"In comparison with the strategies employed by many ministries today, we could say Francis Schaeffer did everything wrong. He shunned the celebrity circuit, and was willing to minister on the other side of the ocean in an obscure village that no one had ever heard of. While many Christian leaders are obsessed with getting publicity, visibility and name recognition in order to raise money, Schaeffer was willing to start a small ministry completely invisible to the public, hidden away in the Swiss Alps. When he wrote about dying to our natural ambitions, he was not merely parroting a theological doctrine, his insights grew out of hard won personal experience.Nor did he use mass marketing techniques to get his name out and build a constituency. He did not have a fund development department to churn out an endless flood of fundraising letters, advertising copy, and premium offers. Instead he started with a modest list of prayer supporters, while his wife, Edith, typed personal letters to send out.Even more remarkable he was willing to get started by simply talking to his kids friends. As his children grew older they went down the mountain to Lausanne to attend university, and when their friends raised spiritual questions, they would say, 'You ought to talk to my Dad.' Since their home was so inaccessible, a chalet perched on the side of the mountain, once students arrived, they would have to spend the night. Later they would tell their friends about the earnest little man with the goatee and a powerful message, hidden away in the Alps. And they would tell their friends, and after a while the Schaeffers had students sleeping everywhere - on couches, on floors, and in the hallways.This is how L'Abri grew into a home based ministry: It was completely an organic process, as the Schaeffers talked to real people about real questions. No five year marketing plans, no list of goals and objectives, no pumping donors for major gifts, no PR campaign to project an image. The ministry grew almost completely by word of mouth, as the Schaeffers prayed that God would bring them the people of His choice.Many of Schaeffer's former colleagues thought he was crazy to give up opportunities in the States to speak before large audiences and build a mega organization. Some were angry and critical, accusing him of wasting his gifts. What kind of ministry is that, they asked, just talking to people. Later Schaeffer was to say in a sermon that if we can speak to thousands, we may have to die to that, and be willing to speak to one or two at a time. Clearly his insights were not abstract but were the fruit of his courage to follow God's leading in the face of sometimes vicious criticism...In many ministries, there is relentless pressure for constant growth: Every year the numbers have to be bigger, the results more impressive, so that donors will be moved to write another check. By contrast, I once heard Schaeffer speak at a conference where he was asked what would happen if someday, the money didn't come in. He responded simply: 'I guess we'll be smaller.' The conference hall erupted into applause at such a refreshing lack of pretentiousness. His mentality was that God had a time and a purpose for L'Abri and when it had fulfilled tha tpurpose, it might simply end."Nancy Pearcey, Total Truth, p.376-77