Rich and Deborah have always felt God telling them to minister to the pastors and leaders. If a minister is able to touch the life of an individual, that's one life changed, or maybe one family changed. However, if a minister is able to minister to another minister, that may be hundreds or thousands of lives that are changed.

The word "missionary" doesn't exist in our Bible. Jesus didn't give a "six-fold" ministry in Ephesians, chapter four, He gave a "five-fold"ministry. The true calling to be a missionary is the calling to be an apostle.

Apostles are those sent by God with a specific mission to accomplish. This can be of many different types, but in it's most basic form, the work of an apostle is to break open new spiritual ground. At times, this means that the apostle works as an evangelist, at times, he works as a pastor, at times, a teacher, and at times a prophet. However, in all these cases, it is with the express purpose of opening some sort of new spiritual ground. 

Missionaries who go to other countries and start churches are only able to minister to those who come to their churches. However, those who minister to the native ministers actually multiply their effectiveness, by multiplying the Word of God that they minister through the pastors they are ministering to.

This is the desire we have at Maranatha Life. Although most Americans think of missions work as evangelism, that really isn't true. In most countries, the native ministers are much better evangelists than we could ever be.

The greatest needs on the missions field today are training and discipleship of leaders. Many ministers outside the United States have little to no formal training, and what they do have is very traditional, and not very aplicable. By pouring our lives into these ministers, we can see their ministries become more effective, and the Body of Christ in those countries grow and flourish.

Ministering to the pastors requires developing a trust relationship with them, which can take years of constant prayer and contact. On top of this it is necessary to stay on the cutting edge of what the Holy Spirit is doing in the world today. It is also necessary to have an ongoing relationship with the Holy Spirit and stay sensitive to His voice. Otherwise, it is impossible to have the answers to the questions and problems the native ministers face on a daily basis.

Some of the ways we are working to help train and disciple pastors include:

• Monthly written studies which we give our freely to over 270 Hispanic pastors:
• Life-Line for Pastors publication (in English)
• Training seminars for pastors and leaders
• Teaching in Bible Schools
• Our television Bible School (coming soon)
• Visiting pastors to minister to them, pray for them, counsel them, and answer their biblical questions

See Statistics About Pastors