World Impact’s Mission Statement is: “Empowering churches across cultures to impact unreached people.”” In this blog post we look at empowerment as a key part of God’s global mission.
When a healthy seed is planted it has within itself the God-given potential to develop and grow as long as it receives the right balance of biological inputs such water, sunlight and fertiliser. The resources supplied to the plant enable it to grow of its own accord. In 1 Corinthians 3:6, Paul applies this analogy of planting churches. He compares the pioneering church plant in Corinth to a seed which he and another church leader planted and watered. However, he emphasizes that any growth and increase in the church is because of God. Paul and Apollos simply provided the initial impetus and the on-going input that enabled a God-given process of natural church growth. This biological metaphor is also captured in the sociological concept of empowerment.
Empowerment literally means to put power into someone or something else. It has come to mean equipping or enabling individuals, community, or nations with the resources, skills, power and encouragement they need for organic growth. Healthy growth requires an individual or organisations to take increasing responsibility for their own development. Empowerment therefore seeks to enhance an individual or organisation’s own innate capacities for growth. It implies a transition process from infancy to maturity and from paternalism to partnership.
Empowerment is a key part of our World Impact mission statement. Our purpose is not simply to help plant churches in unreached parts of the world. We are ultimately seeking to empower such churches to reach out themselves and have Kingdom impact in some of the least reached, most persecuted and poorest nations of the world. Therefore, after churches are planted we have an important on-going role in providing resources that will enhance the churches’ innate God given capacities for further growth and multiplication.
The concept of empowerment reminds us that the church growth and multiplication is ultimately God’s responsibility not ours. It also helps us see our global church partnerships in the right perspective. Our on-going role is to stand alongside, provide resources, training, encouragement and prayer. As we provide such empowerment resources, it is God who gives the increase. We are simply partners in a natural God given process of church empowerment. However, we should not minimize the importance of our empowerment role. Planting without empowerment is like birthing without on-going care and relationship.
– Andrew