The Disciple Making Process

How to Start and Multiply Simple Churches - T4T = Training for Trainers

Below are a few foundational discipleship practices that when followed will produce a simple five-step process for making disciples (and stating simple churches). Each step in the process has a priority that overflows into practical application, which together serves as a discipleship track for bringing new disciples to faith and helping them make more disciples. We call this overall process of training people to be disciple makers, “T4T”, or Training for Trainers. 2 Timothy 2:2 says we are to “train faithful people who will train others also”. We call this process “pray, meet, make, gather, multiply”. Or to give it a more poetic spin, Entreat, Engage, Equip, Encounter, Expand

Entreat

PRAY to the Lord of the Harvest

Defined:  Entreat the Lord of the Harvest through prayer alone, in your team, and with the church

• To do prayer walking on site to gain insight

• To hear directions from the Lord in prayer

• To receive revelation from God about specific people

• To keep our hearts strong when we feel weak

• To gain courage and boldness when we feel fearful

• To receive God’s love for people who don’t know Jesus by asking for it

• Pray “The Prayer of Three” for three people who don’t know Jesus – every day!

Principle: Prayer keeps us in touch with God’s heart, God’s power and God’s plans

Prayer is conversing with God, and when we spend time in God’s presence and receive God’s power, we are equipped to win the lost. Prayer is partnering with God to change people’s lives.

“One day Jesus told his disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must never give up. 2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who was a godless man with great contempt for everyone. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, appealing for justice against someone who had harmed her. 4 The judge ignored her for a while, but eventually she wore him out. ‘I fear neither God nor man,’ he said to himself, 5 ‘but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’” 6 Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this evil judge. 7 Even he rendered a just decision in the end, so don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who plead with him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when I, the Son of Man, return, how many will I find who have faith?” Luke 18:1-8 NLT

Priority: Entreat the Father and the Lord of the Harvest, the Holy Spirit, to give you a passion to reach people with the good news of Jesus.

Make a list of 30-50 friends, relatives, co-workers, fellow students, etc., and then from that list, ask the Lord to show you three people you should focus your prayers on. Ask god daily for them to be saved. Ask for opportunities for you to share your story, and then the God Story. Make an appointment to spend time with them hearing their story, then follow up and share your story. If they are spiritually hungry, start meeting with them regularly to read a few verses from the Gospels and discuss them together. Begin a D-Group (see post dated November 15, 2009). It’s simple and doable!.

Practice: BE-Committed to prayer!

Use a prayer room/chapel if there is one available, get up an hour early to pray, fast one meal or one day a week, go for prayer walks where you live and where you want to reach people, and join in prayer with a few others who will agree together to see a breakthrough. There is no significant movement of people coming to Christ that is not been preceded by at least 1-2 hours a day in concentrated prayer.

Engage

Reach out to PEOPLE WHO DON’T KNOW JESUS, ESPECIALLY THOSE YOU PRAY “THE PRAYER OF THREE” FOR

Defined: Engage people through sharing your story and sharing the gospel

• To connect with people who don’t know Jesus

• To involve someone in an activity or to become involved or take part in an activity that results in people becoming disciples of Jesus

• To engage in conversation, to hold someone’s attention or to win the trust of somebody

• To find the person of peace who will open more doors to the gospel

Principle: The 99 & the 1

God places a high value on lost people. He taught us not to spend all our time and energy with the 99, but to go after the lost one.

Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. - Luke 15:1-7

Priority: Engage your culture and community; meet people who are not Christ-followers and spend time building friendships with them. Respond to those who are open and want to learn more. Because people are valuable to God, we must intentionally and strategically engage our culture and community. Focus on those you know who are not following Jesus. Pray for them. Build relationship with them. Hear their story. Share your story of how you came to faith in Jesus.

Practice: BE-Connected with people

BE-Connected to the world to connect them to God, in sincere friendship through

• Join sports clubs, serve your community, get to know neighbors, hang out with friends

• Make 3 appointments: to hear a friends life story, to share your faith story, and to start a seekers Bible study for those who are open

Equip

EQUIP PEOPLE one-to-one and in small, seekers bibles studies (called D-groups)

Defined: To equip is to disciple a person through friendship, one-to-one appointments and seekers Bible studies, or “D-Groups”

• To equip is to start or set up one-to-one meetings or a D-Group with the intention of helping a person become a fully devoted follower of Jesus, a disciple

• To equip is to train the new disciple to disciple others also. This is the heart of the T-4-T process, training people from the beginning to be obedient disciple makers who know how to share their story of coming to Christ, how to share the gospel, and how to disciple someone who comes to faith in Christ

Principle: Foundations First

As we help a person progress toward obedience and being a disciple maker themselves, we must help them establish strong spiritual foundations in their lives including changing one’s world view, sinful habits of behavior, and wrong values That happens through helping people learn to obey truth as revealed in the Bible.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” - Matthew 7:24-27

Priority: Establish Spiritual Foundations

Because foundations are essential for spiritual growth, we must help our disciples establish solid biblical foundations at the start of their spiritual journey. Those foundations include reviewing and discussing the five truths found in the God Story:

1. Creation – the character and nature of God as loving, holy creator

2. Rebellion – the nature of sin and spiritual warfare, beginning with Satan’s rebellion in heaven and continuing with Adam and Eve’s rebellion in the garden

3. Sacrifice – what God has done to forgive our rebellion and sin, starting with “pictures” of sacrifice in the Old Testament, leading to Jesus sacrifice on the cross, and faith in his sacrifice for us

4. Return – the importance of repentance and living a lifestyle of obedience based on God’s love and grace

5. Commission – the wonderful truth that we are all commission to go and tell others about Jesus and to make disciples, including how to do that practically

Following up to these five foundation lessons, we suggest using the booklet One-2-One with the eight lessons on salvation, repentance, forgiveness, prayer, church, spiritual warfare, and so on. This is an excellent little booklet the size of an index card and can be easily carried in a shirt pocket, purse, pants pocket, etc., and referred to at any time.

Practice: BE-Open to learn and grow and share with others in a D-Group

BE-Open is all about becoming all God wants you to BE. To BE-Open is to be dependent

on each person having the right foundations laid in their lives.

EMPOWER

TO EMPOWER is to encourage New believers to grow spiritually with others in COMMUNITY. this happens THROUGH EXPERIENCING SIMPLE CHURCH AND IN worshipping God in BIG GROUP CELEBRATIONS WITH OTHER BELIEVERS

Defined:   “Empower” through enjoying community and experiencing the presence and love of God in His people, the church

• To “empower” a new believer is to provide a person with what is needed to grow as a member of God’s family, the church

• The goal of empowering people is so they can function as a believer-priest in community with others who love Jesus. It is to help a person learn what simple church is and how to actively grow with other followers of Jesus in community through transparency, praying for others, serving others, and discovering their unique spiritual gifts and calling.

Principle: The Myth of Maturity – Why We Need Each Other

Spiritual progress, not perfection, qualifies a person to minister to others. Every believer is called to be a minister and that means being part of a spiritual family, a local church community. We empower people by teaching them that every believer is a minister, that all have a role to play, and breaking free of dependence on hierarchical forms of church leadership. We empower by encouraging respect for spiritual leaders but also by helping people take responsibility for their own spiritual growth.

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. - Ephesians 4:11-13

Priority: Empower All Believers to Minister and to Be Ministered To

Because every member is called to be a minister, we must equip all believers with basic ministry skills. God’s Word is the ultimate equipping tool. Hearing God speak through the Word is crucial for growth. Modeling how to give and receive from one another is foundational for growing healthy, self-governing, self-reproducing church communities.

Practice: BE-Empowered! – By Practicing the “One Another’s” of the New Testament

BE-Empowered happens when believers can pray out loud, confess their sins and faults to one another, bear one another’s burdens, and encourage one another.

Expand

To expand AND MULTIPLY SIMPLE CHURCHES, WE FOLLOW THE”MAWL” COACHING MODEL. MAWL STANDS FOR: Model, assist, watch, then leave - “ Mawl”. churches can multiply and expand through local leaders taking the lead. this is the heart of T4T – to train every person who is willing to train others. 2 timothy 2:2

Defined: “Expand” through multiplying leaders who train leaders who train leaders

• To give people the skills and know-how and to help them gain confidence that they can be a disciple making leader who trains others to be disciple making leaders

• To give somebody a greater sense of confidence or self-esteem by providing coaching, mentoring and training as needed.

Principle: The Miracle of Multiplication

Every disciple should make disciples, and every disciple can lead simple churches that multiply by making more disciples

“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” - 2 Timothy 2:2

Priority: Equip and Empower all Disciples to Make Disciples

Because Jesus expects all disciples to make disciples, we must not only equip them, but also empower them to make disciples.

Practice: BE-Expanders of the Kingdom! - “where disciples are multiplied”

Lifestyle of fruitfulness gives disciples the opportunity to receive continued training and mentoring on being and making disciples.

5Es Principle Summary

Entreat: Prayer Changes Things - Luke 18:1-8 - Entreat the Father to Prepare Peoples Hearts for the Seed of the Gospel BE-Committed

Engage: 99 & 1 - Luke 15:1-7, 10:1-10 - Engage the Culture and Community – Look for the Person of  Peace BE-Connected

Equip: Foundations First - Matthew 7:24-27 - Equip Believers With Right Foundations BE-Equipped

Empower: The Myth of Maturity - Ephesians 4:11-13 - Empower All Believers to Minister and to Be Ministered To BE-Empowered

Expand: The Miracle of Multiplication - 2 Timothy 2:2 - Empower All Disciples to Make Disciples BE-Expanded

How to Discern False Prophets, False Teachers and False Doctrine

There are some people who claim to be teaching the truth but are in fact, false teachers and false prophets. There is a difference between what is true and what is false. Paul the apostle wrote to the Galatians and warned them about false doctrine. He said even if an angel from heaven taught something different than the gospel Paul gave them that angel was not to be believed:

“Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including myself, who preaches any other message than the one we told you about. Even if an angel comes from heaven and preaches any other message, let him be forever cursed.” Galatians 1:8

Paul rebuked the Galatians for turning away from the truth and believing a false gospel:

“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel…” Galatians 1:6

What do we learn from these two verses? We learn there are false teachers and false doctrines and we need to be on our guard against them. Satan uses false teachers and false prophets and false apostles to lead people away from the truth. Satan uses lies, temptations and deception. The weapon we have to fight the spiritual battle against deception is the Word of God, the Bible.

We can usually tell false teachers because they believe they have something they believe makes them “special” or better than other Christians. Be on guard for people who have something that they think makes them better than others!!!

For example:

1. A “better” teaching – a doctrine that is better or different than what followers of Christ believe

2. A “better” book – a book or translation that is better than the Bible itself

3. A “better” leader – their leader is a holy man and they worship him or treat him different than other Christians

4. A “better” experience – like a dream, or they have a revelation, or something happens to them that makes them more holy or more spiritual than other Christians

False teachers usually teach false doctrines in these six categories:

1. False teaching about God’s nature and character. God is good, just, true, infinite, eternal, the creator and all knowing, all powerful and all wise. Any doctrine or teaching that denies God’s greatness, His goodness, or the truth that He is the creator (and not part of the creation) is false teaching. We are told to worship God and no one else and nothing else. It is false teaching/false religion to worship angels, people, ancestors, or spirits.

2. False teaching about Jesus’ deity, death, resurrection and second coming. Jesus was born of a virgin, was fully God and fully man, died on the cross for our sins, was raised from the dead on the third day, and is coming again. Any teaching that denies that Jesus is God in human flesh is false teaching, that he has already come in some other human form, or that is not returning again is false teaching.

3. False teaching about Salvation by grace through faith in Jesus death on the cross. Jesus died on the cross for our sins – there is no other way to be saved than to believe on the Lord Jesus with our hearts and to confess Him with our mouths as God and saviour. We cannot earn our salvation through doing things to make God forgive us. Salvation is God’s gift to us. God’s part was to send Jesus to die for us to take the punishment for our sins, and our part is to believe and receive. We can never do anything to guarantee or earn our salvation by our good works. Any teaching that denies Jesus died on the cross is false teaching. Any doctrine that substitutes “works” for grace and faith is false teaching. The evidence of our faith in God’s grace to us is repentance from sin.

4. False teaching about sin as rebellion against God and His law. There are people who teach that we can sin freely since God gives us grace and freely forgives us. Other false teachers tell us there is no such thing as sin. Any compromise of God’s standards of righteousness and what requires of spiritual leaders to live above reproach is false teaching. Any teaching that takes away the seriousness of sin is a form of rebellion against God.

5. False teaching about the Bible, that it is not divinely inspired truth and the final authority for life and doctrine. False cults and deceived teachers and churches teach there are other books that are better than the Bible, or that the Bible has errors and their Bible/holy book is the only one to be trusted. Such groups as the Mormons, Jehovah’s witnesses, and other groups try to substitute their version of the Bible for the Bible itself.

6. False teaching about prophets, apostles and leaders in the church. Such teaching gives leaders too much power and authority. It makes them exceptions to what the Bible teaches about sin, repentance, and accountability to others. Usually these leaders live lives of extreme wealth, and do not have others around them who can say “no” to them, which means they have absolute power to do what they say God is telling them to do. They are not accountable to others.

Below are Bible verses from the New Testament that warn us and help us understand who are false teachers and what is false doctrine. Sometimes false teachers are also called “false prophets”. A false teacher taught false doctrine, while a false prophet claimed to know the future or make prophecies about the future. Remember, even if they sound good, or look good, even they look like an angel, from heaven or do miracles, they can be led by demons and used by Satan himself. All verses below are from the New Living Translation (NLT).

• Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really wolves that will tear you apart.

• Matthew 7:21 - 23  “Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as ‘Lord,’ but they still won’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. 22 On judgment day many will tell me, ‘Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized.’

• Matthew 24:11 And many false prophets will appear and will lead many people astray.

• Matthew 24:24 For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great miraculous signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones.

• Romans 16:17  And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things that are contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them.

• Acts 13:6 Afterward they preached from town to town across the entire island until finally they reached Paphos, where they met a Jewish sorcerer, a false prophet named Bar-jesus.

• 2Corinthians 11:13 - 15 These people are false apostles. They have fooled you by disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 But I am not surprised! Even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no wonder Satan’s servants can also do it by pretending to be godly ministers. In the end they will get every bit of punishment their wicked deeds deserve.

• 2Corinthians 11:26 I have traveled many weary miles. I have faced danger from flooded rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the stormy seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be Christians but are not.

• Ephesians 4:14 Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth.

• Galatians 2:4 Even that question wouldn’t have come up except for some so-called Christians there—false ones, really—who came to spy on us and see our freedom in Christ Jesus. They wanted to force us, like slaves, to follow their Jewish regulations.

• Colossians 2:18 Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on self-denial. And don’t let anyone say you must worship angels, even though they say they have had visions about this. These people claim to be so humble, but their sinful minds have made them proud.

• 1Timothy 1:3 When I left for Macedonia, I urged you to stay there in Ephesus and stop those who are teaching wrong doctrine.

• 2Peter 2:1 But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach their destructive heresies about God and even turn against their Master who bought them. Theirs will be a swift and terrible end.

• 1John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.

Don't Fear Failure

"I hope you fail!" Who would say something like that?? Failure is a word that most of us would like to remove from our vocabulary. None of us like it, and we certainly don't want to experience it. But we'll all face it sometime. The important thing is to be ready to turn to God in the midst of it. He is a faithful teacher in every situation.

I heard of a high school commencement speaker who said something very unusual in his address. He was chosen to speak because of his success as the president of a large business. As he stood before the students, he told them that he had one desire for them. As they go out into the world, he hoped they would fail at something that was important to them. He told how his early years had been one failure after another, until he finally learned to see failure as a very effective teacher in his life.

We see this in the Bible. Many songs from Israel had their birth in times of failure. "As the deer longs for flowing streams, so longs my soul for you, O God." Ps. 42:1-2

David often cried out to God in the midst of hard times and failure. "Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears!" Ps. 39:12

We often aren't ready to turn to God, to seek His wisdom, and receive His strength until we come to the end of ourselves. There are many examples in the Bible that tell of mountains of faith rising from valleys of failure. Before we get to the successes we strive for, we may need to first see the failure of precious dreams we hold in our hearts. We may need to learn to trust God's love, wisdom, and guidance when it takes us down paths we hadn't planned. We may fall flat on our faces a few times. We may struggle. We will certainly be humbled. We must learn from our failures, or we will fail to learn.

We must persevere through the difficult times in our life, through the failures. We can grit our teeth and just barely make it through, or we can learn and grow. God promises to go with us through difficult times. We can go through the fire and not be burned - by His grace! We don't need to fear. We must choose to not give up, but to look to Him. Sometimes we have to pick up the pieces and begin again. The failures and difficulties we struggle with can sometimes be the back door to a great success or victory that God has for us.

As I look back through my life, I see "seasons" of trial, difficulty, and, yes, failure. It's interesting that some of my greatest seasons of growth coincide with those same seasons. The pain, the stretching, the wrestling for answers and provision, the tears, and the questions (all things I don't really like) brought fruit and release into my life. They all brought me closer to Him. We say God is in control. In the face of difficulty and failure we need to stand firm on the truth of that even more!

"Why are you cast down, O my soul?....Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him." Ps. 42:5 

Don't Pass the Torch - Start With it in Their Hands!

Keys to starting a church planting movement

Coaches and leaders in church planting movements agree that there is no ‘passing of the torch’ as much as it is starting ‘with the torch in their hand’. One of our team leaders has been bending over double to make sure, in his words, “I don’t ‘pastor’, but plant, coach and mentor well. My big hope is that this current church plant could lead to some big things because I’m not aiming to pass the torch, but to begin with the torch in their hands…”

He says that prayer was the absolute key to seeing breakthroughs in Red Hill and that is what he continues to do with his team more than anything: pray for breakthroughs!

Through a short term team from Scotland and their efforts, they found the man of peace in the upper camp in Red Hill. His name is Freddie. Freddie is the man the team has been praying for. “! I asked God for a ton of wisdom in raising up Freddie and I believe he is giving it,” says Gawie, the team leader.

In a nutshell: Freddie’s a true man of peace as he himself gathered a group of almost ten people. This is a big key. It doesn’t help if we as outsiders gather the people – ‘a true man of peace is one who opens the door of faith to others in the community.’ Freddie did exactly that! Our team merely worked with Freddie.

Freddie will be leading the D-Group ABC process from next week. We have modeled, assisted and now it is time for Freddie to take the lead. So this is crunch time where I’ve modelled twice now and made it clear to the group and to Freddie that they will be continuing to facilitate the D-Group themselves. They’ve wholeheartedly agreed!

I also see great potential in the young men attending! They are for the most part pre-believers which makes it even more exciting! The hunger in their eyes shows me God is at work! Big time! My heart is crying out to God for a big discipleship movement!

I get emotional about this. My heart longs to see Him receive more worship. Hearts that love him… Lost people saved… Oh how I long to see Jesus save the people in Red Hill. Daily when I walk there I see lostness. I can’t stand it anymore. I long to see a harvest of people meet Him as the Savior. My heart yearns for souls and for the Lamb to be glorified.

God at Work at Work!

Hello,

I just received the following note from one of our All Nations leaders, Werner Els, living in Pretoria, South Africa. It is incredibly encouraging report about God at Work at Work! I believe God longs for His church to break out of the "church" happens on Sunday paradigm, to see what He will do when we invite Him to work through us at work.

I have been discipling Werner off and on for several years, and have encouraged him to be courageous and creative about igniting a church at his work place.

This is the result!

Floyd

"When I started working at Aerosud I was full of plans to share the gospel with people without them knowing I am sharing it with them (you get weird and not so wonderful things when you combine passion and fear of man!). MY plans started off well until one day (in 2007) I sensed strongly that God wanted to show me something in Aerosud. Since then I got to understand that MY plans do NOT = His plans for me/Aerosud and that Jesus came to give us life in abundance...

As I surrendered MY plans to the Lord I gradually lost my passion for my work since that DRIVE wasn’t there anymore. It was like Samson without his hair… But God did something; He returned my focus on Him and stirred my passion and love for Him. During all of this I felt I had to be faithful with the few things I knew the Lord had called me for in Aerosud, one of them being Broeikas. Now Broeikas is a place where people meet during lunch times... God wanted Broeikas to BE an incubator for meeting people's spiritual needs... We want to see fruit! We want to see God’s kingdom being manifested through the lives of every person working here...

One afternoon in October 2009 I received a call from one our senior level managers saying that he wants to talk to me. Walking into his office I saw that something was different with this man. He shared with me that he went through a tough time in his life and that he was down and out. The one day whilst walking in the corridor he passed one of our prayer warriors and he asked him “how are you”? Peter replied “I am exceptional”. This struck Johan and he said to Peter that his life is falling apart. Peter took him to his office WHERE HE COMMITTED HIS LIFE TO CHRIST AND SURRENDERED ALL HIS BURDENS!!! Praise be to God!! Jippiee! He is the 1st convert on company turf that we know about ;-) and has already made a huge impact in his department.
I asked Johan how I can support him in his journey and he asked for prayer. So I told him that we gather twice a week to pray for the company and the needs of people and that he will get prayer there. Afterwards he shared this with Jacques in his department and a lady overheard them and then the ball started rolling. Elizca was upset and phoned me telling me that more people needs to know about what God is doing when we meet at Broeikas and that we must reach out to people. So she sent out e-mails to the whole company inviting people... Needless to say a lot of people came and the ball started growing in size (10 people out of one manager's department come regularly)…

After Goitse, a passionate follower of Jesus, shared from his heart a few teachings on love, one of the new guys felt that we should share the love of the Lord and lead people to repentance. So we organised a ‘God week’ / mission week and even the CEO gave his blessing for this. This started on Monday 23rd of November and will continue until Friday the 28th.

We have already prayed a lot for the impact of this initiative and even started prayer walking around the peripheral of the company. I believe there is power in prayer because God hears our pleas and answers them. I want to ask you to please intercede for the people in Aerosud. We have one opportunity and want to make the best of it!..."

What's the Difference Between Godly Initiative and Fleshly Ambition?

Peter the Apostle – Acts 1:15

Peter was by definition a leader who did not wait for someone else to lead. In Acts 1:15, there is an example of Peter taking initiative to find a replacement for Judas. Some would say that the man who replaced Judas, Matthias, was never heard of again, therefore it was wrong of Peter to take the lead the way he did. But that is an argument from silence. There is no basis of confirming that view in Scripture. What we do know from Scripture is that people who wait for others are not leaders, but followers. Peter demonstrated initiative. He was a leader. Initiative like what Peter had requires faith, foresight, risk, boldness, courage and the willingness to experience rejection.

Peter showed initiative when he stepped out of the boat and walked on water to Jesus. While others waited, Peter acted, and he experienced God. During his lifetime, he healed a lame men, brought the gospel to the Gentiles, and preached to multitudes. Why? Because Peter took initiative in making decisions. Initiative is the earmark of a true leader.

John Maxwell comments in The Maxwell Leadership Bible that it is easier to run from a challenge than to step out and take a risk (page 1085). Peter was the man who stepped out of the boat and walked on water. It’s true that he made big mistakes and sometimes acted or spoke before he thought things through, but at least he acted while others watched and waited. Jesus encouraged such initiative in Peter by affirming his faith: “Upon this rock”, Jesus said, “I will build my church”.

There is a huge difference between fleshly ambition and godly initiative. Fleshly ambition is based on an inner motivation to prove ourselves, to gain acceptance or approval, to avoid rejection and to maintain control. Fleshly ambition can be based on a performance mentality of "doing the right thing". However, one can be busy without being spiritual. Fleshly ambition may start off as godly initiative, but if one does not stay close to Jesus, what “begins in the Spirit can end in the flesh” (Galatians 3:3). Fleshly ambition can come from believing we have to make something happen, that we are responsible for getting things done or that we are responsible for taking care of people. Fleshly ambition is not always about trying to be famous; it’s more often about an unreasonable need to be responsible.

Godly initiative, on the other hand, is the fruit of responding to revelation from God about what He wants us to do, and then doing it in faith. Godly initiative is done in faith that God will move on the hearts of people to do their part. Godly initiative is born in faith as an act of obedience to God, and then trusting God in others. True enough, there are times when our motive is honorable but our behavior is in the flesh… our motives are right, but we try too hard to “get it right”. At it’s root, Godly initiative is motivated by trust: trust in God, trust in the holy Spirit to do what only He can do, and trust in others to listen and obey God. Fleshly ambition occurs when we try too hard: we end up micro-managing people and circumstances to make sure things are done right. Even though our hearts can be right right, our actions will be wrong not if we don’t act in faith.

Lack of initiative, or passivity, is a result of a low sense of security, a paralyzed will, believing lies about ourselves and God, poor self-esteem, and low self-confidence. Low self-confidence is more often low Holy Spirit-confidence.

When Peter got out of the boat and walked to Jesus on water (Matthew 14:29), he was taking initiative. When he did that, Peter showed these qualities of initiative:

1. He knew what he wanted – to walk to Jesus

2. He stirred himself to act – and before he could talk himself out of it, he did it

3. He took risks – and he was willing to fail in front of others

4. He made more mistakes by taking initiative – but he showed more faith and boldness

5. He went with his gut instinct – and learned discernment on the journey

To be passive is safe but being safe is not always to be wise or Godly. SAFE theology can mean:

• S – Self-protection

• A – Avoidance of danger

• F – Financial security

• E – Escape from difficult circumstances

If God is stirring your heart, step out of the boat like Peter! Take some risks and learn as you do so. There is no failure with God if your desire is to please God, only learning and growing in God.

Casting a Compelling Vision

In Acts 1:1-8, we find Jesus’ disciples thinking in terms of what is best for their country; they totally misunderstand the nature of the Kingdom of God and what Jesus is about to do through them to advance His kingdom. They asked Jesus, “When will you restore the kingdom to Israel”? They are in a defensive mindset, thinking about how to protect Israel from Roman rule. Jesus wanted them to be in a offensive mindset, not to fight political battles but to battle for the broken hearted and bring the good news to the poor. To stir their hearts with faith and inspire them for with a bigger dream for their lives, Jesus paints a compelling vision of the future. The vision Jesus casts to them is an obedience based vision – what God will do if they as men and women obey Him.

Leaders in God’s kingdom are used by God to cast compelling vision. God uses servant leaders to stir people’s hearts to believe for great things to happen, to help them align their thinking and living with what God wants to do in their lives. A Spirit empowered vision can turn people away from selfish and petty dreams for their lives, to the greater dream God has for their lives. A vision inspired by revelation from God does just that in people’s hearts if it is delivered with skill and with the right attitude.

Spirit empowered vision:

• Jesus spoke with conviction – “he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem…” 1:4

• Spirit empowered vision is received as a revelation from God – “you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit” 1:5

• Spirit empowered vision carries with it a sense of urgency – “”not many days from now” 1:6

• God always allows His people to question and assess- “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom?” 1:6

• Spirit empowered vision caries with it a sense of priority – “It is not for you… but you shall receive power…” 1:8

• It defines the scope of activity – “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth…” 1:8

• It is fulfilled through obedience – “Don’t depart…wait…” 1:4-6

• It aims to advance God’s kingdom and serve people – “you shall be witnesses to me…in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth…” 1:8

• Vision provides a compelling picture of the future – “you shall receive power… you shall be witnesses…in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the end of the earth…” 1:8

Flesh based vision:

• Spoken with human enthusiasm, not Godly conviction

• It comes from the creative and competitive mind of man, not a true revelation from God

• There is a sense of demand or manipulation, not Spirit empowered urgency

• Fulfilled by staying ahead of others not advancing God’s kingdom

• Aims to generate money and grow an organization, not bring people to faith and serve the poor

• There are no healthy boundaries and freedoms to live in peace

• It will be changed easily for something "better" or new

Leadership Selection in the New Testament

Acts 1:15-26

There are several truths in the New Testament regarding leadership appointment:

1. Church leadership was never determined by democracy. Leaders were chosen by other leaders and approved by the communities they were part of, but never voted on.

2. Local church communities were sometimes invited to be part of the process of choosing leaders, but leaders oversaw the process.

3. Leaders were given time to emerge organically before they were appointed.

4. Leaders are anointed by God and appointed by people.

The normal pattern in the New Testament was for proven leaders from outside a local church community to recognize the gifts of leadership in others and publicly appoint them. Jesus did this with His apostles (Luke 6:12), as did Paul in the churches he planted (Acts 14:21-23). Because those who are gifted as apostles are the ones who most often pioneer new churches, it is the apostles who most often appointed local church leaders (by apostles we do not mean people who held an office called “apostleship” but those who functioned as pioneering church planters).

There is no example in the New Testament of local church elders or trans-local apostles, prophets or evangelists being chosen by election. God worked primarily through the principle of existing leaders appointing other leaders. For example, Paul sent Titus to appoint leaders in the churches in Crete (Titus 1:5). At the Jerusalem council (Acts 15), it was the apostles and elders who came together to judge the dispute between the churches. And it was a senior amongst them, James the apostle, who led this very important gathering.

What qualifies leaders to appoint other leaders? It is a person’s spiritual gift, their trust relationship with the church or movement, their maturity, and their experience in doing the work of ministry that qualified them to recognize and appoint other leaders.

Leaders tend to appoint leaders who carry the same spiritual “DNA”, i.e., the same values. This is important because it allows the vision and passion of a leader to be imparted to others (see Romans 15:15-21 – Paul did not want to “build on another man’s foundation”). It might seem contradictory to believe that it is the New Testament pattern for leaders to appoint leaders and at the same time advocate organic church planting movements, but I believe that this pattern of leaders appointing leaders is a recognition of the truth that God wants there be a DNA transfer from church to church by those who are evangelizing and pioneering among the churches. The type of leadership we are speaking of is not positional or hierarchical leadership, but organic apostolic leadership. People who take initiative to start new churches by leading people to Christ are quite naturally accepted by others are their leaders. Those who are fathers and mothers in the Lord, who create family and who have spiritual sons and daughters they have led to faith in Christ, are naturally leading the way.

The practice of leaders of appointing leaders also creates accountability between churches through proven men and women who exercise one of the leadership “equipping” gifts described by Paul in Ephesians 4. As apostles and teachers and shepherds and prophets and evangelists move between church communities they are able to provide needed wisdom so the churches don’t become isolated or subject to false doctrine. In other words, there is a need from outside a local church community for help in discerning who qualifies to serve as elders inside the local church community, especially in the beginning stages of the life of a new church. It is those with one of the five gifts of equipping leadership that are able to discern others with the same gifts as themselves.

Scripture passages that reinforce the Biblical truth of leaders appointing leaders:

• The apostles chose another apostle – Acts 1:26

• When there was a need for some admin help in the early church, the apostles oversaw the process of selection and appointment of these leaders – Acts 6:1-6

• Jesus modeled the truth of leaders appointing leaders: He chose apostles from among his disciples to be leaders among them – Luke 6:12

• The elders oversaw the distribution of goods to the poor among them – Acts 11:30

• When their was a dispute, it was the apostles and elders that functioned as representatives of the people that judged the matter, and an apostle among them, James, who chaired the gathering – Acts 15:4, 16:4

• At the end of his life, Paul called for the elders of a church to come together – Acts 20:17ff

• When there were problems in the church in Crete, Paul sent Titus to set things in order and to appoint elders – Titus 1:5

It is interesting to note that after they had cast lots for Matthias and he was numbered with the eleven apostles, we never hear about Matthias again. There is no reason given in the New Testament why this is true. We can speculate that Peter got ahead of the Lord in appointing someone, or that it was the method of casting lots that failed them, or simply that Matthias was a quiet man of God who served humbly in the background. We don’t know why this is the way it is, and it would be a mistake to speculate from silence of the Scriptures as to why it is so.

Bride Price

I referred to "bride price" in a recent letter to some friends. One of them asked me what this means and why I am against it.

The bride price practice in Africa is part of the socio-economics of Africa. It is a way of providing a sort of pension for parents. Young men and their families are expected to give cash and cows to the bride's family. A price that is negotiated between the elders representing the two families. The price is determined by future bride's father and uncles. Where this practice causes problems is when young men or their families cannot pay the bride price, but they go ahead and live together.

The families would cut them off the young man if he got married without paying the bride price. However, it is common for a man to live with the woman he plans to marry some day without getting married while he tries to save or find a way to pay the bride price, and of course the couple normally have several children as well. Many of the men leave the woman they are living with if they prefer another woman or move back home to the tribal area. There is flexibility on the part of the family and tribal elders to accept their sons and daughters living together, but there is no tolerance for them to get officially married until the bride price is paid.

This double standard has led to destruction in many people's lives. Sally and I are trying to understand how to honour African traditions and practices but to also work for transformation of those practices that are creating havoc in people's lives, especially innocent children.

The MAWL Process

Discovery Groups exist to lead a group of people to Christ and form a new church. During the limited  lifespan of the group, the role of the church planter changes. His goal is to remove himself from the group so that leadership will emerge from within the group. The MAWL (Model – Assist/equip – Watch  – Leave) process describes this (the entire MAWL process can take up to 2 years):

M odel

• The Church Planter models the Discovery Group process to the group and rapidly hands over parts of the process until the group is doing it without his help. The Church Planter should meet with the facilitators regularly outside the group time to teach the process and evaluate the group.

• The modelling should be no longer than three weeks. If the church planter is still in this stage after 8 weeks, he should seriously re-evaluate the group (In all likelihood, he has not found a person of peace/ inside leader or has a problem letting go of leadership).

• The best time to hand over leadership is from Day 1! The Church Planter may even teach the Discovery Group process to the inside facilitator before the group launches. The inside facilitator then leads from the first time the group gathers with the Church Planter assisting in the meeting and equipping outside the meeting times.

Potential Problm: If the Church Planter does not rapidly release to inside facilitators, the group will become increasingly reliant on him or her to lead and members will not take ownership of the group.

A ssist/ Equip

• The Church Planter assists the group during the meetings while the inside facilitator facilitates. The Church Planter’s primary role is to keep the group focused on following the Discovery Group process. If the group strays from this (eg: someone starts preaching, they skip the obedience section, etc) then the Church Planter or the inside facilitator should gently bring the group back to the Discovery Group process.

• The Church Planter also equips the inside facilitator or emerging facilitation team (2 or 3) outside the meetings. He reviews the last meeting with the facilitator. He helps the emerging facilitators to see their shortfalls, discusses problem areas and encourages them.

• Increasingly, the Church Planter should allow the group to self-correct. He should become more and more silent in the meetings, allowing the group the opportunity to spot and correct their own mistakes.

• The Church Planter also begins to enter into a mentoring role with the emerging facilitators. He holds them accountable for their own obedience, asks about various areas of their lives and prays with them regularly.

Potential Problem: If the Church Planter does not assist and equip, the group will abandon the Discovery Group process (especially in a religious society), leadership will not emerge and the group will quickly degenerate or dissolve.

W atch

• During this phase, the Church Planter gives no guidance during the meetings. He simply watches or participates as a member of the group. He periodically skips meetings.

• All guidance by the Church Planter now takes place outside the meetings with the facilitators of the group. True leadership begins to emerge.

• Key areas to watch out for:

  • Is the group faithful to the Discovery Group process?

  • Is the group becoming obedient and holding one another accountable for obedience (reporting back the next week)?

  • Are the group members sharing their discoveries with others outside the group?

  • Are the group members entering into practical ministry to one another?

  • Is the group participative (no preaching or teaching, everyone praying, etc)?

  • Is the group keeping the authority of the Word as central (adjusting their opinions according to the Word, holding one another including the facilitator accountable to the Word, etc)?

  • Be very wary of new influences into the group. Watch for visitors who may influence the group – especially outside religious influences.

  • Preferably do not allow people to join the group after week 3. Teach the group to rather start up new groups with new people. Remember: Church Planting Movements begin when CHURCHES start new churches, not when Church Planters begin new churches!

Potential Problems: If the Church Planter does not watch and re-visit the group periodically, then the group may abandon the Discovery Group process and quickly degenerate or dissolve. If the group grows large instead of starting new groups (a missional foundation), the group will form a “club” mentality (become isolated from the community) and the surrounding people will not be reached for Christ.

L eave

• During this stage (and possibly earlier) you will also be networking the leaders of the various groups together. Create gatherings where people are exposed to others who are also following the same process.

• Your role becomes one of a mentor from outside the groups. Meet regularly with the leaders of the groups to discuss the progress in their groups.

• You will now be at the stage where the groups begin turning into churches. As people turn to Christ and become obedient followers, you will be mentoring them through the process of becoming healthy churches and starting new groups on their own.

• The networked leaders will form a Shepherding team, shape their own leadership and you will need to leave. Leaving allows them to find their own identity.

• The Church Planter will return later to continue a relationship with the emerging elders and deacons of the new churches. The role of the Church Planter now becomes one of outside advisor and mentor to the emerging church(s).

Potential Problem: If the Church Planter does not leave, then the group will again become dependant on the Church Planter. The elders of the church network must be allowed to emerge and lead. The new churches must also be allowed to find their own cultural identity.

God's Story - Creation to Christ

Lesson One - Creation

There is one true God and He created all that is. He lives by His Holy Spirit in the hearts of true Christians who are born again.

• God Created the Heavens and Earth ……………………………………………………………….…Genesis 1:1-24

• God Created Man and Woman ……………………………………………………………………………Genesis 1:25-28

Truths to learn and obey from these Bible verses about creation:

• God is the creator but not a spirit in the creation; He is personal and infinite

• God created man and woman for three reasons: friendship with God, to love and care for each other, and to oversee creation and preach the good news of Jesus.

Lesson Two - Rebellion

We have all sinned against God through disobedience and rebellion. The penalty of our sin is death.

• Rebellion in Heaven………………………………………………..……..Revelation 12:7-9

• Rebellion in Heaven………………………………………………………Isaiah 14:12-15

• Rebellion and Deception on Earth ………………….…………...Genesis 3:1-7

• Guilt and Shame Separates God and Adam and Eve ....Genesis 3:3-13

• Every Human Being Has Sinned, Sin is penalty of sin …Romans 3:23, 6:23

• Our sin causes great sadness to God …………………………Genesis 6:5-6

Truths to learn and obey from these Bible verses about rebellion:

• Satan is a liar and deceiver and will sometimes speak lies to people in dreams or through evil people

• Sin is rebellion/disobedience

• God gave death as the punishment for sin

Lesson Three - Sacrifice

The punishment for our sins requires a sacrifice for there to be forgiveness.

• God Uses Sacrifices as a Picture of Jesus ………………. Genesis 22:1-14

• The Sin Offering ……………………………………………………..… Leviticus 4:1-3

• Jesus Died So We Can Return to God …………….…..Luke 23:21-34

• Jesus’ Sacrifice Was Made One Time for All People ..Hebrews 10:12

Truths to learn and obey from these Bible verses about sacrifice:

• The penalty for our sin is spiritual death

• God has provided a way to escape the penalty of sin

• Jesus is God’s sacrifice for our sins

• There is no need for other sacrifices – Jesus is the sacrifice for all time for everyone

Lesson Four - Return to God

God provides a way for us to repent and return to Him

• God Asked His People to Return to Him by Repenting of Sin ..Hosea 6:1-3, Isaiah 44:22, 55:7

• The Lost Son Returns to His Father …………………………….………Luke 15:11-20

• There Are Two Things We Must Do to Return to God ………. John 1:12-13

• Our Sins Are Forgiven When We Return to God ………………...1 John 1:9

• We are Born Again and God’s Spirit Lives in Us………….…….. John 3:6, Romans 8:14

Truths to learn and obey from these Bible verses about returning to God:

• Returning to God is a way of acknowledging our need for forgiveness

• Returning to God is an act of godly sorrow for our sin

• Returning to God releases God’s forgiveness

• When we return to God we become the children of God

Lesson Five – Commission

Telling others about Jesus

• We Are Sent to Tell Others About Jesus ……………….……Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:18-20

• When We Return to God We Receive New Life …………John 3:3-7, 15-17

• God’s Gift of Life and Forgiveness is by Grace ………….Ephesians 2:1-8

• We Are Adopted As God’s Children…………………………...Romans 8:15-17

• When We Die We Will Go to Heaven by Grace …….…… Revelation 5:9-10

• We Become God’s Friends and Co-Workers on Earth..John 15:13-16

Truths to learn and obey from these Bible verses:

• We have assurance of salvation because of what Jesus has done for us

• We are sent by Jesus to tell others about Him

D-Group Companion

Here is a quick guideline on running a D-Group by using the ABC process. Use this as a “how to” guide and keep in mind as a church planter you will be training trainers to start more D-Groups that can grow into new churches. You do this not so much doing it yourself (except in your own D-group), but by coaching others.

ASK

This part of the group is about loving God (for believers) and caring for one another!

• Asking people what they are thankful for is a springboard for worship. Encourage believing groups to worship the Lord through song, reading psalms or saying a prayer. Leave worship out with pre-believing groups!

• Each one sharing one need in his life is a springboard for prayer. Prayer in the group works as follows! Remember keep the process strong! When everyone has shared their prayer request we pray for one another in the group by each praying for no more than 30 seconds and one thought only. That way everyone's need is getting prayed for in a short time. If the group is large break up into smaller groups.

• Each one reviewing the one thing they learned last week in the Bible study is a basis for Biblical accountability. D-Groups encourage obedience based on self—discovery in God’s Word.

Bible

This part of the D-Group meeting is about discovering God and His will for our lives!

• The facilitator does not teach. His/her job is to ask questions and let the group go on a discovery journey to find the answers for themselves in god’s Word.

• The discovery process is easy and the pattern is essential: read, restate, reflect, then report one thing they got from the passage. The Holy Spirit is the teacher!

• Asking at random one person to tell the passage in their own words makes the group pay good attention while it's being read!

Commit

This part of the meeting is about putting into practice what has been learned. It's about obedience to the Word and sharing what we've learned with others who don't know Jesus.

• Allowing each person to share with the group the truth they have learned is practice for when they share it with friends and family who do not know Jesus

• Remember to ask “How are you going to apply this truth you have discovered in your life this week?

• Remember to ask “Who will you share it with?”

• Caring for the needs of the community around is a core part of what the group does. This gets the group caring for their community even before they become believers! (Usually persons of peace will carry the needs of the community on their hearts already)

• Once the group are believers they may also actively pray for specific people in their family to come to faith in Christ.

Becoming a D-Groups Starter!

D-groups are discipleship groups that can grow into little churches or remain small groups in a local church. The key element of D-Groups is multiplication – that is what gets people active in being a disciple and making disciples. Expect some groups to fail. Focus your energy on coaching on those that are willing to train others to lead the groups and are active in multiplying more groups.

Here are three key elements to multiplying D-Groups:

1. Stick to the ABC pattern. The process is very important and your job as a coach is to make sure the process stays on course.

2. Hand over quickly to a new facilitator(s). Use the MAWL process the following way:
   Model the ABC process 3 times, then turn it over. NOT MORE. As you model, ask your potential facilitator(s), “Did you see what I did?” “Do you think you could do it?” This allows your facilitator in training to realize you are modeling something you want them to catch!
   Assist From the 4th time the group comes together the new facilitator takes over. At this point you assist by keeping the process on track. You also meet with your facilitator to brief and debrief them on how they are doing.
   Watch You no longer have to keep the process on track because your facilitator(s) have got it! You miss some of the meetings to start more D-Groups.
   Leave The group no longer depends on you to run. You continue to mentor your facilitator(s) on a separate time.

3. Don't allow people to join the group once it's going. When new people want to join, start new groups with them!

Here is how you go about starting and coaching a new D-Gorup:

• Start by being a church with your team or co-worker – do the “ABC’s” together

• Pray a lot

• Gain access to the community – share Jesus and serve people

• Find the “Person of Peace” – See Luke 10:1-11

• Find the 'Oikos' of Peace – the person of peace’s network or family – Don’t get impressed with first friendly person you meet

• Start the Bible study in someone’s home in the community (it may be with as few as 2-4 people).

• Coach the new facilitator after the 3rd meeting, following the MAWL process

• Work towards multiplication by starting new D-Groups as people want to join the group.

D-Group “No-No’s”

• Don’t take offerings for ministries or projects

• Don’t recruit volunteers for other projects or ministries

• Don’t get into discussions about someone’s personal doctrine

• Don’t mix personal business with discipleship

• Don’t mix politics with being the D-Group facilitator or coach

• Don’t be a match maker of relationships

• Don’t turn it into personal accountability group

• Don’t spend time alone counseling or driving members of the opposite sex

• Don’t borrow or lend money

• Don’t invite guest speakers

Q & A About All Nations Cape Town

Including Our Twenty Year Dream

1. What is the overall mission and purpose of All Nations Cape Town?

We do three things in All Nations: we plant churches, train leaders, and make disciples. We do this by engaging the poor and unreached through practical programs to serve people’s needs, and by sharing the good news of Jesus. All Nations has churches and workers active in about 25 countries worldwide. Sally and I are based in Cape Town, South Africa. We work in the poorer communities of Cape Town where we reach people with the gospel and equip church planters to go to other parts of Africa and the Middle East. We are passionate about reaching the unreached people groups of Africa and the Middle East, especially Muslims. There are about 400 million people among Africa’s one billion people who have never heard the gospel one time.

2. What specific task(s) has God called you to fulfill?

As mentioned above, we have 3 tasks we focus on: disciple making, church planting and leadership training. We seek to equip local Africans to lead the way in planting 1000 churches in the next ten-twenty years amongst the least reach people groups of Africa, especially amongst Muslims.

3. How is your work being accomplished?

We form and train teams that are engaged daily in the high-crime, extreme poverty areas of Cape Town. We do projects that include sports, job creation, AIDS awareness and prevention, life skills training, art and music, abandoned baby rescue and helping children at risk (child headed households), education, and farming. We engage in all these projects with the aim of gaining access to the hearts and lives of people, then discerning who is the “person of peace” (Luke 10:5—7), then starting a Bible study with that person, and then as the Bible study grows, turning it into a new church plant. We have planted about 50 churches in the last three years following this approach in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Zambia and Mozambique. Many thousands of people have been ministered to, but more importantly, many hundreds have been and are being discipled. Scores of quality leaders are being equipped.

4. What are your specific goals for this coming year?

Our goals for this year:

• Develop the vocational training program to equip Africa church planters with job skills/trades to enable them to be self-supporting and self-sustaining. There are 10 of our leaders now in various stages of vocational and work skills training. Some are involved in a work/live program. Others have participated in the following training seminars in the following disciplines: computer literacy, non-tillage farming, hospitality, education, business. We plan to develop each seminar into a full-service training track in the trade school.

• Break through to 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation church plants by the initial churches we have started in the last 3 years. Approximately 35 churches have been started since October, 2006.

• Establish church planting hubs in Zambia and Zimbabwe and send full time workers to Zanzibar and Ghana.

• Send exploratory teams to research possible locations for church planting among unreached people groups in Angola, Lesotho, Sudan, Ghana and North India.

• Pay off the remaining debt on our training center of $160,000 US. This will allow us to go into phase two of developing the training center. Presently, we can house 35 students at Africa House. When the debt is retired we would like to build an additional accommodation/class room wing that will increase student housing to 60 students and allow the church planting and trade school classes to run simultaneously.

5. What are your greatest internal needs in the ministry?

• We need a full time administrator, and a operations director for the training center.

• Funds to retire $160,000 debt at Africa House so we can enter the second phase of developing the facilities, a $300,000 project.

• Greater level of prayer and fasting. Our teams and workers fast different days of the week, but the level of intensity and faith needs to go to a higher level.

• Embrace the grace of God for suffering and sacrifice that is necessary to reach the 450 million lost people of Africa. 350 million of that number are Muslims.

6. What are the greatest external threat(s) to the ministry in Africa?

• Islamic fundamentalism and it’s violent response to the progress of the gospel amongst Muslims

• Spiritual warfare against our workers as they move into unreached people groups: sickness, auto accidents, wars, corrupt government leaders, Muslim extremists who oppose our work, lack of funds for our African church planters.

• African animistic world-views, reinforced by ancestor worship and controlling family leaders to maintain tribal customs consistent with those practices and world views

• Poverty mentality among Africans that leads to passivity and hopelessness

• Violent crime

• Corruption among government leaders

• Family expectations that Christian workers should support elders and other family members financially

• Sexual promiscuity in the townships and villages of Africa

• Marriage practice of lobola (bride price)

7. What are the greatest opportunities in Africa?

• 10,000’s of Africans willing to be trained for cross-cultural church planting

• Openness amongst Africa’s 350 million Muslims to the gospel

• Governments are open: they need help in responding to needs in education, job creation, community development, AIDS, etc.

• Natural resources: Africa can feed itself

• Unemployed university students: there is a vast army of young adults waiting for a cause to give their lives for

• Education systems are open to Christian programs

• There is huge potential in Africa to mobilize thousands of workers to go to other continents and aid in the completion of the great commission

8. What is your 20 year dream?

• 100 apostolic leaders leading church planting movements in the hardest places of Africa

• 1000 churches planted that are self-sustaining and reproducing

• 5 Major training hubs in each of the major geographical regions of Africa: Southern, Northern, Western, Eastern, and Central Africa

• 10,000 workers who have been trained and are self-supporting church planters

• CPx training programs in each of Africa’s 54 countries

D-Groups Simplified

“You have heard me teach many things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Teach these great truths to trustworthy people who are able to pass them on to others” (2 Timothy 2:2 NLT).

A,B,C Format – It’s very important to follow the pattern called “ABC” (call it anything you want to call it). Divide the D-Group meeting into one-thirds and faithfully stick with the purpose of each one-third. The D-Groups help lay the foundation for very basic discipleship. The format is easy to learn and easy to follow, and it is also very transferable.

A – Ask (accountability leading to short verbal worship and praying for each other)

1. Ask, “What is one thing you are thankful for?” Then, “Let’s take time to thank God with short prayers of thanksgiving”.

2. Ask, “Do you have a need to share or a sin you want to confess?” Then, “Let’s pray short prayers for each other”.

3. Ask, “What did you learn in last weeks Bible study and how it’s going applying it to your life”.

B - Bible study – Use the discovery Bible approach

1. Read. Ask someone to read the passage of Scripture.

2. Restate. Ask someone else to restate it in their own words. Ask the rest of the group to add anything that was left out – without lots of discussion.

3. Reflect. Take 3-5 minutes to reflect in silence. No discussion first.

4. Relate. Share one thing each person has from the passage. Each one share once before anyone shares twice.

C – Commit - to pray and obey

1. Pray. “Who are three people you can share this truth with?”
   1.
   2.
   3.
   “Let’s pray for them now in groups of two”.

2. Obey. “Let’s practice how we will share with a friend or family member what we learned today”.

3. Practice – It is crucial to spend a few minutes at the end of each session practicing how the truth that was learned will be shared with the three people you are praying for.

Come Join Us For Ten Days in Cape Town!

Hello,

This is your invite to spend ten days with us in Cape Town! Ten days for Jesus! I'll be teaching almost every day on Making the Basics Beautiful!

If your between 18 and 30 years, want to do something special this holiday season, and are hungry to grow in your faith - apply now!

Yours,

Floyd

What is Ten Days for Jesus?

It’s an annual event hosted by All Nations in and around Noordhoek near Cape Town, South Africa.

It’s your opportunity to be involved in reaching people in some of the local townships around the Cape Peninsula and showing them how much Jesus loves them.

We set aside ten whole days where we give our time and ourselves to love and serve others as a birthday gift to our King.

What better gift to give Him than our lives in serving the poor and those who don’t know him?

“ ... It is more blessed to give than to receive…” (Acts 20:35).

Join with us and many other enthusiastic followers of Jesus for this exciting short outreach, reaching out to people with God’s heart and love!

When Is Ten Days for Jesus 2009?

The outreach will run from the afternoon of Thursday 10th December through Sunday 20th December, 2009.

Cost of Ten Days for Jesus 2009?

It will cost R1,700 for the ten day period.

This will cover your accommodation, 3 meals a day and transport once you arrive at Africa House. Transportation from the airport or bus station is R100 extra.

Ten Days For Jesus 2009 Program

Our theme for 2009 is ‘Back to Basics’. We want to go back to the basics and remind ourselves of how Jesus shared the gospel by serving people with love.

We are excited about what God is going to be doing!

Ten Days has always been a blast and this year will be no exception. Join us !

What Should I Do Now?

We only have room for a limited number of people so if you want to join us, apply now.

We look forward to hearing from you shortly!

The Ten Days for Jesus Team

Bo-Kapp Outreaches

Bo-Kaap reaches out to and impacts foreigners who have been coming to Cape Town, especially those from Muslim backgrounds, networking with local Christians and churches.

The ministry grew out of our ministry to Cape Muslims in 2006. A vision was followed up to reach out to and impact foreigners who have been coming to Cape Town, especially those from Muslim backgrounds, networking with local Christians and churches.

Target Audience:

• Foreigners, especially Muslims among them.

Key Activities:

• Prayer walks, friendship evangelism.

• Workshops.

• Seminars, English teaching, research.

Desired Results:

• Home churches: Bo-Kaap, Mowbray.

• Pinelands, Parow.

Opportunities for Involvement:

• Join us in prayer walks.

• Be involved as we develop relationships from which will flow our friendship evangelism.

• Come and pray with us in our prayer groups.

• Help with English teaching.

• Assist in guiding a home church.

Masiphumelele Outreach

Our team is working with disciples to raise up indigenous leaders, starting in Masiphumelele, spreading across South Africa up into Africa and beyond.

We received a specific word from the Lord to move to Cape Town, to serve the poor by sharing the good news of Jesus. Our vision is to share with the poor and oppressed so the Spirit of God might move across Masiphumelele.

In over a year we’ve seen numerous house churches started, and a variety of ministries begun to serve different needy people groups.

We desire to have a simple house church of committed believers on every block in Masi, looking after its own in the neighbourhood. Providing a place of safety, a group of believers for prayer, a stop for rest, an intimidating light against the power of darkness. A place where Jesus dwells in the midst and reaches out to the needy.

Why Church Planting Movements Don't Happen in Christianized Lands - So Far

Hello,

There are massive movements taking place all over the wold right now. North Africa. Iran. India. China. Africa. Millions of new believers are coming to Jesus. Five million among the Bojpuri in India is just one example. Believers are suffering for their faith and the church is being born in unimaginable sacrifice.

Why aren’t we seeing the same results in the Christianized West? Three reasons:

1. Lack of obedience to the word: One example: followers of Jesus don't pursue finding the person of peace, finding one who's oikos is open, then making disciples among them, as Jesus instructed in Luke 10

2. Traditional ways of doing church encourage a "watch the main man on sunday" mentality instead of every believer getting out and making disciples through a lifestyle of obedience.

3. A lack of willingness to suffer and sacrifice. It takes sacrifice to plant churches and Western believers don't believe in sacrifice.

Recently, I wrote to a young church planter in the making in the United States. He was worried about finding a church or a team to work with. Here is the advise I gave him:

"i would love to stay connected to you guys. It is going to take some pioneering and persevering for you to start simple churches with others there where you are. Best bet is go door to door in a poor neighborhood until you find a person of peace and then if their family or network is open, start a Jesus bible study with them. Don't call it church, just study the world. Two qualifications: the person of peace has to be open and their network (oikos) has to be open to doing regualr bibles studies. Get them to the word, teach them simple bible study and watch God speak to them!!!

We have been learning how to do that with "discovery" bible study approach in cape town... very simple. Based on belief that God is drawing people to Jesus by the spirit, that He will teach people through the word if they study it together, and group discovery is much more powerful than individual study because you are imparting the DNA of a future simple church while it is still a study. For example, everyone participates. The bible is the focus. There is accountability to each other to obey what they are reading. It is focused on non-believers studying the word together.

There are three steps to doing the discovery bible study method:

1. choose a passage that is short about obedience, hearing holy spirit, Jesus, etc. ask people to write it down from their translation.

2. ask them to write it down in their own words

3. ask them to read it and write down things they hear God saying to them that apply to their lives that they should do in the next week

Lead the bible study 2 times. Then turn it over to someone in the group to lead. You model it first two times, then in the following bibles studies you sit on the outside of the bible study circle and watch as new leader leads the same process of discovery. Doesn't have to be a christian to lead it, preferably not in fact.

This is the MAWL method of caoching: model, assist, watch, leave

You are a commando bro. You are an army guy. You can do this! It will take pioneering leg work, sweat, tears, loneliness and lots and lots of prayer, then more prayer, but practice luke 10. Go to the poor and the overlooked and you will find them!! Look for the person of peace, the person is open and has a network of friends he or she can gather.

About wanting a team to work with you: don't look for them among the sheep but among the wolves (luke 10:3). This is why Jesus said to His disciples to pray for laborers from the harvest. He didn't want the new believers to be tainted by religious people. Find your team amongst the unsaved. Maybe go door to door and say you want to start a bible study for people who are not church attenders but who want to look at Jesus again. Shake the dust off your feet from those who are not HUNGRY! Do bible study in their home, with non-believers. It must be open seekers, not cynical or highly christianized (they have too many non-biblical preconceptions)."

I am passionate about seeing disciples made who gather and reproduce themselves in others. May God empower us to see massive numbers of new believers, but much more important, to see transformed individuals, families and communities.

May God empower believers in Christianized lands to find new wineskins to hold the wine of millions of new believers.

Floyd

Belonging Happens Before Believing Happens Before Behaving

• We ask people to believe in something before they belong to it. Jesus asked his followers to belong to his movement before he asked them to believe. He understood that belief is not a set of propositions to give ascent to, but a person to know, love and then obey. Jesus approached building his community the opposite way that most of us do today. He invited people to join him before they understood his mission or who he was. He was inviting them into intimacy, into friendship with him. They were part of a community.

• This truth reminds us that people buy into the leader or the community before they buy into the vision or beliefs of the leader or community. Belonging precedes believing precedes behaving. Being loved and accepted comes before changing our behavior.

• If leaders lead a life of love and integrity and the community exudes love that is genuine, people will go on the journey, they will walk a pathway with the community that leads to change in their lives.

• The movement Jesus started was radically different from the religious legalism and control of his day. Religion has a nasty way of messing up relationship.