Can fruitfulness in ministry be measured by activity?  By the number of people who attend?  The number of classes taught? Sermons delivered?  Doorbells rung? 

No, you say.  Impact cannot be measured by how busy we are for Christ.  Surely it is what God is doing through our ministry to people!  This applies to church workers, pastors, missionaries, and others who faithfully serve. 

Over our many years of missions work, Cheri and I have learned to watch for five signs of ministry effectiveness.  Perhaps you can assess your own ministry impact by answering the following questions:    

1.   Are people in your ministry responding to God, not just to you?   

 When Cheri conducts women’s conferences, she sometimes asks them to testify publicly about what God has taught them. They begin with, “Cheri explained that…” and she’ll say, “please start again.” Then, they get it!  “God showed me how timid I’ve been to witness to others.” And, “The Lord has given me a new desire to memorize Scripture.”

2.  Is there genuine change in the hearts of receivers?

Acknowledgement of sin? Repentance? Spiritual fruit?  Rich spent many years holding missions conferences in Ukrainian churches, a new concept for them.  He remembers a church where the pastor and leaders weptwhen they were taught about Christ’s Great Commission.  The pastor explained, “We thought missionaries should come to us, but now we see that we are to “go into all the world,” also!

3.  Is God’s Word treasured by the hearers, and passed on to others?

“By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” (John 15:8)

Ed Blay is a man with a mission!  Rich led him to Christ years ago in Batangas, Philippines, and today he leads a powerful Gideon Bible movement there. This recent photo shows Ed as he (and his team) distributed Bibles to children in public schools.  He’s bearing fruit!

4.   Does God’s Enemy, Satan, sometimes attack your ministry?

Cheri and I, over the years, have faced a variety of obstacles to our work for Christ.  Some were small discouragements, like the electrical black-out that occurred just as we were about to show the Jesus Film to a large group of Filipino unbelievers. Our team of evangelists got into a group and prayed earnestly, and the electricity returned!  On another occasion, we were riding in a van to an Armenian Bible conference when the steering completely failed, at highway speed! The pastor-driver was able, with God’s help, to get the vehicle safely stopped. Paul wrote, “…a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” (I Cor. 16:9)

5.   Are believers requesting more of your ministry?

If God is moving in the hearts of people through you, they will ask you for more.  More Scripture, more teaching. Their thirst for God will be evident.  When Paul visited Perga, he preached from “the Law and the Prophets.”  Afterward, “the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.”  And, “the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.” (Acts 13: 15 and 44) Cheri and I have been serving believers in Armenia since 2012, doing short-term trips to train women, young adults, and pastors-and-wives. They have invited us to return this fall. We will hold two training conferences – one for women, one for couples – in October.  Pray for us!  (We’ll provide more info in our next Update).

Your prayers and support are important to us! Thank you, and God bless you as you serve Him, also!

Rich and Cheri Strahm