The Plan
The following is the Reese family's mission strategy as it was
expressed on December 3, 2000. The Williams family's strategy is similar to and
in harmony with this one.
Goals for years 1 and 2: Building a Solid Foundation
I. Prepare ourselves for effective service.
A. Learn to speak Tawala, the most common tribal language around Alotau.
1. Spend a few days each week in monolingual villages.
2. Volunteer to serve in situations where Tawala is spoken.
3. Spend time studying and practicing with language helpers.
B. Learn to act in culturally appropriate ways.
1. Ask people about topics that are brought up in books on missiology.
2. Seek to understand the rationale behind customs that seem strange.
3. Seek to discover the foundational principles of the culture.
4. Pay special attention to etiquette expected of newcomers.
C. Grow in personal faith.
1. E-mail Christian advisors.
2. Solicit prayers and encouragement from supporters.
3. Pray and study Bible with team and individually.
II. Begin a culturally appropriate church.
A. Collect pertinent cultural information.
1. Read the Bible with local people, asking them to respond to it.
2. Ask people about customs associated with major life transitions.
3. Ask people about local myths, legends, proverbs, songs, etc.
4. Observe local customs that parallel church functions.
5. Ask people about and observe felt needs (fears, hopes, values, etc.).
B. Develop culturally appropriate worship services.
1. Format meetings according to local needs and preferences.
2. Sing traditional and/or popular style songs.
3. Encourage local people to lead and to help make decisions.
4. Teach the Bible in a way that meets local needs.
C. Use culture learning as an opportunity for evangelism.
1. Ask people to help us see the Bible through their eyes .
2. Show people God's love through acts of service.
3. As relationships develop, pray with people and share faith.
III. Lay the groundwork for growing in years 3 and 4.
A. Develop many relationships, especially with community leaders.
B. Observe local teaching and learning styles.
C. Earn a reputation of caring for people through service.
D. Develop culture-sensitive curriculum that will lead people to Christ.
E. Seek to discover local church growth principles.
F. Teach and equip Christians to be evangelistic.
Goals for years 3 and 4: Quantitative and Qualitative Growth
I. Evangelize in Alotau with emphasis on community leaders.
II. Give new Christians a solid grounding in Scripture.
A. Help them to understand the Bible story as a whole.
B. Teach them how to interpret Scripture for themselves.
C. Teach them to apply biblical principles in their own lives.
III. Help new Christians to critique their own customs to avoid syncretism.
IV. Help new Christians to evangelize.
Goals for years 5 and 6: Equipping Local Church Leadership
I. Train emerging leaders in Alotau.
II. Encourage local leaders to do more of the leading and teaching.
III. Help local Christians to reach out to nearby Tawala villages.
Goals for years 7 and 8: Establishing Missionary Program
I. Help local missionaries to plant village churches elsewhere in province.
II. Help church in Alotau to appoint elders.
III. Train elders and leaders to train other leaders.
Goals for years 9 and 10: Making Milne Bay Churches Independent
I. Observe and advise local leadership in Alotau.
II. Help train leaders in village churches.
III. Help the Alotau church to take full responsibility for missionary program.
A Special Challenge
Milne Bay has more than thirty distinct languages, so it presents a
unique challenge for missionaries. We do not want to spend all our time learning one
language after another. Our plan, therefore, is to cultivate a strong church in the
provincial capital, Alotau. People from many tribes come there to find work and do
business. Those who become Christians can then take the Gospel back to their home areas,
since they already know those languages. The most common trade language in Alotau
is English, so that will be one of the church languages. However, we also need to
learn the language of the closest tribe, Tawala, in order to be able to
communicate with the many local people who speak no English. If possible, we would also like to
start at least one Tawala village church so that the local missionaries can learn from our
mistakes and successes as they go out to plant other village churches. This is
desirable because the dynamics of village churches will be quite different than those of the
central Alotau church.
Dependence on God
One element of our approach that is not reflected above is prayer. We
must always depend on God. And ultimately, all mission work is His work. He will
do it, with or without us, according to His own plans.
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