Zambia Hunt

Over the years in Zambia, as I’ve trained and empowered leaders to serve Christ and His church, I’ve observed a consistent relationship cycle that, if it goes full circle, results in healthy leaders.

Stage One: 
The new convert learns everything from the mentor. He’s asking questions, absorbing teaching, soaking it all in.

Stage Two: 
As spiritual maturity develops, the relationship becomes reciprocal, a genuine two-way street of mutual learning and growth develops.

Stage Three: 
The mentor now goes to the disciple with questions, seeking his counsel and advice.

Stage Two plants the seeds of friendship, but it is in Stage Three that true friendship in ministry often emerges. It is built on mutual respect—on recognizing God’s work of grace in one another—and on the kind of humility that says, “I need your counsel, brother.” The goal is not independence, but transparency within a relationship marked by genuine respect and mutual appreciation.

Leaders are developed through relationships of reciprocity, grounded in shared vision and mutual honor. Yet there is a barrier that often undermines this process and renders it ineffective.

The Ownership Trap

Let me be direct about this serious pitfall: Ministry Ownership.

If you, as the church planter or missionary, feel ownership because you’ve done all the work or raised money, you will struggle to hand off leadership. And your struggle will make it harder for the one receiving it.

You must intentionally walk through a process of transferring ownership to the godly men you’re discipling. When the actual transition happens, it shouldn’t feel like a dramatic shift; the church and the new leader should simply continue doing what they’ve already been doing together.

Here’s where we Westerners often fail: we want things done our way, to our standards. So we keep stepping in, keep taking over from the young leaders who are trying to find their footing.

Brothers, we must allow the leaders we are mentoring to make decisions. Yes, sometimes they’ll fail. Sometimes they’ll succeed beyond our expectations. But if we never release real responsibility, we’re setting them up for failure when we’re no longer there.