Often when we give feedback on ministry impact we focus on the peoples that are being reached by the churches we have and are coaching, and of course, these are the stories that grip our hearts. But we'd like to change gears a little bit in this edition of mini Unleashed by highlighting a very special ministry partner, John Moore, whose prayers and contributions are making it possible for us to fulfill our mission of mobilizing churches across North America to make disciples of all nations.
On 11-11-11 John will be co-teaching Sixteen:Fifteen's free webinar, "When Missions Vision Is Bigger Than Missions Budget." For more information and to find out how you can participate click here.
Matthew Ellison: John, first of all, thank you for your partnership in the Gospel. With every remembrance of you, we thank God and pray for His continued blessing upon you. It's because of visionary ministry partners like you that we are empowered to carry out our mission. Thank you!
Now, I realize that it is unlikely that you will travel to the mission field to work among the Fra Fra people (which are highlighted in this edition of EUnleashed) or the Tarahumara, or the Wolof, or the Punjabi Sikhs, or any of the other groups that are being engaged by the churches Sixteen:Fifteen has and is mobilizing by coaching, and yet it is partnerships with people like you that makes it possible for Sixteen:Fifteen to coach churches, who in turn are reaching marginalized and forgotten peoples --- can you share what this means to you personally?
John Moore: Kingdom Impact is what it's all about. Inspired vision leads to great leverage for churches. The 16:15 coaching process helps churches translate their God-given calling into focused global impact. Connie and I really support the idea that multiple churches are reaching multiple uupg (un-engaged, un-reached people groups) because of the impact of the 16:15 coaching process.
Matthew Ellison: Our coaching process helps churches move from a shotgun approach to doing missions to being strategically driven; it helps them forge a clear, concise, compelling mission vision that can capture people's hearts, minds and imaginations --- And that is exactly what is happening. It is not uncommon for churches that have gone through our missions coaching process to see a 300 - 400% increase in annual missions giving, can you comment on such an increase?
John Moore: I mentioned the idea of inspired vision earlier. We believe a company with inspired vision is the type of opportunity that attracts investors. I believe Apple Computer is a great example of this. Products like the iPad are remarkable and have dramatically changed the way people do things. When the Holy Spirit fills a church with inspired vision, people respond to that sort of Kingdom oriented opportunity, much the same way investors have responded to a company like Apple. This allows the Holy Spirit to inspire remarkable generosity in the church and changes the way people think of giving...a clear missions vision enables people to visualize the investment opportunity with more clarity. The additional clarity leads to unleashed generosity.
Matthew Ellison: We have talked about it a lot, but for the sake of the readers, what do you do you think are some of the specifics behind the annual increase in missions giving in churches that have been coached by Sixteen:Fifteen? In your opinion what exactly is it that is unleashing such amazing generosity?
John Moore: I have been researching the Biblical examples of congegational generosity. I call them the stories of the "Fully Funded Church." So far, I have found four Biblical examples of The Fully Funded Church. In every case, the leaders of the congregation were also the leaders in generosity. An inspired vision enables church leaders to clearly see the vision, and this allows the leadership to enthusiastically communicate that vision to the congregation. The leaders enthusiasm allows them to be generous supporter of the vision and their generosity is contagious. Generosity begets generosity and assets are released for Kingdom Impact.
Matthew Ellison: Speak to the donor that is having a hard time connecting to the vision of Sixteen:Fifteen because Sixteen:Fifteen is one step removed from the mission field ---What is the value of giving to a ministry like ours that doesn't go to the frontlines, so to speak, but actually encourages, enables and empowers churches to finish the task?
John Moore: Connie and I believe 16:15 offers great leverage for the giver. So far God has not called us to be feet on the ground reaching out in person to uupg (unengaged, unreached people groups). Our support of 16:15 helps put many hands and feet on the ground reaching these people groups by enabling churches to clarify their focus and expand their global impact by coming to an inspired vision through the 16:15 coaching process.
Matthew Ellison: Leave us with some encouragement about one of your favorite topics, namely, the joy that accompanies the giving of time, talent, and treasure for the sake of Gods name and renown.
John Moore: We always add a fourth and fifth "T" to conversations about giving. In addition to the three "T's" you mentioned, we believe our stewardship responsibilites include: Thanks and Truth. The joy of knowing that Truth is being taught by an investment of Time and Talent that was enabled by giving of Treasure causes an outpouring of Thanks to God. Holy Sprit inspired vision drives the stewardship of these five "T's" more effectively.
Sixteen: Fifteen would like to thank John Moore for taking time out of his extremely busy schedule to be interviewed.
