Ministering to ministers

Detlef and Manfred of the German Missionary Fellowship shared at the GBIM Europe Shepherds’ Workshop last week. My teammates and I listened intently and interacted with them about their philosophy and principles for caring for over 300 missionaries in 76 countries.

Detlef (left) and Manfred (right) are director and Africa coordinator respectively for the DMG (Deutsche Missionsgemeinschaft: www.dmgint.de)

The first priority of the DMG is: "to preach the good news of Jesus Christ to people of all nations and races."

The purpose of the DMG is: “We want to glorify God by helping churches to send out and care for their missionaries who build up missional churches among and together with other peoples.”

And to pursue that purpose, they have determined that “member care” / pastoral care / shepherding must be a high priority so that missioners remain close to God, focused on and enthusiastic about their God-given call. The goal is to both see missionaries start strongly AND finish well.

John (above) organized and led the workshop until he had to leave because his mother had a stroke. Sam (below) then took over and ably led the workshop.

The DMG has a holistic view of caring for their missionaries. To preclude the recurrent tendency of missioners to become ministry machines, the DMG seeks to promote the health of body, soul and spirit. They therefore keep their eye on the following areas in the lives of their people:

1/ Do they rest & recreate? Do they have a hobby?

2/ How is their physical health? Do they exercise regularly?

3/ How are their relationships with colleagues & the people with whom they work?

4/ How is their devotional life? (It is all too easy to focus on God’s mission and neglect God himself.)

5/ Are they growing in their understanding of the culture & language acquisition?

6/ Do they have a plan for “lifelong learning,” that is to say are they pursuing ongoing training?
While nothing is written in concrete, the ideas that our workshop participants are batting around for the GBIM Europe team is to create a four person SHEPHERDING TEAM that would:

• Develop sending church care suggestions.

• Interface with the GBIM member care team in the USA.

• Assemble a grass roots shepherding network so that teammates share their concerns and needs before a crisis occurs. (In my experience, problems are often ignored until there are physical symptoms. Could we not deal with the root causes before they degenerate?)

• Develop and send ideas to teammates about personal responsibilities they should assume in their pursuit of holistic health. Send regular health tips—for body, soul and spirit—to the team.

• Determine what needs may be met by the various layers of shepherding: personal relationship with God, sending church, Europe Team, GBIM…

• Discern how we could help with “little” problems, fears and insecurities before they attain critical mass.

• Compile a list of European specialists for outside help.

• Establish a confidential prayer network, not about ministry, but for the personal needs of our teammates.

John emphasized that prayer is an important aspect of the shepherd's ministry.

Well, we have our work cut out for us. But Jesus gave shepherds to his Church for the equipping and edification of his people so that they might grow in every respect (Ephesians 4:11-16).

And the shepherd's ministry extends to all sheep, including ministers—apostles, prophets, evangelists, other shepherds, teachers and leaders in general.