We have been on deputation for 23 months to go to Argentina as church planting missionaries. We will be leaving for the field on March 24, 2016. We have seen incredible things on deputation. I have narrowed my favorite things to a list of seven. This post is about the personal soul winning of a pastor.

My family and I arrived at the church early. We set our display up, talked with people, and met Pastor and talked with him. We had prayer time with the church. Pastor gave me the opportunity to present what God is doing in our hearts and to preach a message from the Bible. After the service, he asked us to go out to eat with he and his family. We followed the Pastor, not knowing where we would go eat. We drove to a gas station that had a small sandwich shop inside. Up to this point, the events of the night were not very much out of the ordinary. When we entered the gas station, Pastor introduced me to the owner. He said, “This is_____, I led him to Jesus a few month back. He was a Muslim, now he is a Christian.” Over the course of the meal, Pastor told me the story of how this man believed on Jesus, and how his wife was still lost, but how he was praying for her and hoped to see her believe on Jesus soon. I was so excited to see how Pastor personally went after that man with the Gospel of Jesus. I was looking at the fruit of his ministry.

Being a witness is a privilege for every believer. The message of the Gospel, that man may be forgiven of his sins and become a child of God through Jesus, is the most freeing message the world can hear! The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15:34, “Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.” It is not just the privilege, but also the obligation of every believer to share the Gospel. Jesus gave the Great Commission to the church, and the church is made up of believers. It is our obligation to take the Gospel to the world, and that means we should share the message of the Gospel with those around us!

I was challenged by this Pastor to tell more people about Jesus. It has been one of my favorite things I have seen on deputation.

Deputation is not broken. It works. I know it works. God has used deputation to build our support in two years and one week. Deputation is the process of selecting missionaries who will be sent as their substitute or agent to preach the Gospel on the foreign field. It is the process in which independent Baptist Churches send missionaries to the nations around the world. To a family sent out from their church, it is the process in which they travel to like-minded churches to share what God has called them to do, to raise support in order to reach the people God has put on their heart. Deputation seems to be something of a sore subject for some. I have heard from some men who say things like,  “Deputation is broken”, “Deputation doesn’t work”, or “There has to be a better way to get missionaries to the mission field.” I disagree with these statements. The truth is that deputation works as hard as the missionary does. I have a friend who is a missionary to Peru. He said the only people who complain about deputation are the ones who are not doing the work. Deputation not only works, it is also beneficial. Here are a few of the benefits I see in the deputation process that supports my proposal (deputation works).

• Deputation gets missionaries to the field. This is proven. We have Baptist missionaries in countries around the world that are proclaiming the Gospel, planting churches, and training men. Many of them got to the field through the deputation process.
• Deputation emphasizes the need around the world in local churches. There are churches in other denominations who do not have missionaries in. I have spoken to some Christians who say that they have never had a missionary in their church. They have never even seen a missionary before! This is tragic, because having missionaries in local churches allows followers of Jesus to see the need, it also gives them an opportunity to answer the missionaries plea, in helping get the Gospel to all people! I cannot state that only churches that have missionaries in on a regular basis send out their own missionaries, but I do believe a church that is consistently exposed to missionaries, world evangelism, and the need around the world as a whole and in specific places, will more likely see their own men called to the field.
• Deputation builds the missionary. On deputation, the missionary will be in some 250-300 churches. He and his family will see God move in wonderful ways. God’s moving and providing will build the missionary family’s faith. They will see God move in many churches. The missionary family will build up a network of praying brothers and sisters in Christ from churches around the country. The missionary will see God work in the hearts of believers who respond to God’s call to the mission field. This is no substitution for experience in serving in their own local church, but I do believe it helps the missionary family.

Please understand that I am not saying that deputation is the only way for missionaries to get to the mission field. I do believe deputation to be best way for missionaries to build their support and to effectively reach people, plant churches, and train men.

In the coming weeks, I will be posting on the subject of deputation. It is going to be a “How to” series. In the meantime, I recommend that you read “The Deputation Manual” by Austin Gardner and Tony Howeth. Here is a link.

My family and I have been on deputation going to Argentina as church planting missionaries for 23 months now. We have seen God build our support. As of this post, we are only 47 days away from our departure. We will be leaving for the field on March 24, 2016. With only 47 days left, I have a lot on my mind. My wife and I are taking our girls and moving to another country, where they will grow up. This is not a temporary thing, this is what we are doing with our lives! What goes through your mind when such a drastic change is about to take place? This is a new series of posts in which I will address what is on my mind.

Sorting, Selling, Storing, Giving, Packing.

Yes, packing is on my mind. Leslie and I have been married 11 years. It is amazing all we have accumulated in 11 years of marriage. We have a lot of sorting to do. Some things will be given away, others will be sold, a very small amount will be stored, and other things will be packed to go with us. We have a lot to do and a very limited time to do it. During the next 47 days, we have scheduled meetings with churches to continue to present what God is doing in our hearts. This is a good thing but it takes us away from our home, where we are sorting, selling, storing, giving away, and packing. In fact, as I am typing this post, I am in New York. So we truthfully don’t have 47 complete days to get all of this done. Please don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining at all. This is just one of those things that are on my mind (and on my wife’s mind too!). We will get it done. On March 23, everything will be sorted, sold, stored, given away, and packed. This is just one of the many things that are on our minds as we near the end of our deputation.

More is coming. Check back soon.

Deputation is coming to an end. We are currently 52 days away from our departure to Argentina. We have been in well over 200 churches. In these churches we have seen a lot of things. To close out deputation, I am starting a weekly blog series entitled, “My Favorite Things”. On deputation we have seen God move in many different churches. We have been in church plants, churches that are going through difficult times, churches that are thriving, churches that are attempting a resurgence, and churches that are somewhere in the midst of these situations. We’ve been in churches that had over 1,000 people in attendance and churches with two people in attendance. Regardless of the church’s state, we have seen God work. I will select some of my favorite things I have seen on deputation. I will not be mentioning specific names of churches or people, I will recount what these “favorite things” have been in a general way. Some of these posts will not be about one specific church, but may include several different churches. I hope it will be an encouragement to you.

For this post, my first “favorite thing” is discipleship. I came into church on a midweek service. I like to arrive an hour before service starts. Many times, I am the first one at the church. At this church there were already several people there. When we walked into the church, there were people sitting in several different places, in the auditorium, on a sofa in the hall, in classrooms, and I am sure in a few other places I didn’t see. The odd thing was that everyone was sitting by two’s. It was men with men and women with women. Upon further examination, I noticed that this was purposed. This church had a discipleship program with specific discipleship materials, and these people were each going through discipleship with one another. One person was teaching and the other person was learning. The person who was teaching had already been through the exact discipleship program. The person learning was taking it all in, asking questions, and discussing the topic at hand. I asked one of the church staff about it, and he told me this is something they have been doing for years. They all use the same curriculum, which was written by a member of the church. This discipleship also happened on other days as well, but the time before the midweek service seemed to be most convenient for many. It is a foundation laid on which a follower of Jesus will build.

What does this mean for a  church? It means that the church is healthy. People are being discipled on a one-on-one basis and then commissioned to disciple someone else. Discipleship is a command. Jesus gave the Great Commission, and in that commission He told the church to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matthew 28:18-20. Notice that Jesus said to “teach them whatsoever I have commanded you.” This is discipleship. Paul also encouraged Timothy to disciple others in 2 Timothy 2:2, “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” Paul challenged Timothy to disciple faithful men, who will in turn disciple others, and a cycle will continue forth.

I believe this is something I will not soon forget. Seeing that scene made me desire to see it in churches that will be planted in Argentina. Discipleship takes a lot of work, but it is mandated by the Bible, and the benefits that are reaped are well worth the effort and time that it takes. Seeing the act of discipleship is one of my favorite things I have seen on deputation!