Oops!
Oops, my bad, I goofed, I got off course, I'm sorry, please forgive me, I'm gonna get it right! If we don't use these terms on a regular basis, something is wrong. Yes, something is wrong when we use them, but, what I I'm saying is that when we don't, something is big-time wrong!
PBPGINFWMY. "Please be Patient God Is Not Finished with Me yet" was part of a major evangelism project Ginny and I participated in long ago. We were using verses like "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God!" and "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 3:23 & 6.23) in our presentation of the Gospel. PBPGINFWMY was just to let the people we were saving know, that we were mess ups and sinners too; just Found, Saved, and Forgiven ones. And, yes, I know we weren't saving anyone, God reserves that delicate procedure for himself - thankfully.
Have you ever been lost or gotten off course? Well, that happens in ministries, too. "Oops, our bad, we goofed, we got off course, we're sorry, please forgive us, we're gonna get it right! No, no, no this is not an apology - I just wanted to let you know that at ITEC, while we are susceptible to making mistakes, we are intentional to check our course to make sure we are following the original vision of training and empowering indigenous Christ followers.
When people tell us why they give their time, interest, and money to ITEC, they don't ever say, "because you're another ministry just like other ministries we are supporting." They almost always say something like, "We finally get it. If we don't train and equip Christ followers on the front lines, we realize the great commission will never be finished." Remember President Ronald Reagan saying, "... Teach a man to fish". Jesus coined the concept and called it "DISCIPLESHIP". Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's would have called it "FRANCHISING".
This is ITEC's PRIMARY DISTINCTIVE! We are in the Training Business. Actually, we are in the trainer training business!
Many of our other distinctives are in what we "DON'T DO" rather then what we do.
- We don't do everything for everybody forever.
- We don't just train "them" to do "It". Our ultimate goal is for "them" to be able to train others, too!
- We don't train them where it is convenient for us, we train them where it is convenient for them.
- We don't use the popular Universal Training method - trying to teach them everything about everything for a very long time. We use a focused training method, where we teach only essential information.
- We don't use long training sessions that require working people, subsistence farmers, and hunter gatherers to abandon home and family for a long period of time. We use intensive training methods in short bursts.
- We don't spend much time in the classroom. Most of our training is in a hurting mouth, on an ailing body, in front of precious eyes, on a chain saw or generator with tools in hand, in the cockpit, shooting and editing a video, programming a UAV or building an aircraft, fixing a car or making their own sales pitch because without business as ministry most of "Them" would be here in the West looking for funding. Real DISCIPLESHIP happens when the reins are in their hands rather than ours.
- We don't, if we can possibly help it, use words in our training videos. Words have to be translated into hundreds, even thousands, of different languages - many of which languages would have to borrow terms like straight, torque, sterile, angle of attack etc etc, from other languages because the concept has never been part of their culture.
- We don't very often teach the Bible because many other ministries do that but need our help to give indigenous Bible teachers, evangelists and spiritual disciplers they have trained - the legs, wheels and wings to empower them to go where the Gospel hasn't gone.
- We don't give technical training without partnering with an Indigenous Church, or a local ministry that is giving the Bible training.
- We DO design every course so that the student who stays on the front lines when we go home, can start using his or her new skills to open doors, multiply efforts and break down barriers to the Gospel.
Give Where Needed Most