A true story from the author's personal experience:
Being a church planter is wonderful work but has its share of solemn responsibilities. For one thing, when a new work begins, one does not have the option of ministering from the Word on subjects of personal interest or preference but must consistently feed the young believers on the whole counsel of God through consecutive expository teaching so that they will be well grounded in the faith. Not only so, but one cannot assume that any subject will be known already. Errors and dangers abound and the only safeguard is a thorough knowledge of Scriptures. This pertains not only to matters of worship and ministry within the fellowship, but also to matters of service and outreach outside the church.
One time, when speaking in a young assembly on the subject of being a witness for Christ, I made the statement that "inviting a person to church" was not really a Biblical witness at all. A witness speaks from personal testimony telling what God has done "for me," and presents the good news of salvation to someone in need. After the meeting an elderly but spry lady perhaps in her 80's came up to me with a concerned look on her face. I knew she had grown up in a very conservative assembly where the gospel was preached every Sunday night whether there were any unsaved people present or not. This is what she said: "Young man, if what you said this morning is true, then I have rarely if ever brought a Biblical witness for the Lord as I have only been able to invite people to the meetings. I'm going home and ask the Lord to help me witness, really witness to some of my neighbors this week."
How, we might wonder, could someone raised in a godly home, attending a Christian assembly most of her life, come to such an awakening so late in life? Simply by passing the years in a place where (although never stated) it was implied that the New Testament pattern is to gather lost people around a trained professional who can present the message properly. Was it not true that over the years those few in fellowship had gotten saved right there in the church? Had not God given evangelists to preach the gospel? What could be more pleasing to God than to bring the lost to church? And so, year passes year, evangelists come and go, and the gospel meetings go on in the church, and the ordinary believer never learns to bring a Biblical witness for Christ out in the world where it is desperately needed, much less lead someone to the Savior.
There are lots of reasons why this is sad. But here is just one. When someone gets saved this way, and the evangelist leaves town, that new Christian's spiritual father is now far away. How much better to have ones spiritual parents sitting right beside them every Sunday to help them, hold them accountable for growth and attendance, and do all the things that spiritual babes need their spiritual parents to do. Evangelists, I urge you to consider the truth of Eph. 4:11,12 which plainly teaches that God "gave some.....evangelists.....for the perfecting (equipping) of the saints......" Why not tell the elders of the assemblies to which you go, that you want to spend a significant part of your time equipping the saints so that they will be better witnesses after you have gone away? You may even discover other evangelists in the congregation too.