Transcript Mission Strategy and Church Planting for Everyone

The Edge
Basic Training
Introduction
http://takingit2theedge.org
What is the EDGE?
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Engaging Lostness
Disciple Making
Growing in the
Gospel
Exponential church
planting
The Problem
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The world population
continues to grow
The missionary task
continues but…..
There are still vast areas of
the planet that are
unreached with the Gospel
There are pockets of lostness
in South America – where
nobody has heard of Jesus or
embraced His invitation of
salvation
The South American
Challenge
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361 million people in
South America
335 million are still
without Jesus
690 people groups
287 people groups are less
than 2% evangelized
224 groups have no
evangelical group working
with them yet!
Only 520 IMB missionaries
What type of commitment
is needed?
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US SBC and Latin
American churches,
associations, and
conventions willing to
work in a new and
different way.
Leaders willing to
become a point person
and help lead the
strategy development
and implementation
Volunteers who will be
willing to commit to
multiple visits in their
target country
Some things you may
have done already…..
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Individual volunteer teams
Traditional Volunteer Partnerships
– Conventions
– Associations
– Churches
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Entry Level Evangelism Strategies (such as
GAP)
Strategic Prayer Partnerships
– For PGs/PSs/UCs with low or no access to the
Gospel
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But now you want to do more…….
Which way do we go?
Virtual Missionaries!
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Strategic Partnerships –
working in cooperation with
IMB Strategy Coordinators to
reach a population segment.
This church or association will
accept a High Priority Target
assignment. They could start
by working a entry level
evangelism project such as
GAP. Commitments can vary
as to number of teams sent
and how often.
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Strategy Coordinator
Churches – churches,
associations, or conventions
willing to adopt a people
group, population segment,
or urban center – to take
ownership of evangelism and
church planting. They will
accept a High Priority Zone.
Examples are the CMC, REAP,
or ABBA programs.
Commitment is generally to
multiple teams per year.
What are the mission
needs that we can fill?
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Porto Alegre
Immigrant Peoples
of Southern Brazil
Interior Cities of Rio
Grande do Sul
São Paulo
Southern Minas
Minas Triangle
What are the mission
needs that we can fill?
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North Minas
Sertão of Paraiba
Interior Western
and South
Maranhão
Interior Southern
Piauí
Guyanese of
Roraima
What are the mission
needs that we can fill?
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Farmers of Central
Roraima, Apaiu
Porto Velho,
Rondonia
Quilombos
Mission
Strategy and
Church
Planting for
Everyone
Edge Training
Level I
Before we go any
further !!!!!!
Let’s Enjoy a Simple
Worship Experience
Vem, Esta é a Hora /
Come now is the time for worship
(65)
Vem, esta é a hora da adoração
Vem, dar a Ele teu coração
Vem, assim como estás para adorar
Vem, assim como estás diante do Pai
Vem
Toda língua confessará o Senhor
Todo joelho se dobrará
Mas aquele que a Ti escolher
O tesouro maior terá
How do we develop our
team to go to the field?
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Study the needs on
the field through a
vision trip to spy
out the land
Decide which area
or people group
A missionary will
provide some
research and coach
you along the way
What is mission strategy?
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Nothing more than a plan to guide your
church or associational team to chose the
best methods for reaching your people
group, population segment, slum area, or
city
All of us use strategy – the best strategists
are housewives!
Strategy is driven by a passion that leads to
a vision and an endvision
Formulating your vision
and endvision
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Knowing what you want to accomplish
and what it will look like when you are
done is the first step
Vision describes what you want to see
happen
Endvision describes what it will look
like in the end, or how you will know
when you have “arrived”
Developing a strategy to
reach the lost
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Who is the target audience and what
are they like? (Research driven)
Where do they live?
How do they learn? Can they read?
Where do we need to evangelize and
plant churches to be most effective?
Who should be trained and mobilized
to be sent based on our study?
Research and its
importance
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Studying the people and knowing them as
well as possible help drive the strategy
Are they literate? Illiterate?
Where can you best reach them quickly?
Who are the key people and key places to
be reached that may stimulate a number of
simple church plants?
Use formal research and interviews
You can never know the people well
enough!
Key ingredients for a
good strategy
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Research
Prayer
Evangelism
Scripture Distribution
Mobilization
Leadership Training
Church Planting
Research Strategy
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Research begins at home
Harvest Field Mapping
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Get a map of communities
Map existing Evangelical work
Map the strongholds
Door to door research
You must get to know the worldview of the
people to help you determine effective
strategies!
The Missionary Challenge
‫علي‬
Carlos
.....I have become a Jew to the
Jews, in order to win the
Jews.......I have become all things
for all, so that I might save
some.....I do it all for the sake of
the Gospel. (Romans 9:20,22-23)
Research Strategy
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Harvest Force Information
– Number of believers, pastors, schools, worship
places that exist
– Are Scriptures available in the heart language?
In oral or just written form?
– What Christian literature, radio, audio, video (to
include the Jesus Film) is available?
– Are other Great Commission Christians working
among the people?
– What is the history of Christianity where you are
working?
Prayer
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Essential to reaching the people
Prayer should be aggressive, bold, and persistent
Recruit prayer warriors in your church, association, and convention
Integrate prayer before, during and after every event
Prayer walk around spiritual strongholds
– Centers of witchcraft
– Spiritist, mosques, or other worship centers
– Government buildings or other leadership facilities
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Model prayer as a part of regular life from the beginning of your field
work around those you are reaching
Pray for your team as well as nationals that are working with you – for
spiritual, emotional, physical, financial, marital, and all other kinds of
protection you can think of and keep doing it. Satan wants to stop
what you are doing any way he can.
Evangelism Strategy
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Knowing the worldview will help you tailor
your evangelism strategy
Do they read or not?
Can they be reached in big or small groups
best?
Can they be reached through ESL classes,
film showings, or other special methods?
Think of what combinations work best in the
culture where you will work
Scripture Distribution
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How can you present the Holy
Scriptures to the people in a way they
can “digest” them best?
Are tapes, video, audio, storytellers,
better than giving Bibles? Radio? TV?
How can you best expose your people
to the Word of the Lord? Shops?
Homes? Schools?
Mobilization Strategy
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How can you get more people involved
with reaching your people?
How can you get the RIGHT people
involved at the RIGHT time so that
you see the best results?
What training do they need to receive
before they come? What about when
they get there?
Leadership Training
Strategies
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How can you identify and train new
Christian leaders to become strong in the
Lord?
How can you keep them growing when you
are not there to spiritually feed them? How
can they become “self-feeding?”
Are there other churches in the area that
can join you in this part of the work?
Church Planting
Strategies
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How can you plant simple churches that
multiply themselves and keep doing so?
Simple church = PESCAR (Proclamation,
Edification (Teaching), Service, Communion,
Adoration, and Reproduction)
Storytelling as the basis for teaching
obedience based churches
Oral storytelling materials are available
Critical Path Planning
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Nothing more than putting down on
paper the short term plans (1 year)
that you want to see accomplished
and plan trips accordingly for each
part of your strategy plan
Let God change the plans as He leads
– His timing is best!
Putting it all together in a
master plan
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When you and your church develop your
– Vision and endvision
– Strategies for research, prayer, evangelism,
Scripture use, mobilization, leadership training,
and church planting
– Critical path planning
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You have a master plan in effect!
Congratulations!
Tailoring Teams
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Once you have done your strategy
planning, this part is easy!
Each trip will require a different
number and type of team members
You decide based on the needs and
the work that you believe God is
calling you to do during each trip.
Avoid Dependency!
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We are sorely tempted to give money to
take care of lots of social needs
We need to follow the Biblical models
Encourage the people to take care of their
own needs
Ministry projects should contribute to the
master plan in some way but not be
something that is not reproducible
See the handout on this subject
Monitoring Progress
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God is going to do some wonderful things,
so keep track of them!
Keep a record of salvation, baptisms, small
worship groups, and note new key locations
where work can be started
Keep track of key leaders and their training
Know how to contact translators
Keep in touch with key people or groups
that helped you because you may need
them again!
Further Reading Helps
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Get Project Thessalonica: Acts 29
Training for Churches by writing
[email protected] (cost is 15$US
plus shipping and handling)
Look at the bibliography in the Simple
Strategy and Church Planting manual
for other great books
Where can we serve?
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High Priority Zones and High Priority
Targets are all over Latin America!!!
See the open jobs lists (available on the
websites or in handouts provided)
http://takingit2theedge.org
http://missionsnow.sambrazil.org
http://www.reapsouth.org
http://www.reapwsar.org
For more information
contact:
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Strategic Partnerships Eric Perkins
[email protected]
GAP Paul Sheaffer
[email protected]
CMC Phil Kesler
[email protected] or
http://missionnow.sambrazil.org
REAP South Mike Weaver
[email protected] or
http://www.reapsouth.org
REAP North Boots Holder
[email protected] or
http://www.reapwsar.org
ABBA Randy Whittall
[email protected]