Our church, Hope Lutheran Brethren of Barnesville, Minnesota, is in the prayer and investigation stage of choosing to adopt an unreached people group, specifically the Bagirmi people of Chad. Bethel Lutheran Church of Fergus Falls has already adopted the Bagirmi, so we would be able to partner with them and other area churches that are considering this adoption.

The idea of partnering together started over Chinese food as area pastors gathered for our monthly cluster meal. Pastor Dave Foss of Bethel suggested the possibility of a number of churches working together to adopt the same people group, as it would be such a large task for any one church to tackle on its own. We see great benefit in working together, and have taken the approach that each church will do what it feels God has called it to do. We will resist the temptation to compare ourselves to one another, but rather ask, “Lord what do you want us to do?”

The first benefit is in pooling our energy, dollars, and manpower resources towards the same goal. In early February, we partnered in sending a team of three men, two from Hope and one from Bethel, to visit the Bagirmi people with missionary Dan Venberg. We couldn’t do this without assistance from Lutheran Brethren International Mission and the encouragement of people from Bethel who have gone to Chad before.

Another benefit of this adoption approach is that a missionary may connect with a number of supporting churches in a geographic area. This will make home assignments (furloughs) easier on missionaries. A large part of their support team will be more centrally located rather than spread out across the continent.

Bethel has made a substantial faith commitment to support a missionary to the Bagirmi in the future. The temptation is for churches like Hope that are smaller in numbers and budgets to think that we can’t do anything because we are smaller. It is the “poor me, I am a small church” syndrome, that leaves God out of the picture and may be an excuse for small-heartedness.

We at Hope are praying for God’s leading. We thank God for what he is doing through Bethel, and are asking how God would want us to be involved with reaching people who have no access to the gospel—unless we bring it to them.

Rev. Richard Iverson is pastor at Hope LBC in Barnesville, MN.