Developing Sustainability in World Evangelism Efforts

TL;DR:
Sustainability in global missions means developing churches and ministries that are locally led, resourced, and supported without long-term dependence on outside subsidies. True sustainability goes beyond finances. It includes cultivating local leadership, initiative, inclusiveness, resilience, and faith-based confidence in God’s provision. Sustainable models avoid a modern form of paternalism in which outsiders are seen as saviors or ultimate authorities.

How do we measure "success" in world evangelism?

Leaders must push for a culture of sustainability if they wish to achieve long-term viability in church-planting movements.
Sustainable models avoid a modern form of paternalism in which outsiders are treated as saviors or ultimate authorities.
While outside resources may sometimes be helpful and even necessary, keeping a clear focus on the goal of sustainability will increase the likelihood of healthy, disciple-making churches that fulfill the mission of making Christlike disciples in the nations.

What does "sustainability" mean in terms of world evangelism?

Mission Briefing: Ideas That Affect World Mission Outreach Today

Sustainability is an important consideration in fields such as agriculture, business, fishing, and forestry, as well as Christian missionary activity. What sustainability involves will vary somewhat from field to field. However, at the core of sustainability is the idea of productivity and long-term viability.

Regarding world evangelism, a key indicator of sustainability is that churches and ministries are supported locally without depending indefinitely on subsidies from distant sources.

In conversations about sustainability, "resources" means more than finances. Looking at funding is important in assessing sustainability. However, sustainability involves more than who pays the bills. It also involves factors such as:

Where personnel and resources come from
An atmosphere of inclusion
Home-grown vision and initiative
An environment in which local people feel empowered
Built-in resilience during difficulties and crises
A we-can-do-this-with-God's-help attitude

Clearly, the topic of sustainability fits in perfectly with discussions of topics like contextualization and the "three selfs."

Some churches and ministries embrace sustainable practices from the beginning. In situations where reliance on external subsidies is already established, moving toward sustainability may be a gradual process marked by setbacks as well as progress.

An important missionary responsibility is helping create a culture of sustainability. That has not been true in all world evangelism efforts. For instance, in earlier decades, supporters back home frequently assumed that foreign missionaries would start churches and serve as their pastors. Because those missionary pastors were supported externally and often brought in additional outside resources, the resulting model could not be infinitely duplicated or sustained long term.

Leaders must insist that churches and ministries look to God and to their communities for resources and solutions rather than assuming they should be perpetual recipients of what outsiders can do for them. For sustainability to be achieved, a modern form of paternalism must be avoided. In such a context, outsiders are sometimes celebrated as superheroes whose help has "saved the day." Outsiders may also be viewed as "experts" whose opinions override everyone else's. Such attitudes can undermine local leadership, initiative, and responsibility.

Does aiming at sustainability mean that all outside resources will be shunned? No. However, they must be used sparingly and judiciously.

Does sustainability mean believers need not give sacrificially to world evangelism? No. Outside help is often necessary when initiating church-planting movements in places "where the church is not yet." Outside resources can also help develop and expand capacity rather than subsidize basic expenses.

Embracing sustainability increases the likelihood of having healthy, disciple-making churches and ministries in which believers establish new churches and ministries, take responsibility for them, resource them, and lead them. Following patterns of sustainability will do much to move the global church toward fulfilling its mission of "making Christlike disciples in the nations."

Reflection Questions on Sustainability

What are some challenges and possible benefits of moving away from models of external subsidy and toward self-sufficiency in churches and ministries? How can leaders manage this transition productively?
How can world missions leaders avoid falling into a modern form of paternalism? What could be the negative consequences of relying too heavily on external resources and know-how?
Why might cultivating a culture of sustainability in world evangelism lead to healthier disciple-making churches and ministries in the long run?
In what ways does sustainability in world evangelism imply more than financial resources? What other factors should leaders consider to achieve the goal of sustainability?
In what situations might reliance on external subsidies be necessary for church-planting movements in places where the church is not yet established? How can outside resources be used judiciously while still promoting long-term sustainability?

-- Howard Culbertson, hculbert@snu.edu

This blog on a key issue in world missions outreach is an article in the "Mission briefing" series published in Engage magazine.

Acrostic: Sustainability -- How to get there

S — Sharing Christ's love as equals, not as superiors,
U — Uniting people across social and cultural boundaries,
S — Serving communities with faith and compassion,
T — Transforming lives through gospel principles,
A — Advancing God’s kingdom through partnerships,
I — Investing in and empowering people,
N — Nurturing disciples who make disciples in every culture,
A — Avoiding financial dependency,
B — Building up others by ceding control,
I — Inspiring hope through Christlike actions,
L — Leveraging local initiative, resources, and personnel,
I — Implementing holistic outreach that helps without hurting,
T — Training, equipping, and empowering leaders,
Y — Yearning for God's will to be done everywhere.

Like acrostics? Here are more of them.

Does the way we do short-term mission trips actually create obstacles on the road to sustainability? Check out these thoughts about negative "unintended consequences" from Glenn Schwartz.

Unintended consequences

"A group of young people went from North America to Guyana (South America) where they built a church in three weeks. They joyfully presented the new church building to the people and returned home.

Two years later, a message from Guyana arrived at the North American church. It said: 'The roof on your church building is leaking. Please come and fix it.'

"In this case, a short-term mission team had ignored the need for safeguarding psychological 'local ownership' when doing cross-cultural ministry.

"In West Africa, a young volunteer worked with a congregation alongside a medical doctor/church planter missionary. That missionary had been encouraging the local church to increase its awareness of world missions and evangelism. He was elated to hear from the local pastor that their annual missions offering had increased from forty-five dollars to sixty-one dollars. That step caused rejoicing on the local scene. It also motivated that particular church to mobilize itself to plant another church some kilometers away.

"At that point, the young volunteer from America, feeling pity for the local pastor and his congregation, sacrificially gave $6,800 -- out of the goodness of her heart -- to build them a new church building. One immediate result of that gift was that the local pastor took his eyes off what his people had accomplished. He began to ask where he could find more of that kind of money. The missionary was devastated as he saw his efforts at promoting local self-support go down the drain.

"If short-termers can learn the importance of being rather than doing, great good can be accomplished."

-- Glenn J. Schwartz of World Mission Associates

Afterword: Sustainability and Viability

Sustainability is necessary for the long-term viability and fruitfulness of church-planting movements. Sustainability means moving away from external subsidies and focusing on empowerment and resilience grounded in local communities. To avoid a modern form of paternalism, leaders must promote local responsibility and resourcefulness, accepting outside resources when they develop capacity rather than pay ongoing expenses. Creating a culture of sustainability results in healthier disciple-making churches and ministries.

Sustainability includes efforts to establish indigenous leadership within churches and ministries. That usually ensures that they will grow and flourish without constant oversight or dependence on external missionaries.

Sustainable global missions work:

Seeks to empower local communities
Builds capacity within them
Promotes local responsibility and resourcefulness, including support from local resources

To recap, sustainability in world missions outreach means creating projects, movements, and institutions that will last beyond the presence of external missionaries and foreign funding. Sustainability differs from viability in that viability focuses more on current feasibility and fruitfulness. Sustainability is concerned with establishing long-term viability and fruitfulness. A project or ministry may be viable today but not be sustainable in future decades.