Skewed Numbers

A few days ago some of our colleagues sent us a screenshot of a Facebook post. It showed a picture of a group of six people with a caption that read (paraphrased), "Our first mission trip to Zambia is finished. In just six days, this group started 20 new churches in the villages surrounding Solwezi, shared the gospel with 10,844 people, led 6,381 of them to faith in Christ, discipled 2,873, and distributed 4,000 New Testaments."

Some people would say, "That's amazing!"

But not us. We scoffed. We rolled our eyes.

Not the reaction you were expecting, huh?

In truth, situations like that frustrate us, and those are just our knee-jerk reactions. It's not because we're jealous that maybe God granted them some miraculous favor instead of us. It's because we know those numbers are so incredibly skewed. And when numbers get skewed, people begin to think, "Why should I give to help missionaries live for years and years in a place that could (by the above numbers) be reached with the gospel in one?"

Skewed numbers diminish all of our hard work in learning the language, learning the culture, and building relationships in order to see God's Kingdom grow. Everything we've done is then pointless, because a mission team of half a dozen can come in for as many days and see thousands of souls saved at the snap of a finger. What's the point, then, of us being here?

It's hard to watch typically well-meaning people come in, spend a week doing evangelism, crusades, and preaching, and then report more salvations and church plants in that one week than we've seen in our eight years on the field. Yes, God could certainly bring about that many salvations in that many days, but that's not the norm. Especially in a place like Zambia. However, it is the norm to see mission teams come here and "win the region for Christ" in a matter of days, weeks, or months. They get a certain amount of gospel affirmations, get some nationals who agree to start a church, and then they're outta here. Work's finished. Kingdom's grown. Yay, Jesus.

Y'all, my fingers are dripping with what may or may not be righteous indignation as I type, but it's so frustrating to see Kingdom expansion reduced to nothing more than numbers! It's so frustrating when people come in without even taking the time to find out if there are other "boots on the ground" missionaries there who can help them understand and navigate the local culture and religion. We're in this work together, and we would be thrilled to lend our resources and knowledge to others if it means we can witness sustainable Kingdom growth.

Look, it's easy to get "yes's" around here. Why? Because if people say "yes" to you, it means they're now in your good favor. They've done what you wanted them to do. And, if they're in your good favor, then there's a better chance that you will help them when they need something. It's called a patron/client relationship, and you'll find it all over Africa from political relationships to religious relationships to social relationships. So, "yes's" are easy. But, what are those "yes's" going to look like in a month from now? In a year from now?

Quick story: During our first term, we started a church. By ourselves. Every week for one year we drove to this village to preach and teach. Eventually, the favors started rolling in. "Can you transport us into town?... Oh, you need charcoal? We'll sell you charcoal!... Can you buy us some shoes from the market? How about a Bible? We'll pay you next week." And we agreed to all of it. All the while we continued to pour into this new church plant, preaching and teaching every week, sometimes twice a week.

Then, we left for our first Stateside Assignment. We were gone for six months. When we returned, we learned that the church had stopped meeting. There were various things that led to this, but the root issue? Our efforts were not sustainable. We had tried to do something by ourselves without the help of national partners, had gotten sucked into the patron/client relationship, and everything just dissipated when we left.

That's why it's so frustrating for us to see reports like the one I mentioned above, because we've made those mistakes and it hurts to see others doing the same!

We currently have a team of eleven university students who are serving with us until the end of July. These folks are doing door-to-door and street evangelism. They're meeting in small groups with people who have either responded to the gospel or are curious to learn more. They are working alongside Zambian believers in these things. And when they leave, we will be here to follow up on the work that they did.

Their work is sustainable.

As Christians, we do the Kingdom a disservice if all we focus on is "broad seed sowing" and we don't take the time to make sure someone comes behind us to cultivate; to disciple those who said "yes" to Jesus. Folks, you can't disciple 2,000+ people in six days. You just can't. Discipleship takes time, and that's where we as missionaries step in after you leave.

I know it seems exciting to come in, preach a gospel message, issue an invitation, and have over 6,000 people raise their hands to accept Christ... but what about the follow-up? Who is going to stay behind to make sure those 6,000 hands were actually genuine? How many of those 6,000 hands are going to end up in churches that preach false doctrines? Because, make no mistake, most of the churches in our area preach a "gospel" that is actually sending people to Hell.

Follow-up is important. It's crucial. It's why we've dedicated our lives to training and equipping fellow believers, so that when we leave, we know we're leaving things in good hands.

Please hear this: Before you go on a mission trip... local, overseas, wherever... do your research. And the best way to do that is to find missionaries who can give you a better understanding of the culture and can partner you with local, trustworthy believers. God calls out missionaries for a reason. He calls people to short term mission trips for a reason. Let's not skew the numbers. Let's work together to make disciples, not just converts.