The Harvest Is Ready... Are the Workers?

“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." Matthew 9:37

In North America church leaders are acutely aware of the potential shortage of pastors in the next decade and beyond. The average age of a pastor is getting older and there are not enough younger pastors in support roles, or new pastors being trained in seminaries to meet the need as the current pastors reach retirement age. 

In other places in our world the church is growing so quickly that the training of new pastors cannot keep up to the demand. Then in other places male pastors have had to leave their homes to find work in other countries to earn money to support their families. 

Jesus recognized the critical need for workers in his day. As more and more people become Jesus followers and the church grows the need for workers keeps increasing. 

As I studied Jesus' expressed concern for enough workers to bring in the harvest, I also noticed He offered a solution for the problem of the shortage of workers. 

  "Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

I then realized there are many workers already imbedded in the harvest field. The workers are Jesus followers who work side by side with others in the market place, factories, fields and institutions in every community. The missing element is a way to train these imbedded workers with the tools to share the Gospel and disciple the people they work alongside every day. 

Together we are answering the call to prepare workers for the harvest field. Every week we share stories of God at work in equipping workers for the harvest and to disciple new Jesus followers. As you pray you are doing what Jesus asked you to do.