament!

The Role of the Apostolic Gift in Movements

If we understand that spiritual gifts are used for the building up of the body, the church, then every gift is useful for movements because movements are meant to multiply the church!

But the role of the apostolic gift in movements is to start the new work.

In multiple places, Paul lists out apostles, then prophets, and then other gifts in sequence, including 1 Corinthians 12:28 (“And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers…), Ephesians 2:19-20 (“the house of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets…”), and of course Ephesians 4:11 (“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers…”). Some might think these are listed in terms of value, but many commentators and the authors listed in this post think that these are gifts listed in sequence of ministry. If we look at the simple definitions provided by Mark G about the APEST functions in movements, it becomes a lot clearer!

Why is the apostolic gift important in starting new work? We talked about the context of the pioneering environment in our post about Spiritual Gifts and the Mission Field, and I defined the pioneering environment as “fields where the methods, systems, structures, institutions, and the sufficient number of disciple-makers to reach a people or place do not yet exist.” In these pioneering environments, there is no previous playbook that has seen success. Whoever goes to these places needs to innovate new ways to adapt the message of the gospel and the discipleship, church, and leadership structures that will be effective in that context. Inevitably, the process of innovating, adapting, and applying these methods will hit contextual, societal, or spiritual barriers. When you hit barriers, the apostolically gifted leaders are equipped to push through those barriers and further the work. We have seen repeatedly when that leadership gifting and perspective is missing, whether in national believers, our own team, or other leaders that we’ve coached, they run into the same obstacles over and over again and are unable to find a way forward. We’ll talk about how they apostolic leaders functionally do this in the next post.

Some of the authors we’ve listed say that they rarely see effective missions teams without an apostolically gifted leader involved. That may be true from their observation. From our study and experience, we would assert that the apostolic gift needs to be involved somewhere in the movement, whether from the insider leader which is best, from an outsider Barnabas, through a movement coach, or eventually emerging from the harvest. Without the apostolic gift, it becomes extremely challenging to push through barriers to multiplication.

However, those without the apostolic gift can absolutely have a role in movement ministry. How?

For outsiders, regardless of their gifting, our role in starting new work should be trying to find, empower, and support the national apostolic leader in pioneering movements.

If we look at the list of Paul’s companions throughout the New Testament, Paul, Barnabas, and a few others like Timothy and Silas are named as apostles. But many of the other names: Priscila, Aquila, Aristarchus, Onesimus, Gaius, Sopater, and several more, are not explicitly named as apostles or referenced as having apostolic gifting. In fact, in our team’s study of all of Paul’s companions, there’s really only one unifying descriptor for all of them: faithful.

If we can be like Barnabas, faithful to find and empower apostolically gifted national leaders, we can have a significant role in starting movements.

Finding an Apostolic Leader

After our initial language learning season, our team’s focus was to partner with local churches in order to find National Apostolic Visionary leaders that we could serve and empower to start movements. That meant first building trust with local churches, and secondly getting to pilot some multiplication focused trainings to see what kind of leaders we could identify.

For the first three years, we trained hundreds of Thai believers in biblical principles of multiplication and simple tools for evangelism, discipleship, and gathering as a house church. We modeled ministry by going out several times a week with these Thai believers to share on college campuses, in parks, in malls, and in markets. We traveled all over the city and to other provinces to train and form Thai disciple-making teams, with an eye out for an apostolic leader.

It was a fun, exhausting, challenging, stretching, chaotic several years of this pattern. There was a lot of faithful harvesting, some new believers, and a few new discovery bible groups that started, and we celebrated wildly with every step of faithfulness we saw from our Thai friends. But we still kept hitting repeated barriers with different groups. Many were focused on just growing their own church and couldn’t understand why we would want to release leaders to multiply – “just bring them to our church” was the standard reply. Some had difficulties with releasing authority to baptize or to lead a Bible study if they hadn’t been “formally trained” or ordained. And in many instances, people were willing to go into the harvest along with us, but lacked the leadership initiative to recruit others or keep the work going when we weren’t around. Even though we had so much joy engaging the harvest and seeing people faithfully make disciples, we weren’t seeing multiplication catalyzed like we were hoping. 

Finally, after 3 years of trying and failing, restarting with different groups, and running into barriers, the church planting pastor of the local church we had been working with said, “I think I’m understanding what you’re trying to do with CPM, and I think this will work better with our church planters in the rural areas. Could you go pilot with her?”

That’s when we met Mint. You can read more of her story in our first Be Barnabas post. It took several months of building trust with Mint and hearing her vision before we even piloted a training with her disciples, but from the beginning we could tell there was something different about her. For one, she had already taken the bold step of faith to be sent out alone to be a church planter after feeling called by God. She had endured several years of trials and challenges to start one burgeoning church. When we asked her what her vision was, she didn’t reply, “add people to my church” like most believers did. She said, “I want my church to multiply!” She had bold faith and she had vision to multiply. Good indicators!

After we started training, her team doubled the number of believers in 2 months! She had no problem releasing her disciples to baptize, and as we started to receive regular reports of baptisms, she was not even in the photos – her disciples ran baptisms without her there! After 7 months, she talked to each of the new households of believers and invited them to become house churches. Soon after she began to train in new areas, as well as send her best leaders to new provinces to start new church planting work. She continually recruited and developed and released leaders, and structured and restructured the teams to help them be faithful and fruitful according to their giftings.

She has some of the best intuitive understanding of movement and multiplication that I’ve seen. Many times we would come into coaching meetings and I would have a suggestion to deal with a barrier to multiplication that I wanted to make, but before I could even get there, she had already heard that from the Lord. When we ask, “how is your abiding? What are you learning from God?” to start our coaching meetings, it takes us about an hour for her to share all that she’s hearing and learning before we even get to the ministry coaching part. She is now overseeing a region of Thailand with multiple church planting teams sent out from her discipleship stream, and stepping into further roles to impact movement throughout the country.

Mint is a National Apostolic Visionary. She is able to do more in a year that I would be able to do in a lifetime. She has been uniquely gifted and called as an apostolically gifted leader to start new work among the unreached people and places in her country.

Quick Tool: Apostolic Cheat Sheet

Here’s a list of terms related to the word “apostolic” with various definitions from different authors. Hopefully this can help us differentiate and bring clarity to what we mean when we talk about the word “apostolic.”

Reflection Questions

• Do you agree or disagree with the definition and reasonings in this post? Why or why not?
• Do you experience internal tension or confusion when hearing the word “apostolic”? Why or why not?
• Who are potential people with apostolic gifting on your team, among local partners, or in your personal network that could help you in your ministry? What barriers are you facing in ministry that an apostolically gifted person could help with?
• Does your ministry strategy capitalize on using the apostolic gift and in finding nationals with this gift? If not, what changes can you make to highlight this?

In our previous post, we covered a simple definition of spiritual gifts and some key points about gifts. In this post, we’ll explore why using spiritual gifts is critical on the missions field.

As we’ve mentioned in our spiritual warfare posts, our encounters with spiritual warfare during our first short-term trip to Thailand opened our eyes to spiritual realities. It also made us begin to seek out the Holy Spirit and learn about spiritual gifts. As we discerned our calling to go and sought out development and preparation before launching, this category of the Holy Spirit (listening prayer, spiritual gifts, spiritual warfare) was a blind spot for us. As we heard stories from movement practitioners on the field, they shared about healings, demons being cast out, Muslims having dreams of Jesus, and supernatural usage of spiritual gifts. We studied Acts and saw miraculous signs and wonders accompanying the proclamation of the gospel.

It made us ask the question – how come these supernatural acts seem so prevalent on the mission field but feel so rare in our home context? And, if these things are happening and are critical to the work, what can we do to learn about the gifts and access them?

Part of the answer has to do with our own cultural and theological perspectives about the spiritual world, what Paul Hiebert calls The Excluded Middle. Another reason is that we simply are more self-reliant on our ‘natural’ skills and giftings rather than the Spirit’s power when we are in our own comfortable culture. Laboring cross-culturally can humble you quickly and turn you towards looking for power beyond yourself.

The truth is that we need the Spirit’s power for supernatural impact just as much at home as we do on the mission field – it just isn’t as apparent to us. But the field has a unique way to draw out the reality of our need for the Spirit’s power.

The Missions Field is a Pioneering Environment.

Floyd McClung coined the term ‘apostolic passion,’ which he defines as “a deliberate, intentional choice to live for the worship of Jesus in the nations.” It’s drawn from Paul’s ‘ambition’ in Romans 15:

“And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.”

– Romans 15:20-21

I think many, if not most, cross-cultural workers have this apostolic passion. We not only desire to see Jesus worshipped among the nations, but have what McClung calls the apostolic abandonment and focus to give our lives and time and efforts towards making disciples among the unreached.

Those with apostolic passion will go to start new work among people and places where Jesus is not yet known. These missions fields are what I would call pioneering environments, where the methods, systems, structures, institutions, and the sufficient number of disciple-makers needed to reach a people or place do not yet exist. As such, pursuing disciple-making and church planting in a pioneering environment requires different approaches than in reached areas, including increased innovation, more flexible methodology, a higher rate of experimentation and failing forward, and more agile teams that can adjust quickly to change.

But above everything, pioneering environments require spiritual breakthrough.

The Pioneering Environment Requires Spiritual Breakthrough, Including Spiritual Gifts.

And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.

– Mark 16:20

As much as I believe that strategic and innovative approaches can be helpful in starting movements, too often we see cross-cultural workers put their hope in their strategies and tools rather than in the Spirit’s power. These unreached communities have been resistant to the gospel for potentially hundreds of years, and there are too many cultural, religious, historical, and most of all spiritual barriers to the gospel in these pioneering environments for human ability to make a dent. Even the perfect persuasive evangelism tool has no power to change the heart of someone who lives in darkness. Seeing people among the unreached repent and believe the gospel requires the Spirit to move in power!

Paul tells us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12), and that “the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds” (2 Cor. 10:4). Throughout the New Testament, we see signs, wonders, gifts, and power coincide with the proclamation of the gospel in the mission field, whether through Jesus himself (Matthew 9:35), in the disciples (Luke 10:19), or through the early believers in Acts (Acts 14:3).

These spiritual realities of warfare that faced the early church should inform how we approach the pioneering environments that we are in! For every hour of planning, how many do we give to prayer? For every resource we develop, how much do we focus on receiving and using the Spirit’s power and gifts? Do our approaches even allow for “divine power to destroy strongholds,” or are they weapons of the flesh and human wisdom? These are questions that I need to ask myself often!

If we can see the battle is spiritual, just as Elisha’s servant had his eyes opened (2 Kings 6:17), the good news is that the “weapons of our warfare” are already promised and given. I love that in every one of the Great Commission passages, power is promised to accompany the commission to make disciples and preach the gospel. One significant aspect of this power is through the spiritual gifts that each believer is given.

We should expect, depend on, and regularly use the gifts of the Spirit in the work of pioneering movements.

Our Thai partners greatly outpace us in this category. Their primary method of entering new communities is by praying for needs. We train and practice praying for people with a simple prayer, and then see if God moves and opens their hearts to hear more about Jesus. Often, people request prayer for physical ailments and illnesses.

Early on in our partnership with Mint, we went with her to visit one new believer’s house that was 40 minutes down a dirt road. After going through a new believer lesson with the new believer Sarah, she introduced us to her mom. Sarah told us that her mom hadn’t been able to stand or walk for several months, and a doctor told them that she would likely never walk again because of severe osteoporosis. Together with Mint, we gathered to pray for Sarah’s mom. Nothing happened. We said our goodbyes and Mint told Sarah that she would come back next week to go through more discipleship lessons.

A week later, Mint and her team went back to Sarah’s house. And they prayed again for Sarah’s mom.

And Sarah’s mom stood up and walked down the stairs for the first time in months.

The next week, she walked into the nearby creek to be baptized by her daughter.

As more and more disciple-makers were trained to engage the harvest, reports of healings, miracles, and salvations began coming in weekly. 

• One new believer was beaten by her husband so severely that her right eye swelled and she was blinded in that eye. She came to the local house church and had the believers pray for her. The next day, she woke up, and the swollenness was gone and she could see! 
• In another province, a new believer discovered he had the gift of healing and met a sick woman while selling bus tickets. After praying for her, she invited him to her nearby village where he healed an entire group of elderly ladies and started a new group! 
• Another new believer was in the hospital and prayed for a person in the bed next to them that had stopped breathing and was declared dead – and they came back to life! 
• At one training, we heard one leader yelling “Go out! Go out!” into the phone which is the same word in Thai as the go in “go and make disciples” from Matthew 28, so we thought he was training. But one new believer was working on a rubber farm and a coworker put on an amulet and became possessed by an evil spirit. She didn’t know how to cast it out so she called this leader to cast it out over the phone!

Over the past 7 years of partnering with this network of church planters, we’ve heard dozens, if not hundreds, of answered prayer stories like these, and probably have missed hundreds more. We start almost every meeting or training with the question – is there anything you would like to praise God for? And stories begin flowing out. One of my favorites is where one new believer prayed for rain on their farm, and the storm poured out rain just on their land and stopped exactly at the border between their farm and their neighbor’s!

These types of supernatural breakthroughs are common and normative in movements, like those in the book of Acts. When normal, faithful disciples (and almost all of the above stories are from new believers) are released to operate in power, God shows up! Are we expectant of these things? Are we asking the Spirit for them?

Though All Gifts Are Useful, Certain Gifts Are Particularly Helpful in the Pioneering Environment.

Certain spiritual gifts are particularly useful in pioneering ministry work, and others are more useful for building up the body in the context of a local church or mission team.

To give some examples:

• Healing and Miracles – We see this as a standard aspect of bringing the Kingdom of God to the world. Accompanied with the proclamation of the gospel are signs and wonders like healing and miracles. The several stories from the previous section are examples of what it can look like!
  
• Evangelism – Obviously, evangelism gifts are valuable to pioneering environments! All believers should share the gospel regularly regardless of gifting, and, those gifted in evangelism should use it frequently! People with an evangelistic gift just seem to very easily connect with people, and can have more effectiveness in sharing the gospel and winning people to Christ.
  
  Before we launched as a team to Thailand, we tried to live out disciple-making rhythms in preparation for overseas work. Out of our team of 12, one teammate who was evangelism gifted had led more people to Christ than the rest of our team combined! We will talk more about Ephesians 4 later, but evangelism-gifted leaders shouldn’t only exercise their gift in sharing the gospel, but need to use their gift to equip others to share.

• Teaching / Training – At first glance, it’d seem that teaching would be a gift more appropriate for within the local church. But for teams trying to start movements with a ‘Be Barnabas’ approach, catalyzing near culture believers to share the gospel means there’s a lot of training! It means that those with a teaching gift who are able to handle the Word simply and equip near or in-culture believers to share the gospel, make disciples, and multiply churches is extremely valuable! Also, teaching gifts can be crucial in developing simple, reproducible, biblical curriculum that can be used in new multiplying works.

• Helps – Another gift that seems like it would be more suited to within the local church is helps. But a Be Barnabas approach means that the National Apostolic Visionary (NAV) leader is the “Paul” that God has chosen to pioneer new ministry among their people, and our role as outsider is to serve and support that leader. If we want to Be Barnabas, it requires a humbling of ourselves to serve that leader, and those with the gift of helps will be particularly suited to caring for, supporting, and providing whatever is needed for that NAV leader to thrive and multiply.
  
  One of our teammates gifted in helps walked alongside a local believer who was going through burnout. That believer wasn’t implementing movement practice or actively making disciples, so Jenn and I questioned if that was really the best use of that teammate’s time. But after helping this Thai friend take a sabbatical, this local believer came back and said – I want to devote my time to multiplying disciples! – and has recently started a number of new groups! As people not gifted in helps, we saw that time investment as questionable, but to our teammate, she was drawn to serve through her gifting. That’s why it’s critical that all the gifts have an opportunity to participate in the Great Commission! Side note – this is why we love the Be Barnabas approach! The apostolic and evangelist will clearly have value in supporting the NAV’s ministry, but so do the teachers, shepherds, and helpers in a very different and much needed way!

We Should Have the Ability to Identify and Develop Spiritual Gifts In Our National Partners.

Lastly, it’s critical that we have studied, practiced, and developed our own gifts and gifts in others so that we can identify and develop spiritual giftings in our national partners. When we’re looking for a “Paul”-type national partner who can catalyze movements, part of that is looking for a specific type of gifting. It’s in the name – a National Apostolic Visionary leader. We break down some of that in our article about what a NAV is. We’ll also have a future post further exploring the word “apostolic” including the apostolic gifting.

Although we have a certain eye out for apostolic leaders, we should also partner with local believers that have other giftings. Anyone who is ready to be obedient to the Great Commission to share the gospel and make disciples is worth investing in! At the end of the day, the goal is to multiply healthy churches, and that requires all of the gifts, though different gifts might be emphasized at different phases of ministry. For example, apostolic and evangelistic gifts might be most helpful in pioneering in a new area to win people to faith. But as churches grow, gifts like pastor/shepherding and teaching will need to be emphasized. As issues needing correction come up in the church, giftings like exhortation and prophecy will need to be elevated.

Do we know what the Word says about each of these giftings? Are we able to identify them in emerging leaders? Do we know how to develop these giftings and encourage local partners to use them to advance the work of multiplying churches?

In our next post, we’ll explore how different spiritual gifts can help edify the body, either in the local church context or on missions teams. Below are some questions for reflection about spiritual gifts and the missions field.

Reflection Questions

• Are you expectant for the power of the Holy Spirit to work in you and in your ministry? Why or why not?
• Have you seen the Holy Spirit’s power working actively in your ministry? In what situations, experiences, or people have you seen this most clearly?
• Are you, your teammates, and your national partners regularly using spiritual gifts in ministry? Why or why not? Where do you, your teammates, or national partners need greater development in this topic?
• How could God specifically use your spiritual gifts to move your ministry forward?

This is one of the lessons that God has impressed on our hearts over the last decade of ministry on the field. Scripture tells us that apart from abiding in Christ we can do nothing, but our pride, our selves still default to being self-dependent in trying to achieve success in ministry. For some reason, we think that our intelligence, hard work, strategies, and skills can make a dent in winning entire people groups that have been resistant to the gospel for 2000 years. It’s ludicrous!

The nature of the work of disciple-making and church planting among the unreached is spiritual! Meaning, it is not a physical or mental problem – for people to turn from darkness into light, for the Enemy to be pushed back, for believers to obey the Great Commission – it requires the Holy Spirit to move! We cannot do a supernatural, spiritual work without supernatural, spiritual power. The good news is that we have been promised and given this power!

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Acts 1:8

How much clearer can it be? Now the question is – will we by faith receive this power? Do we know how to receive this power?

In this series of posts, we’re going to address what we’ve learned about spiritual gifts and missions – on missions teams, in missions work, and an overview of the term ‘apostolic.’ It’s a critical topic that we feel many cross-cultural workers are under-experienced in, especially when  they come from theologically conservative backgrounds. But it’s one of the questions that comes up the most when cross-cultural workers come to the field because of the prevalence of the spiritual world in different cultures and the necessity for guidance and empowerment from the Holy Spirit in an impossibly difficult work.

Our posts on spiritual warfare address why cross-cultural workers can be generally unaware of spiritual realities. Spiritual realities for goers can cover a wide range of topics, including but not limited to spiritual gifts, spiritual warfare, and listening prayer.

What Are Spiritual Gifts?

Type in ‘spiritual gifts’ in google and you’ll be inundated with spiritual gifts inventories and articles breaking down each gift. It’s almost too much information! The blog posts we’re writing aren’t trying to be an exhaustive study around spiritual gifts but more so how spiritual gifts are applied in the missions field and on missions teams. However, we’ll give a quick definition and some key points so that we can be clear about what we mean for the sake of application.

“A spiritual gift is any ability that is empowered by the Holy Spirit and used in any ministry of the church.” – Wayne Grudem

Our best suggestion in understanding spiritual gifts is to study what the Word says about gifts as there are several key passages about them! I think we can get overly fixated on ‘what is my gift,’ which is important, but miss the general purpose and essence of why gifts are given. Here are some of the key passages concerning gifts, and at the bottom of the post we’ll give a few resources that have been helpful to us in understanding gifts.

• 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14.
• Romans 12:3-8
• 1 Peter 4:7-11
• Ephesians 4:11-16
• 1 Timothy 4:14-16
• 2 Timothy 1:6-7
• Exodus 31:1-11
• Acts 2:1-21
• Acts 6:1-7
• Hebrews 2:4
• Matthew 25:14-30

From our study of these passages and in practical usage, here’s what we would conclude about spiritual gifts:

1. Every believer is given at least one gift from the Holy Spirit, but you can have more than one.

Paul says explicitly in 1 Corinthians 12:7 that each person is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. This means that our question is not, “do we have a gift?” But, “what gift have I been given and how should I use it?”

A gift has been given explicitly by the Holy Spirit to you! We can and should desire other gifts (1 Cor. 13:31) but it’s also critical for us to be content with the gift we’ve been given because it means the Spirit has good works prepared for us to do with that gift! It means that He has a vital role for you in the body of Christ to play. Don’t ignore the gifts you have been given!

In terms of having more than one, even in Paul’s breakdown of tongues and prophesying in 1 Corinthians 14, he basically admits to having at least both of those gifts. Robert Clinton concludes that leaders in particular are given a cluster of giftings, where a core leadership gift is supported by other supplementary gifts (e.g. a faith gifting to accompany a missionary gifting, or an exhortation gifting to support a prophetic gift). One of our mentors, Char, also notes that gifts can potentially change according to the season of life or ministry assignment that you are in, and the Holy Spirit equips you for those new works appropriately.

2. We know we are operating in our giftings when we sense supernatural empowerment and see supernatural fruitfulness.

We learned this key point from Matt Carter’s sermon on 1 Corinthians 12. He shares his own story about how he identified that his spiritual gift was prophecy exercised through preaching. For him, most ministry activities were draining, but his first time preaching he felt empowered and energized. Not only that, people were impacted by his preaching and there were supernatural results.

We’ve seen these two aspects of supernatural empowerment and supernatural fruitfulness affirmed over and over again in our own discovery of our gifts and helping others to find their gifts. Some people describe the empowerment aspect almost like an ‘out-of-body’ experience, where the Spirit is the one speaking, moving, acting through them and they are simply being used by him.

For me, I started to discover that I had a teaching / training gift in college. Soon after I started following Jesus, I began to volunteer at our old church’s youth group. I had just learned about Inductive Bible Study and how the Word had so much to offer when we are willing to dig deep and learn. I would facilitate a Saturday night IBS with a bunch of high schoolers that would go for 2+ hours. If you’ve ever been in youth ministry, you’ll know that getting the attention of high schoolers is like herding cats. Their attention span, even before iPhones, usually lasted about 20 seconds.

But the Spirit impacted our time in such a way that we had all these easily distracted teenagers deeply studying the Word, with earnestness, curiosity, and passion. It would get to the point where their parents would be there to pick them up and they would shoo them away or ask for more time so they could get to the end of the Bible study for that day. For me, I would receive so much energy and excitement, and as a person who normally wasn’t great at public speaking, I would feel the Spirit give me not only the words but the passion and wisdom to say the right things in the right moment.

I started to say yes to more opportunities to teach and train, and ended up leading our campus ministry’s weekly large group gathering of 300 students during my senior year, which required giving some kind of teaching at least 2 out of every 4 weeks. I repeatedly saw a pattern of the Holy Spirit empowering me with the right words, energy, and authority during opportunities to speak, and by God’s grace, saw the supernatural fruit of people being impacted by the things the Spirit was speaking through me. That has continued even to our time on the field, even being empowered to teach and train in another language! My Thai language ability is 10 times worse when I’m in normal conversation compared to when I train, which is normally the opposite for most people. That is undoubtedly the Holy Spirit!

3. Spiritual gifts are not to be used for personal pride, but to serve others in a spirit of unity.

Repeatedly throughout these passages about gifts, there is an emphasis on humility, serving, and unity in one body. It’s like the writers know there is a potential for the Enemy and our pride to twist this wonderful gift from the Holy Spirit into opportunities for comparison and dissension. Any usage of a spiritual gift that results in pride, comparison, and dissension is a misuse of that gift, and achieves the very opposite of what the Spirit intended in giving it to you.

Any usage of a spiritual gift that results in pride, comparison, and dissension is a misuse of that gift, and achieves the very opposite of what the Spirit intended in giving it to you.

The point of this post is that the gifts given by the Spirit are wonderful and should be used with joy. But there’s a dangerous line when we start to be identified by our gifts instead of identifying with Christ. On his teaching about gifts, Paul emphasizes unity in the body of Christ and then inserts a teaching on love right in the middle with 1 Corinthians 13. We often use this at weddings because it sounds good, but it’s a teaching given in the context of unity in the body among diversity in the gifts. In some ways, it’s the litmus test of if we are using the gift correctly: patiently, kindly, not envying or boasting, not arrogant or rude, not insisting on its own way, not irritable or resentful.

When we say, I have a certain gift and therefore shouldn’t waste my time on menial serving tasks, we’ve missed the point.

When we say, our doctrine and beliefs about how we should use the gifts is different from that group so we can no longer fellowship or work together, we’ve missed the point.

Whenever we are elevating our gifts and our preference over the oneness we have in Jesus, over unity in the body, over love that serves others – we’ve missed the point.

If we are approaching the gifts appropriately, it should create immense humility in us. Firstly, because the gift is not your own – it’s literally given by the Holy Spirit! When you’re using your gifts, God is the one to be glorified, not us! And secondly, knowing that we have a gift but not all the gifts means that we need other members in the body. If the church is working correctly, all the different members of the body should be operating in their gifts together to make the body grow!

…from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Ephesians 4:16

4. The purpose of the gifts is for the edification of the church and expansion of the Kingdom.

Lastly, the second litmus test of our usage of the gifts is whether or not it’s being used for others. The gifts were not given to edify ourselves, but to “strive to excel in building up the church” (1 Cor. 14:12), for “the common good” (1 Cor. 12:7), for “building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12), and “to be witnesses… to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

We are given so much by Jesus for our own growth and edification. We are given the free gift of salvation through Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross, we are given the Spirit to be comforter and helper, we are given the Word to guide our steps into daily obedience, we are given the community of believers to receive encouragement and love. But the gifts are not given for our own growth or desires. The gifts are given to be others-focused.

It can be exciting and make us feel special that we’ve been chosen specially to be given a gift! And we should joyfully receive it and be thankful to use it! But Paul gives a warning in 1 Corinthians 14 against using the gift to “build up” ourselves. He specifically calls out tongues, that it needs to be paired with interpretation so that it is beneficial for others around them. Not coincidentally, tongues remains one of the more controversial gifts in the current day.

Use your gift to serve others in the church or to bring others into the Kingdom!

Application

Now we have some clarity around spiritual gifts – you have at least one, it is accompanied with supernatural empowerment and fruitfulness, it is not for pride but for serving in unity, and gifts are meant to edify the church or expand the Kingdom. What next?

Gifts need to be identified, practiced, and developed.

Identify your Gifting

The first step in identifying is knowing what the gifts are. Study the passages in the list above! Certain resources can give you an idea of what a certain gift looks like – we recommend Robert Clinton’s resource “Understanding our Giftedness Set.” Inventories and surveys like this can help but only as a way to understand what you’ve experienced in ministry that you’ve already done.

Secondly, serve in a lot of different types of ministries! Whether at your local church, on a disciple-making team, or on a field missions team, volunteer and initiate to serve in multiple ways. As you try different things, be on the lookout for where you feel supernatural empowerment and see supernatural fruitfulness. Do ministry in team and community so that others can give you feedback about where they see your gift!

Lastly, identify by praying, asking, and listening to the Holy Spirit! If the Spirit is the one who has given you the gift, he can most surely tell you what gift you have and how to use it. Ask others to pray for you to receive gifts and help you discern! We see in the New Testament that the laying on of hands leads to imparting the Spirit and gifts (2 Tim. 1:6), and we’ve also had people pray over us to awaken certain gifts!

Practice your Gifting

Now that you know what your gift is – practice by using it! Paul encourages Timothy repeatedly to “fan into flame the gift of God” (2 Tim. 1:6), and to “not neglect the gift that you have” but to practice, immerse himself in it, and see progress in it (1 Tim. 4:14-15).

One disclaimer is that receiving a gift is not an excuse to disobey other parts of the Bible. Too often we hear “I don’t have an evangelism gifting’ as a reason to not share the gospel. This should go without saying but practicing your gifting can never supersede obedience to the Word and to the Spirit. That’s just our pride making an excuse.

Develop your Gifting

Develop your gifts through practice, but also by learning more specifically about them. Study the Word concerning specific gifts, and look for examples of people in Scripture with those giftings. Find and read books about these giftings. Find mentors that have those giftings and ask about their story and experience.

Often we see people begin with somewhat of an immature usage of their gifting, and over time as they gain experience and knowledge, they’re able to use their gifts more proficiently. For example a young prophet could see someone living in unbelief and desire to call them back towards the Lord but may be overly blunt and lack the wisdom for how to do it tactfully and graciously. A young apostolic might be sensing God call them towards a big vision and starting something new, but trample over everyone else on the way towards that new thing in a posture of judgment and criticism. More than developing the practical skill of your gift, the focus should be on the development of our Christ-like character and humility in using our gifts.

As a general guideline, we’ve heard that developing your gift can be a lifelong endeavor. In your 20s and 30s as you try lots of different ministries, you begin to identify your gifting. In your 30s and 40s you’ve learned what your gift is and begin to practice and use it more. And in your later life you become more proficient with your gift, and ideally, can align your ministry and leadership role primarily with your gifting and experience.

Conclusion

Now that we have a better idea of what spiritual gifts are, and how to identify, practice, and develop them, our next posts will address how these play out on the mission field and on missions teams. Below are some questions for personal reflection and some resources we’ve found to be helpful on the topic of spiritual gifts.

There’s plenty of reasons to learn and use your gifts. Beyond the fact that the Holy Spirit has specially given you one, and that Scripture repeatedly tells us not to be ignorant about our gifts or to neglect them, we’ve found that using our gifts results in our joy! There’s something amazing about being used uniquely by the Spirit, to experience that supernatural empowerment and to see supernatural fruitfulness. It is God being pleased to use us! It’s like trying out a bunch of different sports or extracurriculars as a kid and struggling and failing in them over and over again. And then, all of a sudden, you pick up the violin or dive into the pool or throw a football for the first time and it feels natural. Like you were born to do that thing. Don’t miss out on what He has uniquely created and designed you to do!

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10

Questions For Reflection

1. Do you have personal or theological barriers that keep you from studying or embracing spiritual gifts? 
2. Have you identified your gifting? If not yet, what steps can you take towards identifying your gift?
3. If you have identified your gifting, how can you grow and develop in the usage of your gifting? How can you create more opportunities to practice and work out of your gifting in your ministry? 
4. Have you observed any aspects of pride, comparison, or dissension emerge in the usage of your gifting? Why do you think that is? Are there certain situations, people, or contexts that trigger and bring out pride? If yes, then repent and surrender these things to God.  
5. How can you create a culture and space for your teammates to grow and develop in their giftings?

Additional Resources

• Unlocking Our Giftedness is Robert Clinton’s booklet on spiritual gifts detailing how leaders can develop in their giftedness and help develop others. Understanding Your Giftedness Set is a spiritual gifts assessment that goes with the booklet.

• Systematic Theology (chapter 52-53) by Wayne Grudem – an overview of spiritual gifts and addresses continuationism v. cessationism
• Get in the Fight! – Sermon on 1 Corinthians 12 by Matt Carter

Before we launched, Jenn and I were in pre-engagement counseling and we took a stress test as a way to gauge different stressors and how we responded to them. Our counselor came back and said, “Steven, you scored the lowest stress we’ve ever seen on this test. You have like no stress at all.”

I semi-pridefully, semi-jokingly responded, “I guess it’s just trusting in Jesus!”

My 23-year-old self had yet to be introduced to the pressure cooker of cross-cultural life, ministry, and leadership. Man, I want to go back and slap that 23-year-old version of myself.

When we’re in our home countries, we perhaps unconsciously and easily move towards the things that keep our stress low and keep our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health high. There’s an abundance of resources to help you thrive and the added bonus that they are all in your own language. Pastors, small groups, counseling centers, local churches, friend groups, classes, workout groups, sports teams, etc.

Moving overseas, most of these are wiped away overnight.

In the chaos of transition, language learning, pioneering ministry, and team conflict, we can take for granted that all the ways we are used to pursuing health and thriving in our lives are no longer there. Additionally, the stressors in our lives spike to levels we’ve never experienced before: change in culture, climate, job, community, proximity to family, access to hobbies and other supports.

The Holmes-Rahe stress inventory gives a score for different stressful events that might happen in your life, like changing your job, death of a family member, or changing residences. Score over 200, and you had a 50% chance to have a major health breakdown within 2 years. Over 300, and that percentage would shoot to 80%. Dr. Lois Dodds of Heartstream Resources did some analysis of first year missionaries’ stress levels according to the Holmes-Rahe stress inventory. They found that first term missionaries peaked at 900 and even veteran missionaries averaged about 600!

Yikes.

As we’ve repeatedly said before, much of what is posted on this blog are lessons from how NOT to do it. Jenn and I completely disregarded any thought of health and powered through new marriage, transitions, team leadership, language school, and pioneering ministry without a thought of how to manage our stress, much less be aware of how we were doing.

In month 6 on the field, we noted that I had been sick almost every month upon landing on the field when I barely got sick once a year in the States. At a team meeting in our second year, out of curiosity I asked the team to raise their hands if they had experienced the following “minor”  health issues: regular migraines/headaches, panic / anxiety attacks, eye twitching, vertigo, stomach issues (both directions), increase in colds/sickness, weight gain, difficulty sleeping, random muscle pains, and hives. As I went through the list, at least half to ⅔ of the team raised their hands. Except the stomach issues one. That one was 100%.

Even on our own team, we didn’t know that we were all experiencing these issues.

Before you launch to the field you hear of the extreme stories of missionaries thrown into jail or maybe even those that have seizures and find out they have brain cancer. But what’s often not mentioned is the ongoing, dangerously high levels of stress that we experience at a regular level.

There’s also an underlying, unmentioned belief among goers that the more you suffer, the holier you are. And it’s true that Romans 5 tells us that suffering produces perseverance, which produces character. But I think holiness and character are produced from how we respond to suffering, not just whether we have it. There’s nothing particularly holy about disregarding your own health or your family’s or team’s out of ignorance. How can goers persevere amidst all of this?

After 10 years of living on the field, our first answer is still abiding in Jesus through our union with Christ. Realizing when you’re anxious or stressed, surrendering control, and receiving what you need from the vine.

Secondly, setting rhythms and boundaries for health is critical for sustained thriving on the field.

At the end of 2022 as we were about to head back to Thailand after Jenn’s cancer treatment, our counselor asked us how we were going to pursue healthy rhythms after returning. I told her I wasn’t sure, and she asked, “When was a season in Thailand when you felt you were healthy?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a season in Thailand when I was healthy.”

She gave us the following tool to complete before returning: Red-Yellow-Green Health Markers.

Red-Yellow-Green Health Markers

Summary: With culture stress, ministry challenges, and life transitions, life on the field as a cross-cultural worker can quickly cause areas of physical, mental, emotional, relational, and spiritual health to suffer. This tool is meant to help workers self-evaluate what their markers of health are, and establish rhythms to help them maintain thriving.

Red: markers that indicate you are outside a window of tolerance, need to take a hard stop and make changes.

Yellow: markers that indicate you need to take caution, slow down, and go back to green. Warning signs to pay attention to.

Green: markers that indicate that you are healthy and thriving when these are in place.

Below is an example table of what indicators and rhythms you could add. These can span physical, mental, emotional, relational (e.g. marriage/singleness, team, ministry partners, friendships, spiritual community), and spiritual areas of life. You can take the template and fill in your own health markers. Feel free to add any categories that might have a significant impact on your health, including travel, schedule, personal development, or anything else that is helpful.

After each filling this out, Jenn and I have tried to adhere to these rhythms as best we can for the past 2 years. We had our counselor check in and help us honestly evaluate how we were doing for the first two quarters. For the most part, we’ve been in and out of the yellow-green areas, which has been way better than our first 8 years on the field. And when we have weeks where we dip into the red markers, we’re both much more aware of it and quick to enact some changes.

Our encouragement for those that are on the field is to take a day of prayer and evaluate your health indicators and rhythms. Share your markers with a supervisor, leader, or member care friend and ask them to check you on it monthly or quarterly.

We want to persevere until the vision that God has given is accomplished! Constantly redlining into burnout and unhealth is a sure way to leave the field or be forced out before that vision is realized. More than that, the promises of Jesus are for abundant life (John 10:10), for a light burden and easy yoke and rest for our souls (Matthew 11:28-30), for an overflowing cup and refreshment for our souls (Psalm 23). The lie of our flesh or pride is that goers must only suffer and not thrive. And while seasons of suffering are almost guaranteed for the goer, it is to release us into more thriving! May we be an example of overflowing, abiding fruitfulness that multiplies into those we lead and into new disciples among the nations.