How do we determine success? When we finish with a ministry event or a complete ministry season, how do we look back and say whether or not we were successful in accomplishing our mission?
Whenever we define success, the conversation always starts with metrics. Many times metrics mean numbers. Here are some numbers from our last year of ministry:
We partnered with just over 50 different churches across 5 different countries!
We trained just over 1,300 leaders in these local churches.
We reached just over 4,800 people with the Gospel of Jesus!
However, metrics can only tell numbers. As much as we want to train many leaders and reach many people with the Gospel of Jesus, if we don’t make an impact in individual lives, then we merely had a great program. So, when we look at success, we look at the mission God has called us to. We believe the church needs more people serving in ministry. Our mission of empowering young people to continually live and share their faith in the global communities they serve is what we need to be seeking to do. So, if at the end of the ministry season we see more people trained and contributing to their local church and communities around them, we see success.
So, did we accomplish this in the last ministry season? In short, yes!
There was a young lady from Lake Tapps, WA who went on a mission trip with her church to Morelia, Mexico. We were blessed to both train the church and walk our ministry partner in Mexico through the process. While on the mission the focus is on serving the local missionary, not on their own growth, however, when people serve, God also works in their lives! Here is what she said during the debrief following the trip, “Before the training, I’d never thought of myself as a Christian leader, but we were told we are Christian leaders. On this trip, I learned what that meant, and can now see how to live that out back home at my church.”
She is not the only story we heard this summer of people engaging more and more with their church. From families coming to churches after sports camp to new youth helping in children's ministry, we saw trained volunteers make a deep impact in the lives of people around the globe.
While metrics give us tangible goals to work towards, achieving the numbers by themselves are only scratching the surface. Success for Base requires seeing disciples of Jesus take a step forward in their relationship with Jesus through serving others!