January 01, 1993 by Rick Wood

An Example Of What One Committed Lay-Person Can Do To Change the World

This is the story of the impact one individual and a large church can make when they seriously set their hearts and minds on the task of reaching the unreached. This is not to say that everything this church has done should or could be copied by other churches.

This is a true story concerning a real church that most Christians would recognize. The names of the church, people involved, the ethnic group targeted and its location have all been changed for security reasons. The events described actually happened. We apologize for this inconvenience but the importance of the example this church has set stands undiminished.

It is our hope that the example of this large church will encourage thousands of churches around the world to adopt-a-people. Contact the Adopt-A-People Clearinghouse for more information. --Editor

The First Church of Pleasanton, OH, pastored by a well known pastor has adopted the Rara* people of South America. The Pleasanton church is leading the way by setting an example for fellow churches to study and adapt to their own situation. I believe that we can learn from their efforts as the world-wide church works to implement the Adopt-A- People strategy in practical ways. This is the story of their experience.

The Seeds Are Planted

It all began with the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course. You've seen it advertised in this magazine and many have testified of how it has revolutionized their lives. When the First Church of Pleasanton began hosting it several years ago, things were no different. One of the couples who took the course in 1987 was the Hansens, Steve and Judy. They had been involved in and supportive of missions for years, but Perspectives changed their concept of missions and added new dimensions to their worldview. Judy Hansen came away with a burden to have her church adopt-a-people.

Judy had already served on the missions board of the church for several years. But after taking the Perspectives class, she approached their missions pastor, Bob, with her desire to have the church adopt an unreached people. This was very well received since many, like Judy, had heard about the Adopt-A-People concept during the Perspectives class at their church.

Although Judy was the one asked to spearhead this effort, she states emphatically that, "this is not a one man (or woman) show. The missions board makes all the decisions and I work very closely with my missions pastor. We did not proceed very far without the full approval and affirmation of our pastoral staff and elder board."

The senior pastor of this church has commented on their adopted group.

"I want to affirm our church's long-term commitment to seeing our adopted people group reached for Jesus Christ. I am pleased with this decision, and I applaud the efforts that have already been made toward this important objective. My prayer is that some day we shall witness the evangelization of these people who are in desperate need of eternal salvation."

In the spring of 1990 the mission board decided that they wanted to adopt a people group in an area where they already had contacts with missionaries and agencies.

The first thing that Judy did was contact the Adopt-A-People Clearinghouse in Colorado Springs CO for more information. The Clearinghouse was very helpful. They sent her the information and referred her to an agency at the US Center to help her find an appropriate people group in the area where they wanted to work.

The information from the Clearinghouse included a helpful manual and a list of participating agencies that the church could link up with to adopt-a-people. But here is where a problem developed. As the church approached these agencies, few of them were prepared to help the church find a group in the country in which they wanted to work.

Judy says, "What I found worked best for us was to choose the people group first and then we went back to the agencies and asked what they could do to help us, or what we could do to help them."

Selection And Adoption

In August of 1990, Judy began her research. Twice a month at each missions board meeting she would give an update on the progress of her research. After reporting on about nine or ten different peoples, she made her recommendation. At a meeting in November 1990 the mission board made their decision. They prayed together and then formally voted to adopt the Rara. The adoption was presented to the congregation at the next missions conference.

They used a number of criteria in the selection of a group to adopt. First they wanted the largest untargeted people group in their area of focus that had no mission agency devoted to it and no church already adopting it.

They wanted a group that could already speak the national language so that the missionaries they know in that area could help them make contact with the Rara. Because they wanted to have a people among whom they could see early progress, Judy looked for one with a written language so they could begin Scripture translation right away. She adds, "We wanted a group that would accept foreigners so that we could go in, meet these people, get a feel for their culture. The Rara looked like happy people. They were always smiling and laughing in the pictures I saw of them. I have visited the Rara and they are very warm and friendly people."

Building the Network

Once the church had selected the Rara, Judy tackled the formidable task of developing a network of agencies and individuals that could help her church reach the Rara. She views herself as a "non- residential missionary" on behalf of the Rara and was greatly inspired and guided by reading David Garrison's book, The Non- Residential Missionary. This has governed the approach that she and the church have taken in implementing the Adopt-A-People concept.

Judy recounts, "I wrote a lot of letters to those agencies with which our church was already affiliated. From the answers I got back I proceeded to develop relationships, and share information with the ones that could help us. Some could not, but they referred us to other agencies who could. As a result, we are now working with nine agencies who have a heart for the Rara people." Also as a result of her efforts, some of these agencies, who knew little about what others were doing, are now beginning to work together to reach the Rara. A new day of inter-agency cooperation has dawned for the Rara.

Judy adds, "One of the great joys of this work is receiving long hand- written letters from missionaries in the field willing to take the time to tell us what they know of the Rara. I am often overwhelmed by their dedication to their ministry and love for the people they serve. It is such a privilege for me to be in partnership with men and women like this."

Judy also provides some advice to those involved in this kind of work.

"It takes time to develop these contacts and to develop credibility in the eyes of these workers. They need to know who you are, why you are asking questions and just how serious you are. The person doing this must be persistent and needs to be very up-front in what they are saying. They need to make security a high priority. Missionaries and mission agencies are not going to be free with information until they know that you understand the need for security. When I wrote letters to certain agencies I always addressed the issue of security in the very first letter I wrote. I assured them that I would never use their name or any information that they marked confidential without their permission."

Developing a Strategy

In regard to the principles that are guiding the church's approach, Judy says, "Our purpose is not to send in western missionaries. We go in as we need to, to lay the groundwork and facilitate nationals to do the work of the ministry. We want to work through people and agencies, already in the field, that know the do's, the don'ts and the dangers."

The church has developed a multi-faceted approach to penetrating the Rara with the gospel. The current avenues include:

1. Facilitating the work of a Bible translator working in the Rara language. They have already supplied the translator with the computer equipment needed in the translation work.
2. Supporting and co-laboring with an agency that is in the process of training national Christians for outreach to the Rara.
3. Preparing audio and visual materials in the Rara language.

Church Participation

The congregation is having a great time learning about the Rara. After the adoption they organized a prayer band of 200 people and several meet regularly to pray for the Rara. Various people from the congregation have been getting directly involved in ministry to the Rara as well as learning about the country where they live.

In the past year several have gone on tours to the country where the Rara live. When they returned, they all shared a common burden for the spiritual welfare of the people of this area. The wonderful places they visited paled in comparison..

Actual visits to the Rara began in 1992 when a small group, led by a member of the church staff, went in to do research on the Rara. They went in to study the people and their culture. After their studies they visited the Rara in the village and took video footage of them, from which they produced a 7 minute video upon their return. This trip was officially sanctioned by the government and resulted in the gathering of much valuable information.

Judy and her husband, along with the others from the church, were delighted to meet the Rara and learn more about them. They were accompanied by guides who could speak the national language and act as interpreters. They were often invited into the Rara homes and served food with the customary Rara hospitality. When Judy would ask them if they had ever heard of Jesus Christ, nine out of ten would say they had never heard the name. This was true in every village they entered.

During their visit they went to many villages and into several homes in each village. Judy says, "If we came back for a second visit they would want us to spend the night and fix us a meal. The Rara are very hospitable people."

As a result of their efforts, two Rara women accepted Christ and two men were very interested. They left a piece of literature with each person in the local trade language. Judy says about the visit, "I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the trip. I loved it and I learned a lot about the Rara."

The church is also taking the Adopt-A-People program very strongly into the children's department. Judy says, "They have had great programs for the kids. Several have been in the children's department and spoken to the Sunday school teachers as well as to many different age groups of kids. During VBS we had two gals who ran the missions program, talking to them about our adopted group and their culture. The children are very excited about this and they are really praying for the Rara."

Informing the Congregation.

Efforts to inform the congregation include:

1. Use of newsletters about Rara culture, history, etc..
2. The prayer network members get a card each month with a prayer update on the Rara.
3. The people who visited the area of the Rara speak at the many adult fellowship classes.
4. At their missions conference they had an informative display of materials about the Rara.

Plans For The Future

The future for the Pleasanton church's Adopt-A-People program appears bright. They are anticipating increased funding for their efforts and they are making ambitious plans. These plans include:

1. Increased support of their current strategies such as Bible translation which were mentioned earlier.
2. Work with radio ministries to develop programing in the Rara language.
3. Continue to recruit and educate more people in the church who can help in reaching the Rara.
4. Encourage other churches to cooperate and coordinate with them in reaching the Rara.

The Keys to Success

Judy Hansen believes that there are some keys to the launching of a successful Adopt-A-People program. She says,

• "It needs to be spearheaded by someone who has a lot of time and who enjoys doing research. They should also have good organizational skills.
• "You must recognize that it is a long-term commitment of time as well as personnel and money. A full time person would be helpful for this.
• "The program must have the support of the pastor, elders and mission committee.
• "The one spearheading the effort needs to be accountable to the missions pastor or coordinator and willing to admit his own ignorance and ask for help.
• "Pray first and plan later. Spiritual warfare must have top priority. Learn how to do it if you don't know already.
• "They need to understand that the goal is not necessarily to send Americans but to facilitate nationals to reach nationals."

What Can We Learn From Their Experience?

Many people who have been involved with the Adopt-A-People movement have heard of churches who have adopted a group, yet most people in those churches can't remember anything about their adopted group. What has made the Adopt-A-People program in the Pleasanton church successful where others have failed? There are a couple of key elements that Judy did not mention that were essential to their success.

The first key is a good foundation. The congregation had been exposed to quality teaching on missions through hosting the Perspectives course and other materials at their church for many years. Without this good foundation Judy would not have had the kind of burden she did to make the adoption of an unreached people a reality. The missions committee, elders, and pastors may not have been as supportive of Judy's efforts had the Perspectives class not been offered at their church. I would strongly urge any church to explore the possibility of hosting the Perspectives class in their church. Other excellent teaching resources include the Destination 2000 seminar by Bob Sjogren of Frontiers (also available on video) and the book Catch the Vision 2000 with its companion Study Guide by Bill and Amy Stearns. Group studies using these materials can help build the strong foundation of solid biblical understanding that is needed to keep the passion for the unreached alive.

The second key to success is dedicated leadership. There must be people like Judy Hansen who are willing to take responsibility for making the program a success. If everyone expects someone else to do the work, then it will die. One person needs to be recognized as the leader of the effort with the final responsibility to get things done. Those churches that want to adopt a people must decide from the start whether they have the commitment level to keep it going and make it grow over a long period of time. A "flash in the pan" effort may do more harm than good because people will think, "we did that once and it didn't work." We should be as concerned about not neglecting or abandoning our adopted people group as we would be about an adopted child.

Thorny Issues for Churches and Mission Agencies

As we study the example that the Pleasanton church has set for us, we inevitably run into some thorny issues that we must face head on if we are to implement the Adopt-A-People concept in an effective way on a large scale.

First of all, the mission agencies must immediately set up the policies, procedures, structures, equipment and personnel to handle the inquiries of people around the world who want to adopt-a-people. Although Judy states that the sending agencies she contacted were helpful and cooperative, it is this writer's observation that few if any were prepared to help her select an unreached people group in her church's area of interest.

As a result Judy sought to accomplish the task that the mission agencies themselves should already have been working on. That task is to coordinate and organize all mission efforts by various agencies working to reach each unreached people group. Frank Kaleb Jansen, Director of the Adopt-A-People Clearinghouse, spoke of this need for structure, organization and communication in his article, Adopt-A- People, The Global Strategy Mission Frontiers (May-June 1992) p. 32.

As mentioned earlier, as a result of Judy's networking efforts, agencies are beginning to work together as never before to reach the Rara. Judy, without knowing it, was acting like a mission coordinator for the Rara. The needed structures and policies must be developed to make sure that all agencies working to penetrate a people group are sharing information and working together where possible.

The Adopt-A-People agencies need to be effectively sharing information with each other on who is working where and with whom, so that when people like Judy want information on adopting a people they can simply call up one of the Adopt-A-People agencies and receive a list of those agencies that are working with that group. This is much preferable to forcing the interested churches to go through a long process of detective work to dig up this information. (This information, however, would have to be protected so it would not fall into the wrong hands. The trustworthiness of those receiving it would have to be verified before release of the information.)

The second task of the mission agency should be to help coordinate the efforts of those churches that have adopted each people group. This will require the agencies to share information on who has adopted which group so the churches can be put in contact with each other. Judy is already wanting to get other churches to join them in support of efforts to reach the Rara. The benefits of churches encouraging each other in their efforts to reach a people group should not be underestimated.

In order for this to happen, the mission agencies need to move from an attitude of competition, which results in duplication and other problems, to one of inter-agency cooperation and coordination of activities. The agencies will also need to start thinking, planning and organizing on the basis of ethnic group penetration rather than simply geography.

How Should the Church Relate to the Mission Agency?

It is the belief of the U.S. Center that it is preferable, whenever possible, for churches, especially smaller ones, to work through a specific mission agency of their choice. Most churches do not have the experience or resources to carry out the kind of hands on approach that the Pleasanton church has developed. Churches should not take over the role of the mission agency in sending missionaries on their own. But can we expect churches to be excited and involved with ever increasing vision when all they are asked to do is send their kids and write checks?

We are living in a time when mission-minded churches increasingly want a more active role in missions. We need to build a new cooperative relationship between the church and the mission agency whereby we mobilize and tap the excitement, enthusiasm and vision of the church, which comes from their active involvement, while also taking advantage of the experience and knowledge of the mission agency. The church and mission agency must work together to build the structure and policies that will take advantage of their respective strengths and support each other in their efforts.

I believe that the Adopt-A-People concept will succeed only to the degree that we are successful in transferring the passionate love of the missionary for an unreached people back to the people in the pew. This must be our goal. For if we cannot transplant the heart and vision of the missionary into the hearts of his supporting churches, then it is very doubtful that they will give much, pray much or be at all effective in reaching their adopted group. I believe that the Adopt-A-People concept, if implemented properly, is uniquely suited to accomplish this essential heart transplant.