TRAVELING WITH THE HELP OF MAP QUEST

Finding My Ministry Calling in a Calling Friendly Environment

The impact of the Wesleyans in 18th century Britain and 19th century America was the result of lay ministers. Parachurch ministry impact is largely the result of lay ministers. The church had its greatest success penetrating its culture during its first three hundred years primarily due to lay ministers. During that period the church had few resources and very few formally trained leaders. But it was full of rank and file people of passion. Probably no one has summed it up better than John Stackhouse:

“This, (the ministry impact that Christians had during the first three hundred years AD), was small time evangelism; no media campaigns, no tents, no stadiums, no choirs, no celebrity guests…scholars of the early church have concluded that the gospel spread so far, so fast, because of local initiative….

Similar stories fill volumes of church history… almost every (Christian) movement… began locally as gifted leaders and willing workers invested themselves in small but worthy projects.”

(Christianity Today April 27, 1994, pgs 34-35)

Our map quest reminds us to invest ourselves in the small,not the big. In life changing projects and people, not programs that simple fill up chairs and leave people untransformed. I am invested in less than twenty people and even then it is too many. I have seen change not from the stadiums I have spoken in, but the one on one...weekly Bible Studies and service projects.