We have been talking about how a church’s mission program can include adopting an unreached people group. (To see the first article, CLICK HERE) Following are at least five stages to consider.

The first stage is to develop a vision for church planting among a specific people. It must be proclaimed, taught, and nurtured by church leadership. It starts with the pastor being the example. Excitement will come when everyone is on the same page and begins to focus their financial, personnel and energy resources to reach a particular people group. There are three key parts to this first stage:

1. Prayer – The entire church must seek God’s will for this plan. They must know this plan comes from God and move beyond what Jesus can do for me to “We’ve a story to tell to the nations.” 
2. Mission Education – Seek to understand God’s overall mission on earth by studying the Biblical mandate, the history of missions, and the progress of world evangelization.
3. Mission trips – Valuable first-hand information is gained when seeking God’s direction for reaching a specific people.

The second stage puts to work the information-gathering and the experiences during the first stage. You need to do two things in this stage.

1. The pastor and staff must sense that this is part of God’s call upon the church. It must be led and encouraged by them for others to participate.
2. A counting of the cost – What is being considered here is an aggressive thrust into enemy territory in obedience to the Great Commission. The stakes are high, and one cannot assume that there will be no losses from a human perspective. The church, led by its pastor, must depend upon the Lord for strength, protection, and provision in whatever the task requires.

In the third stage, you do the strategic planning, largely based on asking questions:

1. What are the opportunities among our targeted people group? What are their real and felt needs? What about their health, education, and business skills? Do they know English? How do we live among them? Do any of them live in our own home city? Might we begin ministering among them here?
2. What are the strengths of our church? What spiritual gifts predominate in our church? What areas of vocational expertise prevail among us?
3. What are the threats to this mission? What might derail us? What are the political realities, economic factors and vulnerabilities? Where might the enemy’s attack be directed among us?
4. What areas of our church will need help from others? Can the BBFI Mission Office help us? With which other churches could we partner?

The fourth stage focuses on the people — identifying, training, and using personnel capable of implementing the strategic plan. Training and equipping those who will be central to the initiative at home is as vital as training those who go. Training is an on-going process that spans the life of the initiative and is strongly connected to the overall success. Do we have businesspeople working in that country or region we can train for ministry? The fact is that God loves to use “ordinary people,” and every believer can play a significant role in world evangelization. Important areas where training is a must:

• The spiritual life of each participant.
• Equipping those who go and those who support back home.
• Teamwork.
• Understanding cross-cultural ministry.
• Church planting on the foreign field.
• Cross-cultural adaptation.
• Research of your people group.

In the fifth stage we begin the actual work of establishing an effective ministry among the target people group. This stage continues until a church planting movement is established, or until God leads otherwise. The goal during this stage is maintaining focus and commitment over long periods of time. It can be a challenging process. There are three ways to engage:

1. Send your own church planting team who have been fully trained for the task.
2. Send some of your members as part of another church planting team, partnering with another BBFI-affiliated church to a specific people group.
3. Provide practical support to a church planting initiative already underway by a BBFI missionary.

Finally, consider that additional personnel might be needed. As the initiative matures, a different type of support and skill set may be required. The training process can be ongoing, with new team members continually in preparation. Pastoral care for long-term field personnel is critical. Living and ministering internationally for months and years is very demanding spiritually, emotionally, and physically. The strains on family life are intense. Being able to deliver that care highlights the level of commitment required by the whole church.

The BBFI Mission Office is ready and capable to partner with you in the process of starting church planting movements among unreached people groups anywhere in the world. Remember as well that this information can be used by foreign BBFI-affiliated churches, not just those in the USA. Adopting a people group is an additional way to involve your church practically in world missions. We look forward to assisting you as you fulfill the Great Commission.