Why We Use National Pastors to Minister in the Middle East

Light of Life International uses national pastors for several reasons:

• We operate in the Middle East, often in areas where the community is hostile to the gospel, making it very difficult for an outsider to minister effectively.

• National pastors do not have to face the barriers of language and customs. Language training can often take years and be very expensive. Often, even after several years, it is difficult for a traditional missionary to fully understand the customs of the country they are in.

• National pastors are already in the areas we want to be. We use pastors who are reaching their own people.

• It is cost effective. We are able to support a national pastor for a fraction of what it would cost to support a missionary in the traditional way.

• It gets results! Almost every month we see people accept Christ and follow him in baptism.

Our Philosophy of Supporting National Pastors

For many years, supporting an indigenous pastor has meant that money is sent overseas to ministries that have little or no relationship with those who support them. Often, the indigenous pastors become reliant on the churches in the USA.  However, our philosophy is very different from this in a number of ways:

• We believe in financially supporting national pastors at a level that is commensurate with the average local salary. This means that our pastors live at the same level as the people they minster among.

• We believe that our support of national pastors should not be open ended. We financially support a pastor for a limited time. After this time, we expect two things from our pastors. First, we expect that they will have grown a self-sustaining ministry. Second, we expect that they will have trained up someone who is willing and qualified to start a new ministry. We seek to keep reproducing ministries to meet the incredible need of the area.

• We believe we need to be in the field with the pastors we support. At least twice a year, I visit the pastors to observe what is being accomplished and the fruit of the ministry. This time also gives me a platform for one-on-one mentoring with the pastors and the people to whom they are ministering.

• We believe in providing accountability to those who support our ministry. I speak in churches all over the United States—giving updates, sharing our vision, and providing details about the ministry that cannot be shared online or by a newsletter.