By Marc Coleman, Feb 1, 2010

here is a side to pioneering and church planting that is often overlooked. Too often, those of us who are doing the work neglect to think about what will happen when the completed project is handed over to the church. Or what happens when a missionary family is forced to leave the field temporarily because of an emergency, political instability or waning financial support. During these times of transition, we missionaries must do all we can to ensure the stability of our mission enterprises established at such a high cost in finances and human effort. This is a matter that has occupied my mind a lot lately.

While we have been working here, the country of Guinea has lurched from one crisis to the next. We have been on the brink of a total security breakdown on several occasions and have risked going to war on several others. In spite of all the challenges, God has graced the Susu Project with a thriving ministry. We have a well-built, well-attended, growing church with a good mix of mature members, youth and children. We have a blossoming school, and several of our young people have gone on to college. Several initiatives promise to help the Guinean church at large in coming years. One of these is an equivalent degree for graduating high school students who, because of Sabbath conflicts, cannot finish their education any other way. God has provided wonderfully.

Yet, it is this providence that has proven to be the greatest challenge. While it is certainly a positive thing for AFM and other supporting ministries to expand the borders of the church, expansion creates logistical challenges. When we pioneer new work in far-flung places, in poor countries, even in non-cash societies, we create new financial responsibilities for the church at large when the missionary leaves. Where will small missions or other church structures, cash-strapped as they are, get money to support new thriving work? Is it fair to expect the church structure in Guinea, for example, with all of about 700 members, to take full responsibility for the work we start? You can understand why some church leaders have mixed feelings about starting new work.

It is my firm conviction that, as a pioneering mission agency, we need to fully partner with the church at every level to produce the desired results. This partnership must begin at the earliest stages of our work and be carried right through to its completion.

Also, as we begin our work, we should be training local talent to take over and carry the work forward. This should begin as early as possible. This training does not mean a traditional vertical employer-employee relationship. Rather it means the missionary invests in individuals and families and colleagues whom he trains to fill his shoes. In turn, the local colleagues of the missionary help him and his family through many of the cultural issues that are so prevalent in cross-cultural mission settings.

Sometimes there is an unspoken attitude that the pioneer missionary should trek wild jungles alone and face hungry lions and corrupt authorities with his Bible in hand, conquering all foes standing in his path. Believe me, there is plenty of adventure in pioneer missionary life—usually too much—and much courage is required. However, we shouldn’t forget that the Livingstones, the Careys, the Judsons and the Andrewses worked collaboratively with people in the field who became converts and trusted friends and colleagues. The point is that missionaries rarely succeed alone. I have heard a saying here in Guinea I like very much: “Success without a successor is failure.”

We are currently in that critical stage of thinking about the long term, and, let me tell you, the answers don’t come easy. Launching to the field was a great and wonderful undertaking, but from my vantage point, walking through the process of ensuring the long-term stability of our work is the much nobler task.

We have found some solid answers in the Bible and the writings of Ellen White, and we solicit your prayers as we seek to apply them. We don’t want the Susu project to be the Colemans’ project; we want it to be God’s project taken on by His church and continuing on until Jesus comes. Please pray for us as we walk through this process. Your prayers are vital.