The right materials and methods won’t result in multiplication unless we have developed an intentional process designed to multiply.
A long process of learning
I was speaking to a group of missionaries in Asia about developing a ministry of multiplying disciple-makers. I was telling them how we had developed a process in our church plant where we were making disciples who make disciples who make disciples. At that point, one of the missionaries asked me how long it took us to develop that process.
I didn’t exactly know how to answer that question. After all, it was a cumulation of learning things over the years and of trying and developing methods and processes.
Collecting the right tools
During 33 years as a church planter, I was constantly looking for or modifying or developing materials to be more effective… Read the whole post
Category: DMM Page 1 of 2
What does a healthy house church look like? What are the elements of a healthy house church that would indicate to you that it will continue on and grow and multiply without you being present at the meetings?
Exit Planning
In our last few blog posts, we have discussed how helpful it is to envision the time when we are no longer needed in a church plant. We need to describe the functions and qualities that we would like to see in place and under local leadership. Once this happens, we can confidently move on and focus elsewhere. We called this an “exit plan” or a “transition plan.” Some may want to call this document a “church health plan” or a “finish line” and the process “end-visioning.”
As cross-cultural workers, we are always aware that we have been called to… Read the whole post
Photo by CALIN STAN on Unsplash
The book, “No Shortcut to Success: a Manifesto for Modern Missions” by Matt Rhodes piqued my interest as soon as I saw the title. Over the past couple of decade, I have often reflected on the question of what success means for missionaries. A number of the posts on this blog present those reflections.
How does the author define success?
Despite my expectation, Matt Rhodes does not put much effort into defining success for missionaries in his book. While admitting that every missionary dreams of success (p. 53), the author is quick to question the validity of many so-called “success stories” in missions (p.47). He is adamant that success can not be measured by numbers alone.
Ultimately, “success” in ministry isn’t a matter of numbers but of ministering in a way that honors the Lord.
Rhodes, Matt. No Shortcut to Success (9Marks) (p. 56). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
According to Rhodes, the goal of mission work is to establish mature, multiplying and enduring churches among the least reached.
I’m specifically concerned with the type of missions that sees its goal as establishing Christ-centered churches that are sufficiently mature to multiply and endure among peoples who have had little or no access to Jesus’s message.
Matt Rhodes, pp. 42-43.
In the last number of years, many books have been published about how to engage and do evangelism among Muslim peoples. But few books address the specifics of how to help new believers from Muslim contexts grow in their faith while remaining in their Muslim communities and families. Given that some claim that up to 90% of converts from Muslim backgrounds reconvert back to Islam, discipleship and support of these converts is clearly a critical need in mission work among Muslim peoples.
A few months ago, in this blog, I posted a review of Evelyn and Richard Hibberts’ “Walking Together on the Jesus Road: Intercultural Discipling.” Now, I would like to highlight another book in this same vein, speaking even more specifically to the challenges of disciple-making among Muslim peoples – Effective Discipling in Muslim Communities: Scripture, History and Seasoned Practices by Don Little. This book is one of those recommended on our SEND U pre-field reading list for those preparing to serve in Islamic contexts.
Stubborn Perseverance: How to launch multiplying movements of disciples and churches among Muslims and others (a story based on real events) by James Nyman with Robby Butler.
How-to manuals are generally difficult to read, and those who purchase them are not often motivated to read them from start to finish. Stubborn Perseverance is a different sort of how-to manual. Now in a second edition, the book explains a step-by-step process of starting a church planting movement among an unreached Muslim people group. But it is presented as a story, a novel that walks through the experience of a small group of Indonesian believers who work together to start such a movement among their own people group. The story is based on real events. The characters and their experiences were created by combining various people and their situations, both to protect their identity and to better illustrate a number of principles in one short book.
The author is telling a story that probably reflects his own experiences and the stories of many of his own friends. James Nyman (a pseudonym?), serves as a cross-cultural missionary in Indonesia. He and his wife have been actively seeking to start a church planting movement among an unreached people since 2009, and in the past few years, have been coaching various missionary teams and training workers in the skills and strategy outlined in the novel. So this novel is real-to-life, and its principles have been tried and refined in practice.