DMM/CPM: Burning Bush, Talking Donkey

Burning Bush, Talking Donkey Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” ...Exodus 3 Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” In the process of trusting God to launch a DMM among a UPG or elsewhere, one must embrace the power of the Kingdom reality, of His miracles to exalt His name. Yes, sometimes this process looks and feels pretty messy, but yet, it is highly intentional from the heart of the Father.   Burning Bush, Talking Donkeys “He walks. No, he runs!” declared the amazed crowd. The little two year old boy, who had previously lived life scooting around on his behind, had been known to be an impossibility to overcome a type of motor skills dysfunction. Witchdoctors had been sought, to no avail. Breakthrough? Formerly a non-reality, now a witnessed blessing.  Recently, our local Disciple Making Movements (DMM) colleague offered to pray in the name of Jesus for His healing touch. Immediately, the Lord touched the little boy.   Gathered together at this scene of the birth of Jesus celebration, were 50+ people who are now in multiple groups of 1st-4th generations of those who are being facilitated to enjoy frequent encounters with the Word of God. There are now 3 house fellowships from among these folks, who are facilitating the other study groups mentioned. This is just one of many streams we are involved in helping to coach the local coaches involved. Each of our lay local partners are facilitating Discovery Groups, along with House Fellowships, in several cases among the SaSumBiBal UPGs in our area of SE Asia.  As outsiders, we were honored to have been asked to be a part of this celebration. We are coaching the ones who are coaching the inside leaders of these folks.  Though we see ourselves as player/coach in our personal engagement in the processes of helping to catalyze a DMM among these UPGs, we also take an active role in the need to assess the fruit of those who are seeing multiple generations of Discovery Groups as well as House Fellowships. This helps us to see the scaffolding strengthened in these several streams.  Nothing is organic about catalyzing a DMM, David Watson has been known to assert. I would agree. However, I find that this thought is even one of those, sometimes seemingly bothersome, yet incredibly freeing, counterintuitives which we also need to be willing to embrace.  While we desire great dependence upon the Holy Spirit, along with the sufficiency of God's inerrant Word, we see that Jesus was quite intentional in ALL that he modeled and equipped His disciples to be engaged in. We see also, the Apostle Paul as one of many examples, of those who caught this Kingdom reality. In DMM mindset, we attempt to walk out the patterns how Jesus modeled-equipped (assisted)-watched-left with HS empowerment in all. We call this process MAWL.  For my part in the above mentioned Christ's birth celebration, the indigenous leaders of the beginnings of a DMM invited me to pray over their time together. Before I prayed, I felt prompted to ask the group, “Who among you has experienced the powerful touch of Jesus, either in healing physically, or in others ways?” One-third of the their number raised hands: a former paralytic woman, now healed. A marriage once busted apart, now restored. A witchdoctor, known for her deep connection with Black Magic, now being transformed in Christ. A teenage boy, who once lived life as a cross-dresser, now led the group in this celebration time. A woman, infertile, now laughs at the 2-year-old girl who spins around in the chicken dung-riddled dirt yard nearby the gathering.  This is just one of the many streams of Discovery Bible Study/Discovery Groups who are coming to Christ among the Sa/Sum/Bi(Muslims) and then jumping over into the transmigrant Ba (Hindu) population in our area. Why not anticipate and expect God and His powerful ways among the people to whom each of us is called? Why not trust God for the launch of cascading movements of disciple makers who hear and obey Jesus at His Word? Why not here? Why not now?