The 5th of many Missionary Mistakes I have made, is that of believing Hiring is easier than Raising.
I used to think, with the American dollar having more value than the peso, I could hire someone to help me do much more of the work and get twice as much done. Although this could be very true and used correctly, it has both its pros and cons. The simple thought that I can hire someone and avoid having to spend time raising and maturing new Christians, many times is easier than, but ends up costing much more in the end.
God has been very gracious to us, and compared to many horror stories, we have not faced as great of difficulties. But I do want to say that we have had more problems with outsiders that have come from other ministries than we have had in the people that come from our own ministry that the Lord has given us.
Without a doubt the ministry is in need of much work and more laborers. But I also believe that if we are not careful, we might think we can skip the raising up leaders for the fact that we can just hire leaders. God has called my family to specifically raise up leaders. The truth of Matthew 9:37 is still true – “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few”. Cutting the corners by hiring instead of raising up is not only painful in the end result when the person hired leaves, but also many times is problematic when he/she is still with you.
I have made so many mistakes, it would be hard to mention them all. Without a doubt, I have not learned to treat correctly those that have been through our ministry (men who have come from other ministries and with other ideas), yet the fact still remains that it is easier and less painful raising up men with the Bible and ministerial goals we have, rather than bringing them in from other areas with different goals and ideas. My desire is to see God raise up men and workers through the work He is doing here. Not only will they continue when I am not here, but it will be easier working together while we remain together.
So truly raising is better than hiring.