Matthew 16:18

For me, the focus is church planting. Since 2021, we have planted three churches in the districts of Kiryandongo, Oyam, and Nwoya. We are training leaders in those churches and expect those churches to plant more churches. My primary sending church is BethHaven Baptist Church in Simpsonville, SC.

A missionary is a messenger or emissary of the church (Philippians 2:25; II Corinthians 8:23) equipped, tested, and approved by the church (II Corinthians 8:18-19, 22; I Timothy 3:10; 5:22) sent out and accountable to the church to fulfill a specific task for the advancement of the Great Commission (Acts 13:1-3; 14:25-28).

The above definition allows for a variety of gifted individuals and ministries. However, it is our unwavering conviction that the great bulk of our missionary force must be proclaimers of the Word—evangelists, pastors, and teachers. These gifted men must be the vanguard and spearhead of the church’s global initiative. All other gifted individuals and ministries must serve alongside or in cooperation with these men as they evangelize, plant churches, pastor, and teach the Word of God.

In Ephesians 4:11-12 are found five categories of gifted men that God has given the church for its edification, whether at home or abroad: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. The Apostle Paul writes:

“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.”

The first two categories (i.e. apostles and prophets) have ceased because they have fulfilled their purpose. They laid the foundation for the church by being the instruments through which the inspired revelation of the New Testament has been “once for all handed down to the saints” (Ephesians 2:20; Jude 3). The last three (evangelists, pastors, and teachers) now proclaim to the nations the sure word of the “apostles and prophets” that has been recorded in the Scriptures. These ministers of the Word must be God-called (II Corinthians 8:16; I Timothy 3:1), tested by the church (I Timothy 3:10; II Corinthians 8:22), and found above reproach in the non-negotiable qualifications of a minister of Christ (I Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9).

Regardless of our cultural context or time in history, whenever we ask the question, “How can we extend, build up, or strengthen the church?” the answer is always the same:

“Through the evangelists, pastors, and teachers that God has provided for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.”

Over the last few decades, countless mission strategies have been put forth as the cure for the weakness of the church and its corresponding impotence to reach the unreached. Yet here in Ephesians 4:11-12, we find the biblical solution. The church is built and strengthened through the ministries of the evangelist, the pastor, and the teacher. If the church is weak, it is either because there is a lack of these three laborers or because the laborers themselves have not been properly equipped for the task. To reach the unreached we must send men who can not only do the work of the evangelist, pastor, and teacher, but are also able to identify and train others on the field. We must never forget that the essential ministries of the church are the essential ministries of the Great Commission!