November 12, 2024
Church Planting, Disciple-making, Training

The 3 Thirds Process: building in multiplication

This entry is part 12 of 12 in the series "Church planting". In our post on “Building Your Multiplication Process”, we mentioned that we intentionally built processes into our various group gatherings so that the believers will be constantly reminded and enabled to “pass it on” to others. Multiplication will be built into all our environments. One of the tools we mentioned was the “3 Thirds Process” developed by Ying Kai during his time in China. (See his book, T4T: A Discipleship Re-Revolution). Kai sought to build a church culture that would expect multiplication to happen. He also wanted to develop a system that would make it simple to pass on. To build this culture and this system, Ying Kay developed what he called the 3 Thirds process.  Notice that this model is not a specific curriculum for the Bible portion of a Bible study. Rather, it is a well-rounded process used in… Read the whole post
Mentoring, Mission Methodologies, Church Planting, Disciple-making, DMM

Multiplication Process Development in Ministry: Strategies and Tools

This entry is part 11 of 12 in the series "Church planting". 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
Training

Building a Multiplication Process – What will it take?

This entry is part 10 of 12 in the series "Church planting". Building your multiplication process starts with understanding what it takes. It was my personal goal that everyone in our church could help plant a new church in the future. For that to happen, we needed to discover or develop methods that would be transferable. We needed a process that would enable all the members to join the work of making disciples. As we try to build a growth track for making, growing, and equipping disciples, it is helpful to clarify the stages it normally takes for a person to go from being “lost and unconnected” to becoming the mature and fruitful disciple God wants. Of course, each person grows in a unique way. But there normally is a sequence of stages of spiritual growth as a person moves from “lost and unconnected” to becoming a 3M disciple (maturing, ministering, and multiplying).… Read the whole post
Cross-Cultural Living, Spiritual Formation, Training, Adult Education, Pre-field Training

Why do missionaries need pre-field training?

A legitimate question When I first began leading our Member Orientation Program more than 10 years ago, I seldom, if ever, had to defend its legitimacy. All new missionaries assumed that they would need to go through the pre-field training program before leaving for their place of assignment. In fact, one of our greatest struggles was to convince new missionaries and their coaches that they should wait to enroll in Member Orientation until they had raised more of their support. The primary question was “When?”. When do I get to go to MOP? As we began conducting the training in the Philippines as well as in Michigan, a secondary question then became “Where?”. Where will I complete this training? But in more recent years, the questions have been different. Now we are dealing with the question of “Why?”. Why do I need to go through this particular pre-field training program?… Read the whole post
Coaching, Learning Attitude, Lifelong Learning, Training

Showing progress

We all want to see progress in our work. As disciples of Jesus, we long to see people’s lives change as they encounter Christ and his Word. We want to see churches planted, and then see those churches grow in size and in their impact on their community. But maybe we should be looking first of all for progress within ourselves. I have been a cross-cultural worker for more than 35 years. I believe that I have changed and grown in those three and a half decades. But do others see it as well? A few years ago a colleague told me that I led differently than I had in the past. I believe he said I had become a gentler leader. That was very encouraging for I realized that he had observed progress in me in areas that I really wanted to grow. It was also a reminder that… Read the whole post
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