Christian Strategic Planning
Eph 1:4 "For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight."
The primary role of the Luke Society is to come alongside Christian health professionals who have a calling to bring physical and spiritual healing to the poor of their own country. “Coming alongside” involves mentoring, encouraging and equipping. Much of our work consists of sitting down with our ministry partners, listening to their vision, and working out plans to carry out that vision.
Last fall, Luke Society board member, Verla Blom, opened our board meeting with a devotional focused on this first chapter of Ephesians. She pointed to the wonderful description of God’s plan and value of our lives. The book of Ephesians is one of Paul’s “prison letters.” One would wonder if Paul had in his plan or expectation to spend the last years of his ministry in prison; and one could wonder why it would be God’s plan that he spend so many years writing from prison. Yet his description in Ephesians 1 of God’s perfect plan for our lives describes not only His sovereignty but also His amazing love for us. He has a plan for us that began before the beginning of creation. He also goes on to say, “He made known to us the mystery of His will.” He makes clear that we are not just passive objects in this plan, but are to play an active part in His plan. Paul writes, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.” We need to know Him to be able to know His plan and to participate in that plan.
A characteristic I have come to appreciate in strong, spiritually mature Christian leaders is their ability to develop “Christian strategic planning.” That is, to develop and carry out ministry plans that are consistent with God’s plan for their lives and the ministry to which they have been called. To understand God’s plan requires knowing Him. It is a knowledge that comes through studying the Word, worshiping with the body of believers, and having a consistent and meaningful prayer life. And it leads to a relationship with Him that allows us to hear His voice.
Luke Society directors have this knowledge and relationship. It is what draws us to them. And it is one of the things that makes “coming alongside them” so exciting and rewarding. It is exciting because each call is unique to the context of that ministry. In China, Dr. Xu Zhang is responding to the call to meet the needs of disabled people in Anshan. Most of the children he works with lay in a bed with no social interaction day after day. They are not allowed to attend school, and many rarely get a chance to leave the house. When Dr. Xu takes time to visit them and gives the parents the resources to educate them, he demonstrates the love of Christ as he values each person as a child of God, made in His image. For these parents, that love and concern for their disabled children is deeply appreciated and has often opened the door to the Gospel message which explains the motivation behind Dr. Xu’s love. And Dr. Xu testifies to God’s plan in his life – even the tragic accident that left him paralyzed, but which also led him to Christ and ultimately to this ministry.
In Guatemala, Dr. Axel Suquen saw and experienced political injustice and poverty affecting his family, friends and neighbors. He initially joined a guerilla movement to fight against the government, but it wasn’t until he accepted Christ that he realized the solution was not through violence. He is now following God’s call to express love through a ministry that empowers and brings dignity to those marginalized people.
In these, and in every Luke Society director, we can see the plan of God for their lives, known to Him before the beginning of time. And we can see how He intertwines that plan to carry out His purpose in proclaiming the Good News through their ministry. We are privileged to partner with these Christian leaders whose strategy is to seek God’s plan for their lives.
Wrede Vogel, MD