Vision of the Possible- Chapter 5

Overview

This chapter outlines the basic church planting phases that a church planting team will go through.  These are general guidelines and not a recipe book for how to plant a church.  They will guide you in an effort to leave behind an indigenous reproducing church.

Comments

I think the church planting phases listed in this chapter are especially useful for new teams which makes up practically everyone on our team.  A more experienced missionary who has planted several churches, for example, may have a better feel of how things can move and what can be done.  A new missionary hitting the field should find these steps useful as I do.  This task is not easy and often times we get stuck in thinking of the great things we want to do but we are not clear about the small steps, that often take lots of time(many years), before we can see the great thing happen.  I agree with Sinclair that this cannot be seen as a cookbook of mandatory “to do” steps on how to plant a church but rather a guideline to see where we are in the process of planting an indigenous church.  Using it as a tool or measuring stick to guage where we are and what is ahead is useful for me rather then just having a fuzzy,unclear idea of where I stand and where I am going next.

One other point that is noteworthy is his statement that it is common for works to go backward in the phase process due to persecution or problems amongst the believers and we may see the whole group fall apart.  We pray this won’t happen but we need to be prepared for it and maybe not be all that surprised and instead regroup and move forward again. 

He also points out on the FAQs (p.68) that evangelism is one phase we cannot leave behind.  We must model for the new believers/church that evangelism is key and must be part of our DNA.  How will they have a heart to start a new church in a nearby village if they do not see evangelism and reaching the lost as important.  It is everything!!  I see many of the churches in our area stuck in this phase.  They do not have a heart to reach others and are content with the group of 20-30 people they have.  If they do have a heart, they have no idea how to do it and in most cases(not all) do not see church leadership leading the way.  It is very sad to see how stuck most of the churches are and it has made an impression on me to do what I can to avoid the same in our ministry.

Funny Fridays #4

Here is a compilation of funny television commercials.

Enjoy!

An Open Invitation to All!

Hi e!

We are reading the book, A VISION OF THE POSSIBLE and blogging the comments.  If you are interested in participating, pick up a copy of the book and join in the discussion!

Donny

VISION OF THE POSSIBLE, CHAPTER 4

OVERVIEW

This chapter probes into more practical ways to build a team.  How do we select the right persons for a team?  What skills are essential and how are they best used to accomplish our church planting goals?  What to do when conflict arises?

COMMENTS

Some of the eight keys to team building applied more to our team then others.  Our team is unique and very different in comparison to the type of team he is discussing but I still consider us a team and many of his points are still applicable to what we are trying to accomplish.  Point #3 regarding recruiting is invaluable and, I believe, done well by IMB.  We all remember the burdensome process we all went through prior to appointment but I do see the intelligence behind it.  There should be little doubt in our call during our pre-MLC time.  Obviously, this does not mean we will not see missionaries head back to the states for various reasons(maybe a different call from God), but there is little doubt in our initial call and desire to serve God cross-culturally. 

Point #4 mentioned the need to be realistic with each other or showing grace to one another in love.  Everyone on our team has different personalities and ways of doing things.  I think we are all driven, independent people which is a characteristic of most missionaries but we are going to accomplish team goals differently and on different timetables.  With our team members working in totally different people groups, we should definitely not see a “my approach” will surely work in your people group mentality.  This does not mean we should not share ideas, which has been very valuable, but we need to remember that we will all see fruit at different times.  We need to pray and encourage one another and work under the leadership and vision God has given us.  As Sinclair mentioned, he noticed a strong correlation between teams that pray a lot and see a lot of fruit.  Some of us are doing this a little, but I would encourage all of us to begin sharing more in our team, via email, when we need prayer cover over a specific ministry situation, meeting or outreach event.  Afterwards, share what God did with this prayer need. 

Funny Fridays #3

Amazing…

VISION OF THE POSSIBLE- CHAPTER 3

Overview

Working in teams and team building are discussed.  The biblical aspect of team building and the inherent social need to share in such a difficult task is covered along with the stages of a team being built from the start.

Comments 

The concept of a team brings forth thoughts of warm images of togetherness and partners on the field as you watch the book of Acts unfold in your people group.  The reality is, as we all know, that statistics tell us one of the top reasons for leaving the field is problems with co-workers or teammates.  What a sad statistic this is and how Satan must love these problems he sees amongst fellow missionaries.  We REALLY, REALLY need to encourage one another on our team even though we may live 10-15 hours apart.  Phone calls and emails can mean a lot(something I need to be doing more of to my teammates). I understand and agree with his assertion that teams are biblical as there is ample evidence of this in the Bible but I also understand organizational limitations to not send 2 or more families to small population people groups.  Workers are few and the job is large to reach all people groups.  Thus, our reliance must come with national partners.  This most likely will be more difficult and maybe not as “comfortable” as with a fellow missionary from the states but is necesary and we have a decent chance of seeing quicker success if we can achieve these valuable relationships with national partners.  I don’t have a lot of field experience but I do have a few national partners that are helping me in my ministry here and have proven to be successful.  

His notation on the gifting of Barnabas and Paul and how they used their different gifts to spread the gospel and complement each other was noteworthy.  In our ministry, (not counting national partners) our team consists of my spouse and I and we are different and have been gifted by God differently.  We have seen in the states and more so here how our gifts complement each other and can be used by the Lord.  As Sinclair points out, we need others to help us mentally and spiritually and our spouse can and should do this but I believe a man/man or woman/woman accountability program is important.  This can be achieved in a team setting where families live close by but not always depending on the personalities involved.  In a perfect team setting it is happening but in the real world where there are actually teams living in close proximity, I imagine it is still not happening a lot of the time.  Unless one can find a good, open and trusting relationship with a national, email and phone accountability partners with a team member from a distance probably is an answer although it is not easy to do.  On a personal note, I will say I am proud to serve with my fellow team members and cherish the relationships we have built over the last several years and continue to have even though we are scattered in various locations across Mexico.  

Funny Fridays #2

Hi everyone!

We are really bringing in lots of hits now. I hope that everyone will participate in our blogging experience of discussing The Vision of the Possible. This is really a great book and everyone is welcome to jump into the discussion. Now for my weekly funny video. This week I ran across a series of really funny videos so we are in for a special treat.

Enjoy…

VISION OF THE POSSIBLE, CHAPTER 2

OVERVIEW

What is a church and how to plant one.  This is a large topic that I know we have been discussing since we hit ILC.  I can’t write a short overview for this chapter but it included a bunch of practical church planting ideas and strategies.  I think the most important comment made was that the majority of believers in resistant fields leave the faith but if they are woven into a fellowship of other believers quickly they are much more likely to stay. 

 COMMENTS

 I am bummed about his negative view of the inflatable church as I saw that working here in San Lorenzo.  In seriousness, this chapter was very useful to me as many things applied to where we are now in our ministry.  The discussion that we are the glue that will bring people together through our frienships and the trust that people have in us is key for many of us.  We must use our influence in a sincere way to get people to gather together because they will most likely be against it or not be seeking it.  I wanted to share that we put into practice yesterday the idea on page 22 of a nonthreatening way to gather the various believers.  We had a party for Missy’s birthday and invited four familes which included 6 believers.  Everyone one showed up and we saw bridges built and communication happen between everyone.  It was a success and worked in our culture.  Food and celebrations are important to our people so it was an indigenous thing to do(no alcohol at the party was not indigenous- ha ha!).

So much of what we hear is CPM but his reference to Church Planting Phase 4 (p. 24) of having 3 believers meeting together is a better starting point for me to grasp.  This seems doable in many contexts and represents huge potential.  Focus needs to be on prayer and the Holy Spirit’s leadership in leading us to people of peace and others who are open in eventually getting these 3-4 believers(not just studiers) together in our villages and then see where God takes it.  Of course, I would also agree we need to implant in believers, through discipleship, a CPM ideology of reproduction and reaching others which could lead to movements.  Obviously, there is no checklist for how to plant a church but this chapter included some good points many of which we have already discussed over the last few years in IMB training.

Funny Fridays #1

Each Friday we will post a new funny video. This is the first installment!

For those of you outside of the US, you have missed out on some really funny commercials! Here are the latest Geico car insurance commercials.




Storying Training Videos

Hi all!

I thought that I would update you on the progress of our training videos. They are in the editing phase now! Last week the video shoots went extremely well. We took eight people with no background in storying and taught them how to story. This was all videoed and now we are putting it all back together. This should be a huge help for those who want to understand how to story and to help people see the big picture.

Hopefully we will be able to begin posting some stories online next week!
Later…