We failed.
That’s what the numbers say, at least.
10 adults. 6 kids. We uprooted our lives, moved to Taiwan, and spent 8 months doing ministry full-time. Our church has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into this. And in that time, we’ve seen exactly 1 salvation decision.
One.
If you’re a business person, that’s a terrible ROI. If you’re a skeptic, that’s proof this whole thing is a waste. If you’re a donor, you might be wondering what on earth you’ve been funding.
Fair questions. Let me try to answer them.
Here’s what 8 months actually looked like.
We ran over 100 logged events across 10+ university campuses. Total attendance across those events: somewhere north of 1,500 individual interactions. That’s English cafes, open homes, Bible studies, sports nights, holiday parties, outreach tables, volunteering trips, overnight camps, and more.
In those 8 months, we:
Tabled at multiple Club Fairs and put welcome packs in hundreds of students’ hands
Launched ongoing weekly programs including English Cafe small groups, Her Journey women’s gatherings, Sunday Gatherings, and Bible and Bites
Ran Thanksgiving events across 5+ campuses in a single week, with over 100 students at one event (I’ve never eaten so much turkey before in my life.)
Pulled off a finals week tabling where 100 students stopped by for hot chocolate and an encouragement tree
Took students on overnight retreats, beach trips, and a Bible camp
Welcomed a new team to Taipei and expanded our capacity heading into the new semester
A typical week for us looked like 3-4 events, prep, multiple 1-1s, cooking for the team, childcare for 6 (now 8!) kids, and whatever logistical chaos came with it. (Last week I made lunch for 40+ people on a Sunday. Just a normal Sunday.)
Now back to the 1 salvation.
Here’s the thing about measuring ministry by salvation decisions: it treats the human soul like a conversion funnel.
But that’s not how any of this works. They’re PEOPLE, people!
Moving someone from completely indifferent to spiritually curious is real work. (You kinda have to be somewhat crazy to entertain the idea that some dude died over 2000 years ago who claimed to be God and came back to life and now you’re supposed to worship him)
Moving someone from a -10 to a -9 out of 10 towards Jesus is a win! A student who walks into their first open home skeptical and walks out saying “I want to come back” has moved.
We can’t measure that.
We can’t put it in a spreadsheet.
There’s also the discipleship that happened with existing Christian students who grew deeper in their faith because of this community.
So many of them got a glimpse of what a life of ministry could look like. No, not being a full time pastor and just reading Bible all day, but life on life ministry. Just being faithful in the day to day, and earnestly trying to share the good news with others.
Many of them will grow up to become ministers that multiply impact in their lives, 30 fold, 60 fold, 100 fold.
And then there’s what this year has done to us. I’m a different person than I was when I landed at 4:40am on July 11th with no sleep and a van full of luggage. That’s real too, even if it doesn’t show up in a report.
I keep coming back to an idea I learned years ago and still treasure to this day.
The greatest blessing God can give us is making us a blessing to others.
I didn’t get picked because of what I could do for the mission field, but what the mission field would do for me.
And it’s done a lot.
But here’s the reframe I keep coming back to.
1 salvation = 1 eternity changed.
Infinity is still greater than any dollar amount. You can’t out-invest eternity.
You might recall the disciple’s shocked reaction towards the woman who anointed Jesus with an alabaster jar of pure nard.
Why this waste?
It’s only a waste depending on what you’re measuring.
And if we’re being honest about what God actually measures, it’s not results. It’s faithfulness.
That’s been our north star from day one, whether the number was 1,000 salvations or zero.
We praise God for the 1 sheep we found. And we go back out looking for the next one.
Randy, I loved this perspective. How we measure “success” is so shaped by our culture and obsession with ROI’s and measurable outcomes, but God looks at the heart. Any work faithfully done for the Lord is not wasted nor futile. My Great Aunt shared that when she was poor the church was the one place that offered her food and safety as a child. She only ever showed up for the social services, but would convert 60 years later and become an evangelist herself. When she shared this, I thought of my friends in Yuchi who have poured so much into the children of the village but haven’t seen much immediate fruit. Who knows how God will use their faithfulness in the decades to come? I’m so encouraged your faith empowered you to uproot your lives to become a missionary!
Perhaps money has been wasted. But at least you didn’t bury your talents.