Rich Kao

Your team is everything.  Jesus, the Great Apostle (church planter) (Heb 3:1) spent the entire night in prayer picking his core team (Lk 6:12).  Arguably, outside of Jesus dying on the cross, this was the MOST CRUCIAL decision Jesus made on earth.  Who he surrounded himself with, who would carry the load with him, and ultimately who would carry on the work was of the HIGHEST importance.  As John Maxell likes to say, "Teamwork makes the dream work."  Indeed, your dream, your vision rises and falls largely on the people you will pick to minister with you.  They must have your heart and your DNA.   It doesn't mean they are "yes" men or copycats.  On the contrary; diversity in the team lifts it.  But in terms of the inner fire, passion, and attitude, there must be a kindred spirit, and spirit of unity.  Timothy was such a man for Paul (Phil 2:19-23).  And such were the apostles to Jesus.  Additionally, I like to point out that half of the apostles were related by birth, profession or home town.  In otherwords, Jesus also put a premium on how the team would work together.  Being able to laugh, cry, have fun and die together as a team is one of the greatest joys on earth (think "band of brothers").  It is one of the most crucial things to weigh in building your team.  Who you take on the journey is as important as what the journey is.

So how do you go about picking your staff, your core team, those that will build with you?  That's what would be discussed in my bootcamp, which includes readings from Guy Kawasaki, Jim Collins, Jack Welsh, all wrapped and applied through a biblical grid.  But here are a few key points:

> Do do your due diligence. Past performance is a indicator of future potential.  If there's one point the guru's agree on, it's this one, and from my experience I would agree.

> Deciding who should be on your team in church planting is HUGELY about prayer, prophetic guidance and whom God brings.  In otherwords, there is a sovereign aspect which can't be reproduced by human methodology; because God is invested in you to extend His kingdom, he also supernaturally supplies the right people to work with you.  This is part of the miracle and thrill of church planting.

> In the best sense of the word, you have to have a recruiting eye, and a recruiting gear.  You must have a passion to build a team that will change the world.

> Vision, vision, vision.  Find your voice.  Find your stride.  Find what hill you would die on.  Then go and take that vision to the world.   It will create a passion in you that great people will be attracted to.

> Choosing the right people is an art not a science.  No one gets it perfect every time; not even companies that can invest millions on recruitment, testing and training.  In the end, some will exceed your expectations, and some will fail.   But hopefully, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can minimize the mistakes.

> Besides finding the right people, there must also be a committment to develop your leaders.  This is a whole subset of this second "P" -- leadership development.  Like Jesus, you must have a heart to mentor, grow, equip and release your team.  Infect them, and then let them do better and go farther than you. 

Over the course of the next few months, time permitting, I'm going to outline the 7 "P's" of church planting (i.e. as I've experienced it from my corner of the world).  This is actually a framework for a more robust training, but at least this will give you an overview of the key points. 

The first "P" of church planting is PERSEVERANCE.  I start with this one, because this is the most important one.  No matter how talented, gifted you might be as a planter, you must have this quality.  The prize goes to the tortoise, not the hare.  The crown goes to the marathoner, not the sprinter.

Every person that is called to plant a church must have a gift of perseverance.  Paul couldn't have said it more clearly, "The things that mark an apostle (church planter) --signs, wonders and miracles--were done among you with great perseverance."  2 Cor. 12:12.  Without persistance and divine determination a church cannot be established.  The energy, effort, and emotion it takes to start an "outpost of heaven" is truly great -- at times even monumental -- and it can only had by a passion born of God.  This perseverance does not come by "gritting of teeth," "really wanting it," or "pulling up ones bootstraps."  It is born of a call from God.  Every church planter must know he is called or else the requisite faith will not be there to take you through the low times, dark times and discouraging times.  This perseverance is an act of grace, whereby God shares a portion of his supernatural love and passion for a people and a place so the people you serve might become passionate followers of Jesus.

The ability to weather spiritual warfare, financial pressures, revolving visitors, changing venues, finding right workers, counseling, legal compliances, praying, preaching, people's complaints, personal sense of inadequacy, outreach, creating discipleship systems, learning languages, cultural issues, lonliness and more, not to mention the various cycles of mistakes that inevitably take place, and trying to keep a healthy family life, can only be accomplished by a sure call from God.

But when the call is sure, and the grace is present, there's nothing like the strength and enablement that comes from God.  Like Moses, who's "eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated (Deut. 34:7)", when God grants the privilege of helping a people come into their promise land, there can be nothing sweeter.

In Part 1, I described the angst I had in realizing I wasn't gifted as an evangelist, and then my subsequent discovery that "it's ok" that I'm not; I may not be a evangelist but I can sure do the "work of one." 2 Tim 4:5.

So how am I doing that?  Here's my run at it....

1)  Start a church!  Yeah, that's right.  If you want to serve ice cream, start a ice cream shop (or at least make a bucket of it).  This way, those who want ice cream know to come to "your place."  It's been said the greatest evangelistic strategy is starting new churches.  If that is true, then I'm in statistical good standing. No guarantee of success, but certainly increasing my chances.

2) In starting a church, you can serve bad ice cream or good ice cream.  Obviously we want to serve the good stuff.  Hence I work hard at speaking, communicating, preaching.  Yes, there are "bad batches," but hopefully the good ones outweigh the bad ones. 

3) Hire a great staff.  If the ice cream isn't good, at least hire good people to serve it!  One of my great joys has been hiring great people to be part of our team.  If I can't "get 'em" myself, than maybe a group hug will work. 

4) "Build it and they will come."  Vancouver is a tough place for "ice cream" shops.  They just don't let you build church buildings or develop church property easily.  Not much land, and expensive to build.  But we're honing in on a place we can lease that will be just like "home."  We think it'll be a winner, and help people find Jesus to be the highest of all delights.

5) Take your ice cream to the streets.  Maybe people don't know where you're located, or don't come to your shop like they're suppose to; well then we can take it to them.  We have on-going activities that reach out to the homeless, refugee families, and muslim kids. We like to do small things with great love.  Sandwhiches, mittens, and bikes show God's love in a practical way.  We're looking at providing after-school tutoring, french language assistance, art events, documentary features at a local restaurant, and more. 

Results: Well, we're haven't taken over the city yet, but we're working on it.  With so many other delights in the city...it's a crowded market.  But we're confident Jesus will become the biggest hit. 

It's a privilege for me to plant a church.  Evangelism is about sowing and reaping.  The gifted in evangelism seem to experience the reaping side as a norm.  For those of us doing the work of the evangelist, our norm seems to be the sowing side.  But I see planting a church as building a community, an atmophere & environment, creating a "city within a city," all which is like a big net.  It takes awhile to build it, but in due season, our haul will come.  We've caught some fishes already, but we're anxious for more.  (Luke 5:4-6).  I may not be an evangelist, but I enjoy doing the work of one.

Ever since I became a Christian at 17 yrs old, people like Billy Graham, David Wilkerson, Reinhard Bonnke and lesser known evangelists have been heroes to me.  To me, the ability to be a "soul winner" was the ultimate in Christiandom; to have the privilege to lead someone to Jesus, to help them step into eternal life, and help them step into their destiny; what could be better??  Indeed, in my own life, I've had the privilege of helping several dozen people come to Christ.  Each time the feeling of awe is the same.  It is truly priceless.

Yet despite some moderate "success," I found something disconcerting along the way.  I really don't have a gifting in evangelism.  It doesn't come easy to me like math and push-ups.  I have to really work at it, and even when I work at it, it doesn't always "work."  For the longest time, this was hard for me to accept because I have such a high view of soul-winning (and still do; I sigh with envy at people that can turn a conversation at the drugstore into a "Let's pray" moment).

But then I read Paul's words to Timothy, his protege. "Be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."  2Ti 4:5.  In a moments time, my "worldview of evangelism" changed; I was comforted, relieved and invigorated.

Timothy, it seems was not the evangelist that Paul was.  Paul was this gospel machine, planting churches, igniting revival and turning the world upside down where ever he went. Acts 17:6.  Timothy, however, did not seem to have the same gifting; he didn't have that same "gear."  But how did Paul address this situation?  He didn't condemn, nor lay a "heavy" on Timothy.  He didn't tell him to become an evangelist; rather he encouraged Timothy to do the "work of an evangelist."  A masterful bit of pastoring by Paul and a genius turn of phrase.  In that short phrase ("do the work of an evangelist," as opposed to "be an evangelist"), Paul did several crucial things. 1) He released Timothy from any guilt or condemnation that he wasn't this amazing soul winner. 2) Paul recognized that not everyone is gifted in this area; i.e. Paul did not project his gifting on to Timothy and unnecessarily make Timothy feel like he should become something he couldn't. 3) Yet, Paul was able to encourage Timothy to "win souls" by re-contextualizing the assignment; not as one gifted in this area, but as one that can do the work of a gifted one.

What a joy this is.  If we're not an evangelist by gifting or calling, don't sweat it.  God doesn't expect blood from a turnip.  But we can still do the work of an evangelist and partake in the evangelist's bounty.  In otherwords, I don't have to feel this "inner pressure" to be something I'm not or can't be.  That's a life-changing realization, and a liberating one.  Just because you're not a pro, doesn't mean you can't enjoy golfing.  Go enjoy golfing.  Knock in a few birdies, maybe an eagle.  Your score still counts with God. 

Part 2:  How I'm doing the work of an evangelist.