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Canadian Editorial

David W. Smith, Executive Director, ABWE Canada

The population of the world is approaching 6.6 billion and is estimated to grow to 8 billion by the end of the next quarter century. As the church of God continues to grow, the demand for leaders is compounded. We are dreaming if we think that western missionaries could meet the need for trained leaders. This work has to be shared with our brothers and sisters of every people group.

God has promised that He will equip the church with all the gifts it needs to function efficiently, so where are the leaders? Potential leaders are there, but it is our responsibility to find and train them so that they can take over the ministry when the missionary leaves for the next area of need. Without strong national leadership, either our missionaries will have to stay longer than necessary or the weak church will be attacked by wolves in sheep’s clothing.

The Apostle Paul had an excellent exit strategy, which he outlined in 2 Timothy 2:2. Paul taught Timothy, and then Timothy taught faithful men who were able to teach others. The teaching chain is to continue until Christ returns, but the message always remains the same. The early church turned the world upside down by following this strategy.

Missionaries should always be working themselves out of a job; therefore, they need to have an exit strategy from the very beginning. Indigenous leaders need to be identified, trained, and empowered to take over the work, or better yet, they should be involved in the leadership from the very beginning.

All of our ABWE Canada missionaries are involved in leadership development. On some fields, leadership training is our major focus. John and Yvonne Baab teach in the Bahia Regular Baptist Bible College. Tim and Jane Bahula are leading the Baptist Seminary of the West Indies. Earl and Kathi Cooper teach pastors and leaders in West Africa, and John and Jackie Taylor lead the Church Ministries Institute in the Ukraine. On other fields, discipleship and teacher training are an integral part of all of our church plants.

ABWE’s vision is to start church-planting movements, that will produce missions movements for the glory of God. This cannot be accomplished by either Western missionaries or indigenous leaders. It has to be a shared partnership. As we work together toward this goal, the world can again be turned upside down by God’s grace.