With Whom Should You Spend Time? Part Two: Believers in Your Foreign Country and at Home.

Believers in Your Foreign Country. (Top Right Box)

This box represents foreign-national Christians. No matter how unreached your country is, there are national believers somewhere. John 5:17 states, “My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I too am working.” This verse means that God was in your area long before you arrived. Thank God for His work. So either your country has a pocket of believers or has non-Western people targeting your area of service.  

Engaging with local believers is a crucial part of ministry, but it requires wisdom, discernment, and patience. These relationships can either propel your work forward or become a distraction. In this blog post, I’ll share my own personal experiences, the lessons I have learned, and some practical guidance on how to navigate partnerships with national believers in a manner that will ensure your missions journey is a success.

Meeting a National Believer for the First Time  

The first national believer I met in India was introduced to me by an American pastor. The national invited me to his village church for a Sunday service, but I did not know how to get there. So, the day before, I drove my scooter toward the village, hoping to see the landmark he had described. I did not find the landmark at first, but somehow, I found it and the church the following morning.  

Shortly after the first meeting, we began an ongoing program of visiting villages in his area (via my scooter). Often, he would call me while I was doing my language homework. I did not like studying language, so I always dropped my books and visited.  

At the time, my first supervisor told me I was in India for ministry, not for language learning. (That theory has entirely changed by requiring every overseas worker to master the language within the first three years.) Language is the gateway to deeper relationships and more fruitful ministry. Nelson Mandela once said, "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart". But proficiency in a foreign language is only the first step. Building deep and long-lasting relationships is the ultimate tool for successful ministry overseas.

I told this national believer I wanted to work with Muslims, but during my first year, I did not know enough about the various people and places to recognize the difference between Muslims and Hindus. Thus, we regularly visited Hindu homes where we taught Bible stories and songs. As a result, I learned about Indian village life very quickly but did not learn much about the local Muslims.  

Engaging with More Local Believers  

My second significant interaction with local believers happened while I lived on a Methodist campus. Almost every day, three to four people visited my house. Each visit lasted about forty-five minutes and included thirty minutes of cookies and tea and ten minutes of business. Most of these people wanted monthly support or at least a job.  

At first, I welcomed these visits, thinking they were opportunities for discipleship or partnership. However, I soon realized that many were primarily interested in financial assistance. My sending organization instructed me to work with and through local people, but not to pay them. This policy was in place to avoid creating dependency or attracting those motivated by money rather than mission.  

Eventually, I ended the constant visitation by only talking to people who wanted to or were working with Muslims. This decision may be difficult for some, but good boundaries are necessary for effective ministry. Not every interaction is equally fruitful, and discernment is key.  

Finding a Ministry Partner 

One company worker in North India, who was searching for a national partner, latched onto the first one he found (eighteen months after arriving in the country), not realizing that the national’s reports of people coming to faith were inaccurate. Another man changed tactics after three years of searching; the new tactic was to pay several people to work as his national partners.  

As for me, I continued to search and pray for a partner who would be the perfect coworker. By God’s grace, a mutual friend eventually introduced me to someone; he was not an ideal match, but he did have a heart for reaching Muslims. Before our first meeting and even afterward, I struggled over not finding a person and then wondered if I had found the right person.  

The perfect partner is someone who:  

• Knows the language and culture of the target people  

• Has a heart for God and a deep knowledge of the Bible  

• Exhibits the fruits of the Spirit  

• Does not have an unhealthy obsession with money  

I don’t think such a person exists. My closest partner was not all of these things, but he had enough good qualities that we remained in partnership for six years.  

The right partner should catch and take ownership of your vision. When you say you want to reach ten thousand people, he should say one hundred thousand. When you say you want to go to the district, he should say he wants to go to the state. In light of the box illustration, the national partner will be the one who gets you into the bottom right-hand box (your target people) and also does extensive work among them.  

What to Look for and Avoid in a Ministry Partner

There are many good partners to work with in each area of service, just like there are some people to be avoided. Discernment is not an exact science, but I hope that by sharing a few rules of thumb that I have learned throughout my years in the mission field, you might be able to avoid partnering with the wrong person: 

1. Not everyone who claims to be a Christian is a genuine follower of Jesus. 

• Some may identify culturally with Christianity but lack a personal relationship with Christ.  

• Others may see ministry as a means of financial gain rather than spiritual service.  

2. Some nationals are simply looking for a job but do not have a calling to ministry.  

• Many are wise enough to tell you what you want to hear, yet others will allow another national to speak for them.  

• If a national is not completely honest before joining your staff, there is a very good chance they will not be completely honest when they report their activities and results each month.  

3. An unhealthy fixation on money is a major red flag. 

• One man I hired as a language helper asked for a loan on the first day of class.  

• Another man told me his expectation of compensation even before I considered hiring him or told him how much I might pay.  

Be careful who you choose as a partner. Ask other trusted believers for a reference and listen closely to them. I cannot count how often nationals and Westerners have opposite opinions of a person. Usually, the national is more informed.  

An illustration of the differences between countries.

In India, I spent a lot of time with people in this box (national believers), trying to get them to take me to box four (target group) or to go themselves. Unfortunately, I was not as successful in this task as I wanted.  

Therefore, when I moved to Bangladesh, I went directly to box four (engaging the target people) and allowed several national believers to join me in the process. This shift made a significant difference. Instead of trying to convince believers to reach the unreached, I modelled it and invited them to participate.  

I will not condemn Westerners who enter this box in hopes that these nationals become active among the target people. However, there are other ways to approach ministry.  

Final Thoughts

Simply put, if people in this box are not helping you spiritually or helping you reach your target people, limit the amount of time you spend with them. Ministry is about stewardship. The well-managed stewardship of time, relationships, resources, and so much more is what ensures that your missions journey will be fruitful.  

National believers can be invaluable partners, but not all will share your vision. Seek those who are genuinely called, spiritually mature, and aligned with your mission. And above all, trust that God is already at work in your field. He will lead you to the right people at the right time.