Now entering the 'discomfort' zone: pioneering beyond Europe

We currently have just a fistful of pioneering situations beyond Europe, and yet our vision is to see five multiplying churches on each of those continents by 2030 - we call this vision ‘Global 5:30’.

In the run-up to our Plant Global event, we revisit the call of God on our family of churches to pursue planting churches worldwide, asking Stef Liston to provide his insights as well.

An impossible vision?

To date, Relational Mission has only the slightest presence in the nations beyond Europe. Our Global 5:30 vision is a big one, and will require a massive acceleration in church planting situations for it to be realised. If we’re going to be specific, we need to see 25 church plants - 5 in each continent - become established, fruit-bearing church families in less than ten years. A daunting prospect? Not in the least.

“Don’t be afraid when the strategy doesn’t make sense on paper.” (Julian Adams, 2013)

The ‘by-faith-not-by-sight’ approach is one that Relational Mission has been applying for a long time. In 2013, Julian Adams prophesied over Mike Betts (and by extension Relational Mission) saying: “Don’t be afraid when the strategy doesn’t make sense on paper.”

Faith in action

If we’re being honest, Global 5:30 really doesn’t make sense on paper. It makes even less sense when we recognise that, alongside it, we are actively pursuing two more church planting visions: ‘UK 100:40’ and ‘Europe 20:50’. UK 100:40 - to see 100 new churches planted in the UK by 2040; Europe 20:50 - to see 20 new churches planted in EACH European nation outside the UK by 2050 (that’s over 1,000 churches in the next 30 years!).

Many would question our strategy. Are we spreading ourselves too thin? Can we stimulate that kind of planting acceleration? Do we have the resources for that number of pioneering situations? Do we even have enough planters to send?

“You will accomplish in the next twenty years what not many have been able to do in the last fifty.” (Julian Adams, 2013)

Stef Liston, part of the Relational Mission apostolic team, seems very comfortable with impossible odds. “The whole thing we’re about - the Christian life itself - is impossible. Bearing fruit for the kingdom is impossible, winning over the enemy’s schemes is impossible, seeing breakthrough on our doorstep is impossible - it’s all impossible! And so in that sense [the impossible] is the very heart of the Christian life.”

From his point of view it comes down to faith, and not anything measurable by traditional ways.

“Success is not measured in worldly ways. Success is measured in trusting and believing in God. And God loves faith. And so from that perspective, while it IS daunting on a human level, it’s part of our spiritual DNA, if you like, to believe God. And God labours the point in the Bible that, with Him, nothing IS impossible.”

Unseen horizons, immense security

Practically, this gives huge comfort to those looking to engage with our pioneering vision. “Part of our maturity is that the security we find in circumstances decreases as the security we find in Him increases. We’ve got immense security in terms of our relationship with God; immense security that we can go for things and our identity doesn’t hang on [the outcome].“

Before we forget, it’s important to reiterate that this ‘outcome’ - this vision - was God’s idea. Committing to any plan of action - however achievable - would be foolish unless we were certain this is what God was calling us to. That’s especially comforting given our family of church’s lack of experience planting beyond European borders. Yet God has also given us brothers and sisters to partner with, who have more experience than us we can draw from, who can be a part of the early stages with us as we learn and grow.

That doesn’t mean we’ll be perfect - but that’s all part of the adventure.

“If you’re going to be a pioneer, wherever you are, then there’s something thrilling about being at the vanguard of something. Even though there will be mistakes that we make and lessons we learn, it’s all in the context of moving forward.“ There may be failures too, but as we mentioned before, we measure in terms of faith, not outcomes.

Unlikely people

We have to be honest that we can forget that we will forever be mistake-making, stumbling learners - God alone is the expert. We can create an image in our heads of the ideal ‘planting pioneer’, and sadly overlook the people whom God is calling. We can even be found measuring ourselves against unbiblical standards and dismissing our own calling to contribute.

“We are experts at dismissing ourselves!” Stef agrees. “It’s interesting that even Paul asked the question, ‘who is sufficient for these things? - GOD is our sufficiency.’”

So how do we start changing our pioneering stereotypes?

“I think we’ve all got to get to that point where we recognise that a vital part of spiritual warfare is the enemy whispering into our ears that somehow we’re disqualified. And our response to that isn’t to try and argue how qualified we are, but point to Jesus - HE’S our qualification.”

What a beautiful reminder: Jesus is the expert pioneer, He is the one building his body - the church, and he calls us to join him in the work! What’s more, it’s our very weakness and foolishness that qualifies us (1 Corinthians 1:27-29) and brings Him more glory in the process.

“I mean, we’ve got a long way to go on this idea that God chooses the weak and the foolish!” says Stef. “I think we quote it, then we immediately look for the strongest and cleverest. And then we wonder why we don’t get spiritual fruit! - it’s because we’re operating on natural lines, we’re operating only on natural things, rather than looking for supernatural grace in unlikely people.”

So when it comes to church planting, the invitation has been flung wide open for anyone - EVERYONE - to seriously consider their contribution. There is no human standard - not gifting, ability, personality, or capacity - that would immediately disqualify us.

“We’re not looking for supermen, superwomen; we’re really looking for those dependent men and women who feel a sense of the Lord calling them and then are willing to grow into that and willing to depend on Him. We want people who are faithful to the LORD, available - people who are teachable - to step in, and to just begin to engage with what we’re doing prayerfully. Come to our Plant events, hear about different parts of the world, hear about people who are a step ahead, and just see what the Lord stirs in your heart.”