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Developing Your Team

God Does Not Call Just You—He Assembles a Team

Doing IT in Wycliffe can be very different from industry, even though the actual IT work itself can be very similar to what you already know. You need a team of prayer partners in spiritual warfare for you, as the enemy does not like how IT support for translating the scripture is furthering God's word.

In the Wycliffe world, your support does not come from products or services sold, but via your team of support partners. These partners join your team specifically to provide the support required to make an entire IT ministry function, of which you are merely the mobile, fingers-on-the-keyboard element.

Every single job in the Wycliffe world is a team effort. As a new Wycliffe member, your first mission will be to recruit and mobilize your team. Jesus made it clear that every Christian is to play some kind of role in the Great Commission. Therefore, while you are seeking ministry partners, missions-minded Christians impelled by Jesus' command are seeking partnership opportunities. Team building is simply the process of making the required connections.

It is very helpful to remember that at the same time God is calling you (the new Wycliffe IT missionary), He is also preparing a group of people to become your partners in a ministry that simply cannot be done alone!

Your First Ministry Is Team-Building, Not "Raising Your Support"

The process of building a ministry team sounds scary to most people largely because;

most people are thinking about money,
it seems so unlike anything else they have ever done,
it seems so contrary to the self reliance that many Christians unconsciously esteem.

The reality is quite different. Building your team:

is not significantly different than recruiting investors to back the launch of a new business,
is like organizing and running a new Bible study,
is not at all unlike organizing the core group of a new church plant,
is similar to promoting a special event.

You will notice that the central component of these kinds of team building is not you—it is the thing being promoted.

Building a team of ministry partners whose goal is filling a specific Wycliffe IT need is not something as foreign as you may have imagined. Whatever Christ strengthens you to do, you can do it (Philippians 4:13). If it is really God who is calling you to serve Him in Bible translation, and if it is the Kingdom of God that you are seeking first (Matthew 6:33), then it will be God who provides everything He knows you need (including ministry partners). How He does this in your situation will build your faith. We encourage you to see examples of Partnership Development in action.

Team Building, the Wycliffe Way

In the Wycliffe world, missionary team building is called Partnership Development, or simply PD. The Wycliffe approach to mobilizing ministry partners emphasizes personal contact, availability to present the work in church and small groups. We invite you to see the details about how the Partnership Development ministry works.

Overcoming the Fear

Fear often blocks Christians from moving toward a missionary life. This is particularly true in the domain of missionary team building (often referred to as "raising your support" or "itinerating" by people lacking the Partnership Development perspective). A false conclusion regarding fear can easily stem from a perception of reality that has an element of truth, but does not consider all the data. That is why we need to address the common myths and fears about team building, especially in relation to finances! CLICK HERE to learn more.

Team Building Is Biblical!

Steve Womack, a Wycliffe member who worked for a number of years as a team building coach, put together a Bible study which may help you see the whole process in a new light. Download it and enjoy!

Partnership Development Bible Study
Steve Womack, 2002-03-01
Download "PDBibleStudy.pdf", Acrobat PDF document, 1MB [1521 downloads]

Provided by www.jaars.org