A national partner in South Asia leads a discipleship group. The group consists of people from a former unreached, unengaged group. (IMB Photo)
By Chris Doyle, IMB
Mitch Englehart identifies himself as a “big thinker.” In 2004, while jogging in Arlington, Texas, God put the number “10 million” on his mind.
“At the time, I knew nothing about church planting or anything like that,” he said. “I felt that the Lord told me, ‘I want you to live and work in such a way that results in 10 million people walking with Me.’”
Englehart with his wife, Nellie, answered the call to serve as International Mission Board missionaries in South Asia. Once on the field, however, he realized that the 10 million figure was not the heart of the mission. The real task was to create a multiplying process, one that would equip countless others to reach the unreached.
“I had to find more people who could do the work,” he said. “Local leaders had to be part of this. We had to multiply disciples.”
He connected with national partners, sharing the vision of touching 10 million lives. As the collaboration deepened, the scope of the vision expanded. Working alongside other believers passionate about South Asia, Englehart’s goal swelled from 10 million to 100 million.
The journey was both exhilarating and exhausting. Partnerships grew and new fellowships started, but Englehart admits he also felt he was in a constant state of burden. Thankfully, Nellie was a calm, steady influence and a great support to keeping him anchored to God’s plan.
In moments of weariness, Englehart found solace reading Matthew 11:28, where Jesus invites, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
During a quiet devotional one day, Englehart once again read Matthew 11, but a verse that caught his attention was not just the promise of rest but the command that follows in verse 29: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
The simple invitation “learn from me” became his new focus. “You want me to learn from you, God?” Englehart asked.
What he discovered is every leader in the Bible was tutored by God. Nehemiah, Daniel, Abraham, Noah and others had personal walking relationships with God. “Even Jesus said, ‘I don’t know what to do unless the Father tells me,’” he said.
In his study of Scriptures on what it means to learn from God, he read Psalm 146 and was enlightened by The Message translation of the passage: “Don’t put your life in the hands of experts who know nothing of life, of salvation life. Mere humans don’t have what it takes; when they die, their projects die with them. Instead, get help from the God of Jacob, put your hope in God and know real blessing!”
“That was another kick in the pants for me,” Englehart said about reading Psalm 146 and applying what it meant to learn from God. His study revealed that the colossal numbers are secondary to the relational, disciple-making process that Jesus models.
The shift in focus produced tangible fruit. He went from having five national partners to 60, which resulted in more than 3,000 fellowships started and nearly 25,000 people being exposed to the Word of God.
Todd Lafferty, current IMB executive vice president, served as Englehart’s former supervisor in South Asia and was pleased with the work he and Nellie were doing.
“Mitch has a lot of giftings, and his big strengths are working with national partners,” Lafferty said. “We eventually had Mitch working with discovering how many of our people groups were unengaged. He did a great job in helping us in training leaders to do church-planting work.”
Lafferty said Englehart followed a strategy they developed, focusing on abiding in Christ in the Word and helping other leaders and partners grow spiritually and training them in the disciple-making process. Lafferty also highlighted Nellie’s ministry to families and children, noting how essential her work was to sustain the mission.
Englehart now serves in a broader IMB role, helping missionaries worldwide cultivate spiritually strong partnerships that become foundations for multiplying disciples.
The Engleharts are among thousands of couples who have devoted their lives to the IMB’s mission in reaching the lost. Their longevity illustrates a key factor in missionary endurance, which Lafferty explained is both spouses committed to missions.
“That’s what helps missionaries stay the long run,” Lafferty said. “Our average tenure now is 15 years.” This number of years is considerably higher than most averages for international field service.
The work in South Asia is far from finished. Both Englehart and Lafferty agree they have merely “scratched the surface.” As the vision expands from 100 million to even greater depths, Englehart remains committed to the simple God-centered formula that sparked the journey:
- Listen to God’s invitation. (“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.”)
- Equip local leaders to become disciple-makers.
- Multiply relationships – not merely numbers.
In doing so, he trusts that the lofty goal of reaching millions will flow naturally from lives transformed by the Teacher he continues to learn from each day.
Some names have been changed for security.