Team Expansion
Venture
Team Expansion’s Guide to Reaching the Unreached
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We are really glad you are interested in
learning more about Team Expansion. We are glad because we see this as an opportunity to partner with you to spread the news of Jesus worldwide! We invite you to read over this short booklet and get to know us. We hope you see that Team Expansion can function as an extension of your church. Our desire is not to replace the local church, but connect people with Jesus. Partnership with YOU is built into how we operate. Throughout the history of Team Expansion, our purpose has remained the same - to work together in teams in order to establish viable, multiplying communities of believers in some of the least reached places on the earth. Simply put – we are church planters. What does a church planter look like? Every church planter looks different depending on the location, culture and spiritual readiness of the people. Some operate a physical therapy center for kids. Others teach English. Still others work on farms, in hospitals, or with business leaders. Do you want to do something significant with your life? If so, then church planting could be a natural expression of your faith. We are constantly looking for families and individuals who long to use their gifts to touch lives around the world. Since the world is unevenly matched in exposure to the gospel message, Team Expansion is driven to take that message to those who have never heard. Every tribe, tongue and nation deserves to know the unsurpassing peace that flows freely from Christ. As Americans, God has tremendously blessed our families, churches and communities. With those blessings and freedom comes responsibility. Pray with us as we seek to build up the Kingdom. Celebrate every chance we are given to impact the nations. Realize that God has created you for such a time as this. We pray that God invigorates your heart for reaching the least reached. If you have any questions, please give us a call or visit our website. We are eager to encourage you in any way possible!
Doug Lucas President, Team Expansion
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Exploring “The Call”
by CARLA WILLIAMS
Missionaries are normal Christians. They struggle with temptation. Their families are flawed, and they don’t always wake up with a smile on their faces and a song in their hearts. But missionaries are normal Christians who had a moment of faithful obedience. God uses different circumstances and situations to draw his followers into his plans for the nations. He leads his people, but each person chooses how to respond. He calls some who decide to disregard his voice. For others, thankfully, the choice is to step out in trust. Some believers don’t know if they’ve been called to go, because they aren’t sure what that even means. One way to explore the call is to look at how God has led others to cross-cultural ministry.
Lifelong Ambition
Many people have early childhood interactions with a visiting missionary or grew up as the children of missionaries. These experiences stay with them for years, and they find themselves interested in missions, geography, or other cultures. One Team Expansion missionary remembers an early encounter. “We had a lady
missionary speaker at church, and she showed pictures as she shared. I really felt God’s call from that point on, never turning back or knowing how that would work out.” For another worker, missions was her obsession from a very early age. “I was totally convinced, actually from the time I was baptized, that what else would, could, or should I
him to be a missionary. He had another dream that showed him where to go. Another man, who had no interest or inclination toward missions, went to an alumni soccer game at his university. While there, he accidentally sat next to Team Expansion’s president. By the end of the conversation, his whole life was on a new course. Within a few
Some believers don’t know if they’ve been called to go, because they aren’t sure what that even means. want to do with my life except somehow work in full-time Christian service.” These stories are inspiring tales of a lifetime of focus and dedication, but most people don’t experience such clarity in their call. For most, the process requires a few more steps.
Clear Direction
When we seek direction from God, we often want him to answer in a very specific, undeniable way. And some people do receive their call to missions in such a way. One young man literally dreamed a man told
weeks of that encounter, his family was preparing to move overseas. People often experience this clear kind of call after a short-term mission trip. One couple started talking on the flight home after spending a few weeks in Taiwan. By the time the plane landed back in the States, they had decided to serve as full-time missionaries. They had just bought a house. They were both getting master’s degrees. But when they landed, they knew that none of that mattered. They weren’t sure where they’d end up, but they knew they had to go.
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Long Obedience
For most missionaries, the call came gradually. As doors closed and opened around them, they simply walked through the ones God opened, and this obedience led them to missions. One missionary started out as a pilot. Then he served in youth ministry. Then he trained and worked as an emergency room nurse. Now his family serves in Cambodia. About the process, he said, “We always felt God’s leading for the next step. Never more than that, just the next step.” A family staying with some missionaries began reevaluating their future when those missionaries talked about their call. The family saw there were people who didn’t know Jesus. They were willing, and with God’s help, they knew they were able. Those three things convinced them to become missionaries.
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Many people who were progressing through their walk with Christ found their willingness to follow him anywhere gradually led them to a place where missions was just the next step. It was still a risk, and it was still a leap of faith, but it’s what they needed to do. At some point, obedience was easier than resistance.
Conviction
Missions is difficult. Many missions organizations and experts insist that without a clear call from God, missionaries will struggle to stay on the field. If, however, in the midst of the hard times, a missionary is convicted to say, “God brought me here for his purpose,” he or she is more likely to sustain through the difficult seasons. Such certainty clearly is important, but even that is not a guarantee of success on the field. Not every missionary sees the
fruit of his or her efforts. God does not ask people to walk into certain victory. Rather, answering the call to cross-cultural ministry often means agreeing to upheaval, disapproval, humiliation, brokenness, exhaustion, and even oppression. There’s a very real possibility the missionary will experience failure like never before. But answering God’s call also means seeing God move. He provides. He changes—especially the missionary. He reveals his heart for the broken and lost. He expands the vision and capacity for his grace and power. Certainly God will not ask every Christian to move overseas and serve the unreached people of the world. But he has a plan for every believer, and many have not yet sought what that plan might be. God might not reveal the whole plan, but he’ll always provide the next step.
Frequently Asked Questions Am I called?
In a sense, all believers are under the mandate that Jesus gave when He instructed His disciples to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20) And you’ve been given specific gifts, passions, and abilities that uniquely qualify you for serving the Kingdom. But does that mean God is specifically asking you to serve cross-culturally as a church planter bringing the Gospel to unreached people? The very fact that you’re asking the question means that God is doing something new in your heart. We’d love to help you discover how He’s leading you!
What should I do to find clarity?
Start with prayer. Set apart some specific time daily, weekly, and monthly to seek God’s guidance. Recruit trusted family, friends, or church leaders to pray with and for you. Also use this time to learn more about the great need, specific people groups, your personal strengths and weaknesses, and how these might fit together. Take steps forward in faith. Attend a prayer retreat at Team Expansion, or take a missions course, like Kairos. Sometimes clarity comes from forward action.
What if I feel called but my spouse doesn’t?
Respect his or her feelings. Nobody should be bullied into this kind of decision. Pray together and separately about where God might be leading you. Attend a prayer retreat or missions course together, without pressure or expectation. Find ways to get involved in local ministries together. Consider speaking with a Christian counselor or church leader about your reservations, concerns, excitement, and calling. Trust God and the work of the Holy Spirit.
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Our Great Passions 1. God
5. Making disciples
2. Prayer
6. Creative, strategic perseverance until the results are achieved
He’s our reason. Everything we do, every step we take, is for His glory. We were birthed in a prayer meeting. It’s what connects us to God, giving us passion and purpose.
3. People
God loved people enough to send his Son for them, even though they didn’t respond at first. May we walk in His steps.
4. Effective communication
Whether communicating in our heart language with teammates, or in a second language with locals, we want to excel in saying what we mean and meaning what we say.
Our Core Values 1. Biblical
We will remain faithfully committed to the Bible.
2. Unreached
Team Expansion works only among unreached (5% or less evangelical) populations.
3. Grace
We strive to hold a non-judgmental attitude among teammates on issues of opinion.
4. Teams
We are committed to working in teams.
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This is the crux of the Great Commission, and therefore, our central focus.
Missions is hard work. Plans sometimes fail. People get hurt. We try to prevent it, but it still happens sometimes, in spite of our best efforts. We still don’t quit. We soldier on. It’s what we do.
7. Growth
God seems so set on redeeming people from every tribe, caste and kindred. And he doesn’t want just a few. Read Revelation. He wants thousands. That’s what we want too.
5. Accountability
Each Team Expansion worker is required to provide supporters a monthly report on progress, time, and money.
6. Coaching
We earnestly desire, provide, and seek coaching on every level.
7. Church planting
The primary long-term goal for each field is to plant reproducible churches.
Disciple-Making Movements
Team Expansion is committed to seeing 24 disciple-making movements by 2024. We define a disciple-making movement or DMM as being 4 streams of churches that have grown to the 4th generation. We are praying God would bring this about by Dec. 31st, 2024. We want to equip each of our missionaries in effective disciple-making procedures. We provide extensive training and ongoing support. The missionary cannot sustain a church multiplication movement, so we want to see each missionary raising up disciples who then raise up disciples who raise up disciples, etc. The influence of the Gospel multiplies!
Characteristics of a DMM
DMMs are often made up of rapidly-multiplying cells. One of the trademarks is that a lot of people are involved – a lot of LAY people. Another is that these cells are often in homes. In fact, there are at least 10 aspects involved in most of these movements, which David Garrison identified as being key factors in a church-multiplication movement: • • • • •
Extraordinary prayer Abundant gospel sowing Intentional Church Planting Scriptural authority Local leadership
• • • • •
Lay leadership Cell or house churches Churches planting churches Rapid reproduction Healthy churches
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Unreached
. by A TEAM EXPANSION WORKER
Seventeen. That’s how many churches are directly on the route from my house to the church where we actually go. In my city, there are more than 650 churches of all shapes and sizes. I could walk into any one of them and find a Bible, believers, and answers for my questions about Truth. That’s my reality. It’s my privilege. My responsibility. This is not the world Vatsana knows. For generations, everyone in her family has lived in fear. They worship idols and spirits, faithfully sacrificing money and gifts at temples and altars all in hopes that they will just be left alone. They are diligent in their worship, but their nights are still full of terror, their community paralyzed by rituals, and their hearts still full of emptiness. That is Vatsana’s reality. She has no concept of a God who loves her, who would make the ultimate sacrifice just for her. What’s worse, Vatsana has no one to tell her. She’s never met a Christian or seen a Bible. She could ask every contact she has, and not one of them would be able to point her to Jesus. No one she knows has ever experienced true peace. They are born into fear, they live their lives in hopelessness, and they die in desperation. This is what it means to be unreached. This is the reality for more than 3 billion people in the world today. For 40 percent of the world, there is no access to the Gospel. Each of those people is someone God loves desperately. Men, women,
and children created in His image will live their whole lives without knowing they are made in His image and invited to be His Bride. They have neither present hope nor future security. And there are 650 churches in my city. Granted, Vatsana is notoriously difficult to access. Complicated languages, remote locations, hostile governments, and closed doors all complicate the process of bringing
Men, women, and children created in His image will live their whole lives without knowing they are made in His image and invited to be His Bride. the Gospel to the remaining unreached people groups. Despite the difficulties and obstacles, God still longs for her family to call on Him and be saved. But, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Romans 10:14). Someone must preach to them. Someone must go. Who will tell Vatsana and her family that God is gracious and compassionate – that He sent His only Son for her? Who will take God’s glory into the most difficult, untouched places so that all men, women, and children will have the opportunity to worship His name? Will it be you?
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Getting Started Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6
Prayer
The main component of every major church multiplication event is extraordinary prayer. Team Expansion believes it is the most foundational and Kingdom-changing action any one of us can do. We do not want you to enter into cross-cultural ministry among the unreached without thorough and ongoing prayer. As you consider what your next steps might be, we urgently suggest you begin on your knees. We’ll be praying right alongside you. Solo Prayer – As you or your family considers this life-changing step of faith, designate specific daily, weekly, and monthly seasons of intensified prayer. Ask God to show you His heart for the nations. Let the Spirit assess and reveal your gifts and strengths, but also the areas where you need to repent or seek help. Use this season as a time of refinement and growth. Pray that God will make clear your next step. Also begin praying regularly for the unreached people in the world. Pray for their salvation and for God’s glory to be magnified and multiplied throughout the world. Prayer Retreats – Experience prayer with Team Expansion by participating in one of our prayer retreat weekends. Team Expansion stages these gatherings because we believe God intended all along for us to pursue a love relationship with Him. For that relationship to
be real, it has to be personal. God wants us to spend time with Him. The retreats take place at Emerald Hills, our 61-acre retreat center, on the outskirts of Louisville, KY. Two thirds of the property are wooded and very serene, offering you the capacity to experience God on His own turf, the wonder of nature. Contact us to sign up for the next retreat or go to www.prayerweekend.com for more information. Prayer Team – We’re so firmly committed to the necessity of prayer that each Team Expansion family is required to build a prayer team of 100-200 people. You can begin that process before you even apply to serve with us. Gather the people in your life who will pray with you as you pursue this huge journey. Send them regular prayer requests and updates. Hold regular prayer meetings for a specific group of unreached people. Engage your family, friends, and church in asking for God’s glory and watch as His Spirit transforms all of you – and the world!
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Kairos
As you’re considering what role you can play in finally reaching the 3 billion unreached people in the world, Team Expansion highly recommends participating in the Kairos Course. Kairos is an exciting nine-lesson interactive study of the purpose and plan of God from Genesis to the end of the age. Focusing on the biblical, historical, strategic, and cultural dimensions of missions, this course seeks to align every believer’s worldview with God’s heart for the
The Local Church
As you consider taking the Gospel into an unreached part of the world, we want you to involve your local church. Have them start praying with you early on and make certain your church is committed to walking through this journey with you. If they want to really get involved, Team Expansion wants to partner with your local church in tackling this global task. We use a strategy called PACE to accomplish this mission. Pray for renewal among all God’s people and for His message to spread worldwide. Activate all church members to share Christ around the block and around the world. Commit to plant a vibrant church in a piece of the least reached world. Enlist the help and discover the potential of others in the expansion of God’s kingdom.
nations and mobilize the whole Church for His global mission. This course can be taken in a week-long intensive session, or spread over several weeks. We’d love to help you find the next course being offered near you, or we gladly invite you to attend one of the many sessions we offer throughout the year at our campus, Emerald Hills, outside of Louisville, Ky. For more information go to www.kairosusa.com.
A PACE Project not only fulfills the command of our Lord to reach all nations but it also changes the local congregation as they connect with God’s heart for lost people. A PACE Project requires a major commitment on the part of a local church. Team Expansion is committed to partner with the church until the project is complete.
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: pace@teamexpansion.org www.u4theu.com/pace
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Next Steps Pathways
Are you looking for an exciting summer internship opportunity? Join a team going to one of Team Expansion’s fields for a summer of experiencing another culture while studying language, building relationships, and learning from experienced workers.
Quest
Spend 6-18 months as an apprentice under an experienced worker or team. Team Expansion matches skills, passions, talents, and career plans to best available opportunities and mentors. Contact us for more information about locations, objectives, and qualifications.
Full-Time
There are still over 6,500 unreached people groups in the world. The task ahead is still great. If you have a burden for sharing Christ with those who have never heard, contact us to learn more about joining one of our existing teams or starting a new work in an unengaged field.
Training
Feeling unqualified? Don’t worry! We have a variety of trainings that can equip you and your family for serving cross-culturally. • More Disciples – At Morediscples.com you will find everything you need to begin creating disciples in your own sphere of influence, including a detailed 30-day challenge, blogs, videos, and a community of believers walking through the experience with you. • Prayer Retreats – If you’ve been longing for a chance to reconnect with God in prayer — to be refocused, refueled and refreshed, join us for a Prayer Weekend at Emerald Hills, Team Expansion’s beautiful 61-acre wooded campus. www.prayerweekend.com • Missions Minister Gatherings - These events are designed for people who have an active role in church missions and want to learn, grow, and share with others in similar roles. www.u4theu.com/missionsministers
• Unleashed 4 the Unreached – This interactive experience connects churches and individuals with the vision, opportunities, coaching, resources, and tools to accelerate the fulfillment of the Great Commission. www.u4thu.com • Launch - Launch is a 2-week training program for missionaries at the Emerald Hills campus in Louisville, KY, where we provide training in cross cultural adjustment, mission strategies, budgeting and finance, support raising, and more. • DSOTO - Discipleship School of the Outdoors is an experiential education program that utilizes team challenge activities and a high ropes course for the purpose of building stronger teams while enjoying the great outdoors. www.dsoto.org • Kairos - Kairos is an exciting nine lesson interactive study of the purpose and plan of God from Genesis to the end of the age. • D-Course - D-Course is a 24-week discipleship course in Louisville, Ky., which is learned in community while implementing the Biblical, fruitful practices of disciple making movements.
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Support Raising You have a heart for the unreached, you want to spend your life serving the Lord and sharing the gospel, you want to be a missionary—but the thought of raising the needed financial support to go to the field is terrifying. In fact, it’s so terrifying you’re considering a different path, one that won’t make you ask others to support your work or live off someone else’s money. Sound familiar? Raising support can be intimidating. But it can also be exciting, fulfilling, and a huge asset to your ministry. Rather than viewing it as an obstacle, support raising should be seen as a privilege!
The Privilege of Support Raising
Why a privilege? What other career would give you dozens of people personally and financially invested in your work? When people are supporting your work financially they’ll be much more interested in what you’re doing in your ministry. In addition, raising financial support attracts a much larger base of prayer support. Your supporters will be much more inclined to pray for you; their invest-
ment hinges on your success! Raising support also spreads the vision of missions in the church! Meeting with churches and individuals, telling your story and sharing your passion will help others to see the importance of missions and can encourage them to become involved in God’s plan for the nations, as well. There are so many other incredible advantages to support raising: accountability, stretching your own faith, stimulating the faith of others, seeing God work in amazing ways; there’s no end to the ways God can and will use support raising for your benefit.
Training, Budgeting & Debt
Once you get past your fear of support raising, the real work begins! The first step is to create a budget to find how much you’ll need to raise. Each field and situation is different, so we’ll connect you with your team leader and field coordinator to help you design a budget that will fit your personal and ministry needs. During Launch (our missionary training school), you’ll go through multiple training sessions to help learn the best
strategies for raising support. After that, you’ll work with one of our support raising coaches one-on-one to keep you motivated, encouraged, and help you work through any bumps along the way. One question many potential missionaries ask is what Team Expansion’s stance on debt is. People come with many types of debt: school, homes, credit cards, etc. Every situation is different of course, so there is no hard and fast rule. Debt is something to be avoided, however, our belief is that by itself, debt should not prevent someone from going to the mission field. Becoming a missionary is never an easy decision, you must give up the comforts of your home, your family, and the life you’ve always known to follow Christ’s command to spread the gospel to the unreached. You’ll have lots of work ahead of you to prepare for your calling, but don’t let support raising be the obstacle that keeps you from the field. As Philippians 4:16 says, “My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
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Team Expansion
ft$ www.teamexpansion.org info@teamexpansion.org 800.447.0800