![]() There are at least three basic principles of any good mission and/or ministry strategy plan. We will avoid many pitfalls of mission and ministry work when we are guided by these basic principles. In short, the three principles are N. I. R. In order to develop a highly affective mission and ministry strategy plan, we must be N. I. R. (near) sighted, so to speak. In other words, we need to filter all goals, activities, and action plans through the N. I. R. Principles. The third letter of the N. I. R. principles is "R", which stands for reproducibility. When we apply the principle of reproducibility to ministry and missions, we see its potential impact. Consider this principle in relation to fulfilling the Great Commission to make disciples. Here are several examples. The first example is a short list demonstrating a chain of reproducible influence from one generation to the next.
Second, consider a contemporary example from the life of a missionary in Africa. The way in which we influence others is the way in which we should expect them to imitate our actions. For example, some years ago a cross-cultural missionary told me that during his first term in Africa he had trained six men to start six new churches in communities which had no Gospel witness. Before he returned to the United States for furlough, he asked each man to start a new church in one of the surrounding villages during his absence. The missionary left for the United States believing that he had effectively equipped six church planters. A year later when the missionary returned he expected to find six new churches. Yet to his frustration he found that his six disciples had not even started one new church, much less six. When asked why there was not even one new church, they replied, "We're not able to start new churches." The missionary was perplexed since he had poured his life into theirs. He asked why they couldn't start a new church since he had personally taught them step-by-step how to do it. The six men told him that they did not have an overhead projector. The missionary asked what an overhead projector had to do with starting churches. Their reply is very enlightening when we consider the principle of reproducibility. Since the missionary had modeled his church planting efforts by using an overhead projector, (something not indigenous to their way of life - principle two), the six men determined that in order to start a new church they must also have an overhead projector. All six men determined in the equipping process with the missionary that certain items were necessary to accomplish their specific mission objective of starting new churches. When the missionary did not provide each man with an overhead projector, in their thinking, they were handicapped and could not reach the next village with the Gospel. Third, consider other contemporary examples of the principle of reproducibility. We must begin with the end in mind by asking ourselves, "What type of Christ follower will be produced if we continue to do what we are currently doing?" While serving as a missionary in Venezuela, I was trained by the International Mission Board to begin with the end in mind or to end-vision (not en-vision) all of our mission efforts. As we wrote a multi-year and multi-faceted master plan for our mission efforts in Venezuela, we used a list of questions as a guide. Such a tool was very effective in keeping me on course to accomplish what I knew God wanted. Through equipping national leaders, we started 15 new churches in 18 months using reproducible methods. Several years later I served as a professor at the Seminario Teológico Bautista de México located in Lomas Verdes area of Satélite in Mexico City. During my time there I was part of the small committee that evaluated the curriculum and student outcomes for each of the four years of study. The main question the committee sought to answer was, "At the end of the first (second, etc.) year of study, what do we want the student to know and to be able to do?" In other words, "What do we want them to reproduce?" We evaluated all four years of theological study based on how we answered that question. The end result was a four-year curriculum that was more focused on equipping ministers who were better able to meet the challenges of their urban context. Too many times in our mission and ministry efforts, we model the wrong example. We should base our missions and ministry efforts on what we know to be the correct end result. As we invest our lives into the lives of others, we need to be cognizant of the next generation and the type of disciple that is produced. The old proverb, "don't do as I do but do as I say" does not apply here. We should follow Paul's advice when he said, "Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ." (1 Cor. 11:1) Let's become N. I. R. (near) sighted in our missions and ministry efforts and apply the principles of non-dependency, indigeneity, and reproducibility to every thing we do.
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