Strategy

1. Wait for God to open doors. Human need, the wisdom of men and the tyranny of the urgent lure many away from God's will. Jesus walked only through the doors His Father opened to Him. "For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, who acts for the one who waits for Him" (Isaiah 64:4).

2. God will bring forth fruit if we persist. We are not a short-term mission organization. Our call is to generations. "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart" (Galations 6:9).

3. Work with like-minded believers. The Book of Acts, which provides the model for the house church movement, notes that "all who believed were together, and had all things in common..."(Acts 2:44). "All things" meant not only community property, but the fundamental beliefs of their faith. "Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?" (Amos 3:3).

4. The more laborers, the greater the harvest. Simple arithmetic. "Then He said to His disciples, The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest" (Matthew 9:37-38).

5. Partner with local believers who know the language and culture. Valuable time and resources are wasted acclimating Westerners to new cultures. Supporting and enabling national Christians to reach their own people is far more expedient, efficient and effective. "And many of the Samaritans of that city

believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, 'He told me all that I ever did.'" (John 4:39).

6. Set measurable goals. If you cannot quantify a task, how do you know when you've succeeded? "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it-lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish?'" (Luke 14:28-30).

1. Establish relationships with local Christian leaders in the field. If needed, provide financial support to enable them to devote their full time to ministry.

2. Train leaders in personal evangelism and in forming and leading home groups

3. Facilitate the "master-teacher" method by providing home groups with teaching and study materials, written and electronic, in their language.

4. Maintain regular contact with the national leader in his home and from the U.S.

5. Provide short term mission teams to help national and home group leaders carry out their strategy.

6. Enable financial supporters to visit ministry sites and become directly involved in the work.