Growing gifted teams for mission in Central Asia

“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9: 37-8)

Christian leaders in Central Asia face enormous challenges. Alongside the risk of persecution, leaders lack access to support and training to help them grow their ministries. Zahra* and Aisha*, are both National Directors of the same pioneering online ministry, serving in different countries. Their teams speak into the culture by posting up short Christian videos on multiple social media platforms. Your support helped them grow in their gifting, and build the teams they needed to reach thousands of people across the region every year.

Leading differently

Innovista’s training in coaching was vital in helping Zahra rebuild her team after a difficult situation with a former boss. Coaching enabled her to foster a new, more open and trusting work culture, based on servant leadership. By treating her team with grace and giving them the freedom to be creative, they are now more close-knit and are all growing in their gifting. Zahra describes the support as having “opened their potential, talents and opportunities”.

Finding the leader inside

Aisha’s challenge was that she lacked the skills she needed to develop the ministry: “I didn’t know what to do or how to work with people”. She felt God’s calling to the role, but it was very different from her previous job as a Project Manager. Innovista’s training helped her see herself as a tool to be used by God: “It totally changed my perspective. It helped me find me, as a leader.” Aisha put the training into practice and keeps a reminder on the office wall. Her team used the input to create a clear vision and then make some changes. Key leaders were freed up to do more ministry, and they then developed a much stronger network of partners. These were all-important for the journey they take people on.

Inviting messages

The ministry’s innovative approach involves posting up engaging Christian videos on social media platforms. A link then directs people to a website, where they can request a free Bible or start a conversation over WhatsApp. Some messages get thousands of hits, and hundreds of people contact them each month. The method is highly effective because they are reaching not only huge numbers of people in their homes, but also those who would otherwise be hard to contact. In a wider region where evangelism is outlawed and often dangerous, the genius of their method is that people are contacting them, rather than the other way around.

A younger generation

Using social media means they attract a lot of messages from young adults, including many who have had dreams about Jesus. A team member then spends time discussing with them online, supported by their collective prayer for each person. The ministry’s communication is always polite and without pressure. The conversations can go on for months, but if someone is ready to accept Christ and it is safe to do so, the team connects them into a local church, if there is one. As Zahra puts it, “We take the ready fruit and give it to the church”. This is an important step because many assume Christianity is just for foreigners or that the ministry is being run by missionaries from abroad.

Lives changed

Zahra shared how they talked about Jesus to a Muslim-background atheist for a number of months, only to find the Holy Spirit convicted her to commit her life to Christ, before they’d even discussed it. Others went from being highly hostile to having their hearts softened, like one war veteran who was recently baptised. Each transformed life also has the potential to cause a ripple effect that impacts many more people. The positive change in one young man’s life was so great that ten others became Christians as a result, including his sister, who is now a pastor in Western Asia.

Dreams for the future

These stories of changed lives are why Innovista is committed to helping pioneering Christian leaders build the teams they need to grow their ministries and reach more people. Zahra’s wider vision is that they can educate the church in how to be more effective in evangelism, as they are seeing constant fruit from their ministry. Aisha hopes they can play a big part in raising awareness of Christ, so people know he is much more than a prophet: “In 10 years we would love to see every person knowing about Jesus and what the Bible is about”. She longs to see people encountering God, churches planted, and society transformed. Innovista is honoured to help these trailblazing teams of Christian leaders as they seek to turn these big, long-term dreams into reality.

*: Their names have been changed and their locations are not disclosed for security reasons. Aisha and Zahra work in Central Asia and beyond.