Make it Transformational: A Blog for Champion Discipleship

What I love about my job is getting to see Transformational Giving in action and seeing the great impact it has on both ministry leaders and champions!  I've been doing a series on lapsed champions and will be wrapping it up by sharing with you how this played out for several ministries over the past few months. (You can read up on this series by checking out my past posts -- just click on my name under "Authors.")

Here was the task for the ministries who came to the Lapsed Champion training:

   1) Identify a lapsed champions who was "of you" but have fallen away from participating in the cause (see post from 7/30/09 for an explanation of "of you");

   2) Plan a meeting to reconnect with this champion;

   3) Prepare yourself before the meeting with prayer asking that God would remove any pre-conceived assumptions and to bring to mind anything you may need to repent for;

   4) Meet with the lapsed champion.

After reading the reports from the ministries who did this exercise I can tell you that I was thoroughly encouraged, gained great insight, and was reassured that this was not a futile exercise in the least bit!  Here are a few interesting tidbits:

• 80% of the champions did NOT consider themselves lapsed.
• Three reasons popped up as to why they stopped giving: finances, hurt feelings/feeling unappreciated and lack of communication (in other words the ministry not staying in contact with the champion & invitating them to get involved.)
• 100% said they appreciated the meeting and were excited to reconnect again!
• 90% of the meetings resulted in setting up a follow-up meeting to talk about a next step for the champion to take relating to the cause.
• Most of the ministry leaders had some reluctance or fear going in because they didn't know what to expect but 100% of them were completely excited about the outcome.

Here are a few quotes from these experiences:
“(I’ve realized) champions want a relationship with us and by not growing that, I am limiting the work of God, not only in this ministry but in their life.”

“(My efforts are) helping me to keep the focus on building the Kingdom.  It also showed me how vital it is for people to feel needed in the area of their giftedness!”

“We didn’t believe he was more than a donor yet he had so much potential and we missed out on the things he could provide and give!”

I never fail to be amazed at how God works in people's lives!  Through these experience each ministry leader realized an area that they had to repent for, and they saw where there was weakness in their existing development program -- seeing it was less about discipleship and more about raising the budget.  Their hearts were being transformed to take on a higher calling of preparing their champions for works of service (as is our calling in Ephesians 4:12).  Transformation was also happening in the lives of these champions when they saw someone reach out to them out of genuine love and concern.

I'd like to challenge and encourage you to follow through with this same exercise in your own ministry then let me know how it goes!  I have no doubt that the effort will be a blessing for you and your champions!