Even though it is not a popular word in Christian circles a lot of what I do consists of a lot of marketing. My desire is to get more people following God’s plan for their lives, and for some people that means being involved in missions. The avenue that I encourage to help people get engaged and find God’s will for their lives is Youth With A Mission (YWAM).

Competition for Workers in YWAM

When I was working specifically on a local base I found that we were quite often competing against other YWAM Centres. If we ran an advertisement on Google we were competing for words like “YWAM DTS”, “YWAM Discipleship Training School”, “YWAM”, etc. These terms are quite specific to YWAM and we were bidding against other Youth With A Mission centres.

I struggled with competing against other YWAM Centres for students and staff. Being a YWAM Centre in a developed nation we had a financial advantage over locations from developing nations. We could outspend most of those location simply because of where we were located. Even if they were offering a superior Discipleship Training School (YWAM DTS), people searching would find us near the top of the paid search results.

So big bases keep getting bigger and smaller bases struggle to compete.

Now that I have the privilege of working with Youth With A Mission in a more international role I have found that the struggle is still there, but in a different way …

Competing Missions Agencies

As I look at a communications and marketing strategy for Youth With A Mission I find that I am no longer competing between YWAM centres, but rather with other missions agencies. Many of these organizations, like Operation Mobilization, SIM (Serving in Mission), Africa Inland Mission, Samaritan’s Purse, etc. offer amazing programs and opportunities for people to become engaged in missions and in finding what God has for them.

In addition I feel that organizations like YWAM can also find themselves competing with more traditional bibles schools / colleges as students seek out God’s plan for their lives (this was my own personal experience).

Why am I competing against organizations that are following after God’s call and are working towards advancing the gospel and the Kingdom of God?

Who Should We Be Competing Against?

I think that competing with other missions agencies is really limiting God, splitting resources of the Church and like going for the low hanging fruit. These are people who are there already know that God has something for them and are actively seeking out God’s plan. We forget that they represent a very, very small proportion of people who God has a plan for.

We read in God’s Word that …

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  (Eph 6:12)

Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what He requires of you, and He will provide you with all these other things.  (Mat 6:33 GNB)

Ultimately we are competing against that lie of the enemy that says that God doesn’t have a plan for people’s lives. God has a plan for everyone’s life, if only we would take the time to ask Him what it is, and be willing to follow it. I took many different paths in my own life before I discovered the truth that God has a plan for my life, I only have to lay down what I am holding onto and be willing to follow it.

How Do We Compete Against The Lie?

The best place start to compete against the lie that God doesn’t have a plan for peoples lives is in the Church. These are people who already know God but haven’t yet figured out that He has a plan for their lives. It is estimated that there are about 2.1 billion “Christians” in the world today. That’s a lot of people …

As we look at the Church we can ask ourselves if people are living out their lives in line with God’s plan for it or are they pursuing their own plans. In Mathew chapter 6 we are told that if we line up our will and plans with His and concern ourselves with the Kingdom of God He will provide everything that we need. Many of us, myself included, try to work things out for ourselves, while neglecting what God is saying and requiring of us. We do this to our own detriment, and the detriment of the Gospel.

I am not saying that we should be judging others or questioning their motives. What we should be doing is encouraging people into a place where they can trust God in taking the leap into what His plan is for them. A friend of mine in an email that he sent me last year said:

God calls us all to walk a different journey in our lives.

Missions is not God plan for everyone. I have unfortunately seen missions and full-time ministry be put on a pedestal as being true callings from God, while the rest is called “secular” or non-spiritual. This is another lie that has stolen the very call on people’s lives out from under them.

The same God who has called me to full-time missions also calls people to be the best business manager, electrician, teacher, mother, etc. that they can be. That call is just as spiritual and just as valid as being called into full-time ministry. There is no difference as long as it lines up with God’s plan for your life. The thing that matters most isn’t what you do, it’s whether what you do is what God wants you to do.

All that to say that as people line up their will with God’s, and start to follow God’s plan for their lives, there will be enough workers and enough provision to do God’s work.

From there of course we have the other 4 billion or so people in the world who God also created with a plan and purpose for their life. Many have never heard the truth of the Gospel or Jesus Christ. As they come to learn the truth, and submit their lives to God, then they too will be released into God’s plan for their lives.

Great, But How Do We Do That?

Yeah, well, that’s the million dollar questions then isn’t it?

Honestly, I don’t think that the ways we have been promoting missions will reach most of the people who God wants to be involved. We may reach a few in the Church who are already thinking about missions, but we will miss those who are not actively seeking God about what to do with their lives.

Ultimately I think it comes down to working towards the great commission given by Jesus in Matthew 28: 19-20:

Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age." (Mat 28:19-20 GNB)

As the Church focuses on making disciples, and not just converts, God will lead the right workers into missions.

Your Thoughts?

So what do you reckon? How should we best be encouraging people to find and follow God’s plan for their lives? Where do we find the right “workers for the harvest”?