We All Have a Role to Play

Recently, a team from ITEC traveled to Minnesota at the invitation of a local church to equip believers with practical skills that can open doors for the gospel. Farming, mechanical, eyesight, and film EQUIP trainings took place simultaneously on the church’s campus.

It was an amazing time of connection as we stayed in the homes of church members and got to know them on a deeper level. Many had already visited ITEC in Florida, and this weekend gave us an opportunity to build on those relationships.

The purpose of this EQUIP weekend was not to fully prepare participants to conduct trainings on their own. It was a step toward helping them contribute on future training trips. Serving in another country involves much more than knowing a skill. Adapting to another culture, working through translators, eating unfamiliar foods, and dealing with jet lag all add to the challenges of training trips.

A classroom setting cannot fully prepare someone for those realities. But we talk through them so that church members are better prepared to serve alongside indigenous Christ followers in their own country.

Where do skills come in?

Each ITEC training leader walked through training aids, manuals, presentations, and class management, while practicing as many practical skills as our short time together allowed. They also discussed how to prepare an indigenous church leader to partner in training other leaders, pastors, and evangelists.

The goal of EQUIP is to help a church use its skills to equip others. Many of us in North America have spent years developing skills through our careers and everyday lives. Those skills can be a blessing to indigenous Christ followers in their ministry efforts around the globe.

ITEC’s philosophy is to empower indigenous Christ followers to be the heroes. Passionate Christ followers in difficult contexts are already doing the work. We come alongside them to pass on practical skills that can support their ministry and create open doors to share the gospel.

In the coming months, many of the Minnesota trainees will partner with ITEC to train indigenous Christ-followers, pastors, and church planters who have the desire and opportunity to take the gospel where we cannot.

If traveling and training are so challenging, why do it? We do it because it multiplies the reach of the gospel. We train because these Christ followers are fully capable of using skills as door openers to share the gospel. We train because they can continue the work of discipleship long after we return home. And we train because there is no “us” and “them.” We are one body. The global church has been given the Great Commission, and we all have a role to play.

On our final day together, two missionaries—one serving in South America and one in Asia—reviewed the eyesight training. Both affirmed the need for practical skills in their ministry settings.

“In these communist settings that we are working in, this is exactly how we need to reach the lost. We must have something to bring that gets us close so that we can begin to build bridges and relationships. It is then that we can begin to share our faith and our lives with them,” said the missionary serving in Asia. The missionary serving in South America told us, “I have hundreds of people in the Amazon area that we are working with to go and evangelize other tribes deep in the jungle. Skills are what we need to make inroads and make an impact.”

This is why we train. Training is empowering for those who live among the unreached.

What skills could you use to help open doors for the gospel? If your church is interested in preparing a team to serve alongside indigenous Christ followers, please visit us at itecusa.org to learn more about EQUIP opportunities. Please pray with us, too, for the Minnesota team and the Christ followers they will partner with.