Sending Missionaries is for Churches — Mike Allgyer — Ep. 042

Well, hello everybody, welcome back to another episode of Anabaptist Perspectives. I'm here with Mike Olgaier, who has worked with Destinations International, and it has a lot to do with sending people, um, into the, into ministry. How did you first get involved in going to helping to send people out so that they could make more disciples? We, uh, I was pastoring a church, uh, and we had a couple from our, uh, congregation that was, uh, serving under D&I. Mm-hmm. And, uh, so I was getting their information and, uh, seeing there was, uh, a request for, uh, people to help on the administrative team in member care.

And, uh, thought that at first was for me to pass on as a pastor. I would pass those kind of, and, uh, the Lord told me very clearly, "That's for you." I was not looking for something else to do, but God changed the calling and here we are. Yeah. And okay, so are you still a pastor now? No. You're not anymore? No. Okay. But you were at that point? At that point in time I was pastoring in Inner City Mission Church, yes. Okay. And so now you would serve on the administrative team with Destinations. Is that correct? Correct. Okay. Gotcha. Okay. Very good. And how long have you been in this new position? Uh, we are on our fifth year.

Fifth year. Okay. Couple of years now. Very good. For some people watching this, and I know for me, when, when I first heard your presentation, there were some new concepts here as far as churches being the sending agent for, for, for people going into ministry. Can you just elaborate more on that? Like, like what does that look like and, and what's the biblical basis for doing it that way as opposed to, say, some other model of someone going into service? I'm a very strong believer that when God calls an individual, um, to, uh, a work, uh, that it is an extension of the congregation, his home congregation, and, uh, that calling also needs to be also felt by the congregation.

And the congregation then sends, uh, those that are called. Uh, a very good biblical example of that we find in Acts 13, where Paul and Barnabas were, uh, called to go, uh, share the gospel among the Gentiles. It says that as the church was worshiping, the Holy Spirit spoke and then called out Paul and Barnabas to go. And then it says, as they prayed and fasted, that the church then laid hands on them and sent that. And that's really a beautiful concept when we think about that. Uh, the, the congregation sharing that call, and that's where we get the concept of it's an extension of the church. It's removing the, the individualistic mindset that some people might have when going into ministry, like, "Oh, I'm just going to go do this."

And it's so important, uh, for that, uh, to be in tune, the church being in tune with the calling. Mm-hmm. Or even sometimes the church does the calling and sending. Oh, interesting. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh, when there's opportunities, it's, it's, it's that of finding gifts and talents that the Lord gives each individual. Mm-hmm. Uh, and it's a, it's a beautiful thing when that can really work together. So I'm, I'm pretty sure there's probably someone watching this or listening to this whose church is, is considering sending someone, or there's someone from their church that's wanting to go. What would you say are some first steps that a home congregation can take in getting involved in that process and in actually sending that person?

Where, where, where should they begin? The person that feels called or the couple that feels called need to share that calling. They need to share that calling with their leadership team. And then as the leadership team processes that with that person or couple, and it should be presented early on so that the body of believers can be praying about this and hearing the Holy Spirit. It's that of, of really a working together. And, and that's how it becomes an extension of the, of the congregation. That, that goes really well with the next question then, because what responsibility does the person who sent or, or the missionary, what responsibility do they have to their home congregation then?

Those that are sent, uh, obviously need to be in tune with the senders, the home congregation, and the senders need to be in tune with those that they send. Uh, it's a, it's a two-way communication and it needs to start early on. It's very clear in the scriptures that God gives each one of us gifts and talents for the edification of the body. It's that of working together in God's kingdom. Yeah. And, you know, and that can be really hard though, can't it? Because if you have someone on the other side of the world and, and maybe a small congregation who doesn't really understand all, all of the things that they're facing, I guess it's probably, it's gotta be a two-way street though, right?

With, with, with them coming, you know, contacting home and home-based contacting them and yeah. Absolutely. And when we look at that account there in Acts 13, uh, it says that Paul and Barnabas, when they came back, shared and rehearsed of all that God has done. Today we live in an age of technology and we, we have instant, uh, I mean, many different platforms that we use, uh, instant communication around the world. And we don't have to wait till we come back to rehearse all that God has done. Oh, it's good to do that when, when the person does come back in everyday life. And it keeps those that send them in tune with what God is doing.

Yeah. Because what can happen is then you have, like you're saying, this is an extension of your congregation, but then they might feel like the congregation's here doing their thing and living their lives. And I'm way out here on a limb somewhere and I have no idea what's, what's even going on back there. That, that can't be a good feeling. No.

And, and again, that's a two-way street. Mm-hmm. Even those that sent need to communicate with the sender. What's happening? Mm-hmm. And that's beautiful when that can happen. One that I've seen some with, because I've been involved with a lot of organizations, is when you have someone who's been serving in, you know, whatever it is that they might be doing on the field, they come home and they're just kind of plopped back into normal life again. So we were talking about all this responsibility for sending people, staying engaged while they're gone. But what happens when that person comes home then? What should the church's role be in that? The church needs to take care of that person or persons when they return, even a family, to think about the children, to make those adjustments.

And it depends on where they were serving. It's, it's sad when we see, uh, a congregation, uh, almost expect a returned missionary to just fall right in place immediately. Mm-hmm. Uh, when there's so many cultural changes, so many different types of stresses, if the sending congregation isn't in tune with that, it even adds more stress. So it's a huge responsibility. But a lot of just awareness of what they're doing when they come back. Well, I, I, I'm pretty confident in this. It's not that churches don't care, you know, it's not that people don't care about when a missionary comes back. But I wonder, I just, I just don't think people really know, you know, what, what it's like, like what that person's going through.

And that would be challenging, I guess, for, for your church to understand what this person's doing when they come home. Yes. But if they have been good senders, they're in tune. That's true. That is very true. You know, the work, the work doesn't start and neither does the work stop when they return from the assignment. Mm-hmm.

It's, it continues on. If they didn't do a good job in staying in tune and really helping them as they sent them, they're not going to do a good job when they return. Yeah. Because that's not where they're going to start. It needs to happen long before that. Yeah. That makes, that makes very good sense. And I, I think that's one that can be easy to forget because they're like, "Oh, they're, they're back home now. You know, we don't need to be, we just see them in church. Everything's normal again." But it's, it's not, you know, like I, in your presentation, you mentioned how if you're gone in a foreign country for, you know, five years or something and you return home, how much has changed in your church in five years?

That's a lot of change can happen in five years. And that person's going to feel like they're trying to grab gears to catch up and they just, I can't feel good. You know, just think when they left, it was a certain way to come back three years later, as with D&I, and just think about how much change happens in three years. Mm-hmm. Uh, again, that can be cushioned by continuous communication. It doesn't start when they return.

That's a bad time to start. Yeah. Yeah. That makes, that makes really good sense. If it didn't happen while they were on the field, it's not going to happen when they return. Yeah. Yeah. And again, I, I, I really think a lot of cases it's that the church just doesn't even, doesn't really think about it. Exactly. You know, I mean, I was talking to Joel when his family returned from Grenada after I think it was eight years or six years. And he said it was just brutal. And it's not like their church didn't care. It's just they, you know, they just didn't really realize what all those struggles would be and what all was needed for a family like that adjusting back into, you know, life at, at home.

But, but where's home here or where they came from? It's just very confusing for those people. And don't neglect the children. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. When the children aren't happy, mom is not happy. When mom is not happy, nobody's happy.

Yeah. So what, what advice would you give to someone who feels very strongly that they're called to go serve in another country or with a different people group and do maybe, especially in a case where they want to go long term, but their church doesn't really share that, doesn't share the vision and say, "No, we're, we're not really interested in you doing that." I've worked with a lot of people that felt called. I've seen a lot of bad experiences with people that feel called and that calling isn't shared. At that point, it takes some real number one inner reflection. How do I process that call?

Uh, what is God, what is God's timing in that call? And maybe God's timing is different than my time. And when we get a call from the Lord, we get all excited about it and we're ready to go.

Yeah. But there may be a lot of preparation. I've known people that felt a call that, that called and actually materialized till maybe 10 years later. We have to, inner reflection, we have to be very careful. Mm-hmm. Uh, we don't want to run ahead of God, but neither do we want to lag behind him. Mm-hmm. To be in step with, with the Lord. Would you say it's not an option to send someone if they don't have a home church that's behind them? Or, or where, where do you draw the line there? Like, yeah, I know this, yeah, this gets, this gets really complicated. I know there's a lot of different opinions on this, but I'm, I'm really curious.

What, what would you do? I think D&I's policy is they won't do that. Am I right on that? Uh, we don't have a hard policy on that, but, uh, we like to see that happen. We really want the congregation's blessing to serve. Yeah. And I mean, and that's a valuable thing, you know, when that person's on the field knowing that their church has blessed this and it's behind them and is praying for them, that's worth a lot. Absolutely. Yeah. It's, it's really needed. Mm-hmm. Uh, to take care of those that are sent. So would you say there, there would perhaps be times though where you would send someone whose home church isn't necessarily going to send them?

I may, maybe I should, you don't have to answer that, but it is very challenging. Um, or should maybe that church person consider going to another church that would be willing? Um, and that again, that gets very sticky. Um, yes, it does. Yeah. You know, and maybe there isn't, I know, I'm sure there's not cut and dried answers on this. No, there's not cut and dried answers on that. Proceed with caution. Try to discern, uh, what is happening. Mm-hmm. Uh, why isn't the calling affirmed? Mm-hmm. How strong is the calling that the person has? Mm-hmm. Uh, is it the right timing? Uh, is the congregation in tune? Are they a congregation of really worshiping the Lord, praying, praying and fasting?

Are they seeking, uh, after the Lord? Are they entrenched in everyday life and just life is just happening and it's not thriving? Because there, there, there, there's a reason. You know, there's a reason somewhere and it's worth trying to discern what that is. Absolutely. Well, very good. Very good. Um, I think we'll, I think we'll call that a wrap. So thank you all for watching and listening and come back each week for more content like this. If you have questions for Mike or something we said, maybe, uh, piqued your curiosity, leave a comment, uh, let us know what you think. Feel free to email us and come back for more material like this each week.

Thanks again for watching. We will see you in the next video.