The WIGtake Question

David Garrison, author of Church Planting Movements, introduced me to WIGtake. It was a phrase being kicked around by missions strategists. The WIGtake question is “What’s It Gonna take to reach a people group with the Gospel?” Prayerfully ask the WIGtake question needed to spiritually transform lives and bring spiritual awakening to your community. A strategy is simply one way to “count the cost,” as Jesus called it.

Here is a bold seven-part plan. It was adapted from the Master(‘s) Plan, titled by Curtis Sergeant. God invites us to join Him in His mission. If we could actually do this already, we would not rely on the Lord.

1. ENDVISION: Imagine what the harvest looks like one day in the future, then step back planning each step it takes to get to that point. Evangelicals must not work alone—the task is too great. Churches need to develop evangelism strategies. Witnessing materials and approaches would be customized to groups of people. We would seek not only to make converts, but disciple-makers. An Acts 1:8 approach means witnessing simultaneously in all four fields. The Endvision for your community is accomplished by the leadership of the Holy Spirit through the following strategies:
2. PRAYER: Prayer IS missions. Church-wide robust prayer pleads for God to call out workers into His harvest. Prayer-walking is needed in each community that leads to spiritual encounters in which the Gospel is presented to groups of people.Personal prayer cover must be provided for workers in the harvest. Each believer should solicit 12 faithful prayer warriors. An annual prayer emphasis in each church is recommended.
3. EVANGELISM: Awaken and equip evangelizers. Start by establishing small groups that focus on making disciple-makers. Disciple new believers as intentional witnesses. To be as reproducible as possible, orality training should become the new normal. Revivalists must help churches prepare and follow-up with each new believer. Identify pockets of lostness. Mapping teams are needed in the highest concentrations of populations using student teams, church evangelism committees, and other volunteer efforts. Integrate evangelism into every ministry of the church. Get into the community to bring change. Quarterly blitzes and planned servant evangelism should bear fruit. Media blitzes should place ads such as FinditHere.com on websites, radio stations, newspapers, magazines, and TV networks that are most likely to generate spiritual conversations with lost people.
4. CHURCH PLANTING EVANGELISM STRATEGIES: Recruit and deploy many Evangelism Catalyst missionaries to start multiple small groups simultaneously and raise them up as new church plants. check out the Workers in the Harvest book, or at least like the Harvest Workers (WITH) page on Facebook! Each church should be challenged to Start a New Church by the MAWL method: Model-Assist-Watch-Leave, another Sergeantism. Re-frame discipleship to raise up new believers and disciple them to maturity until they become disciple-makers, missionaries, and church planters. Train laity as church planters each year.
5. COMMUNICATION: Conduct annual media campaigns that create spiritual conversations with the lost. Establish new social media outlets to keep believers informed and knowledgeable about progress and needs. Keep churches informed through timely releases regarding evangelization efforts throughout the states. Encourage churches to communicate the update with churches at least quarterly.
6. SCRIPTURE: Promote the authority and availability of God’s Word through existing and new networks. Adopt Scripture distribution as a priority. For language groups without an entire Bible in their language, collaborate with Bible translation organizations to underwrite the translation work. Distribute massive quantities of Scriptures in print, audio, and storying forms. Make Scripture distribution commonplace in the lives of every believer: “Here! I have a gift for you! Want to talk about it?”
7. MOBILIZATION: Awaken, nurture, and join God’s mission among the lost. Conduct lostness-awareness services, make or show inspiration missions videos, make up special bulletins customized for your community, and prioritize baptism as the focus of monthly or quarterly worship services to involve families and friends of the new believers. Share testimonies from those who are serving to share their faith and make disciple-makers.

What’s the answer to the WIGtake question for the people in your community?