I think the knowledge on this subject is still kinda scanty and unfortunately this has produced a number of unnecessary errors and hurt many people’s external itinerary and in some cases left hosts wounded and unhappy with teams that follow Pastors, thereby in some measures shutting the door of opportunity to some ministers assignment.
The first thing you must understand is that carrying too many people to another man’s alter doesn’t signal success in ministry…in many cases it signals burden. There are many things we see the Fathers in ministry do that might need Questioning before Copying!
In some cases they may need the team but do you?
Be careful of the “Bigmanism “ syndrome. It’s likely to kill your ministry before it starts. Thoughts like “with my level now…I should increase my entourage to 20” are born out of carnality than necessity. Calm down now! Haba.
The second thing you must realize is that it’s sometimes inconsiderate to put the burden of your entire team on a church you are aware can’t handle the weight of your team financially and then make them feel small and bad when they show any sign of discomfort! “You can’t beat a child and tell him not to cry now?!” We all have been at certain stages once upon a time, we shouldn’t be too quick to forget the pains and scantiness of resources a young starting or growing church feels.
Please note this, it’s even more painful to tell your host “We know you are small now and can’t take care of us, we will take care of ourselves “ if you feel you want to take care of yourself, send your team ahead and take care of them ahead without such Oscar winning Speech of how small your host is. Your words will cut deep.
The third thing you may need to consider is DON’T DUPLICATE effort. Should your host have some things your team is designated to do… don’t take a crew to duplicate the effort in the name of seeking excellence. If they have good video recording, clear audio recording, and some other things you may consider taking people for…it may not be necessary to do so again if you can request the materials from your host. By all means, try to act in moderation and understanding. ANY EXCELLENCE THAT LACKS EMPATHY DOES NOT DISPLAY LOVE WALK. Our passion for excellence must be duly circumcised with the blade of kindness.
Something important to consider Fourthly is that, your team of men that will follow you MUST BE TRAINED!!! Yeeessss!!! Trained to know they are NOT, I repeat, THEY ARE NOT THE EXTERNAL MINISTER…they are in that meeting by privilege of the Pastor. This understanding and training destroys a sense of entitlements towards your host. It helps you to behave wisely and preserve the honor of the man who brought you to the meeting. This is VITAL.
Reminds me of a story, A man of God had gone for a meeting with his entourage and team, they were so demanding the church swore never to host the man of God again, not because of himself but because of an untrained, unschooled and a team that lacks understanding. They kept asking the host for PERIWINKLE… “Our Papa likes Periwinkle “ “please serve snail and Periwinkle with the food please”
If your host doesn’t ask you, you don’t demand it. Eat what is set before you with thanksgiving! Ministrations are not Comfort excursions but rather a military assignment as a soldier of Christ.
This Fifth one Sha is crucial , please let your team know that this place you are going is not your church neither a branch of your church…they can’t get too comfortable to the point they Boss members and workers of another man’s church around. NO!!! You CAN’T AND THEY SHOULD NEVER DO SUCH. It reeks of lack of training. You didn’t gather the people together in that fold, they are the sheep of another’s pasture and effort… you make all request in the host church with a sense of privilege and highest level of courtesy. It doesn’t matter the level of excellence your Pastor operates in, you don’t force excellence on people in one visit, they grow into being excellent. Tread softly in another man’s house. It’s wisdom. It’s better not to honor an invitation than to scatter the order and sanctity of another man’s house
Lastly, please whatever your host church doesn’t have in their meeting should not be demanded… I remember an instance a keyboardist followed his Pastor for a ministration to play alongside the message… on getting there, this young church didn’t have any sophisticated piano or keyboard, this fellow played with such bad attitude and complained about the standard of their keyboard till he almost crushed the spirit of this young church and the leaders who are barely trying to survive. This is soooooo wrong. It is not Korg that moves the spirit, neither is it grand piano not Motif. Whatever they have is good enough for you. Just bless the people of God. I personally love good sound. I invest a lot in it but I will preach with a bamboo stick if that’s what that church has and I will do it with the best of attitude. Truth is I don’t honor many invitations but the ones I honor…whatever you give us is what we will use.
I hope this is helpful Sir and Ma.
I pray that your Itinerary ministry will blossom and do better in Jesus name.
Welcome to Freedom