A White Bunny at Midnight
Scars. Who wants them?
It was nearly midnight when a white bunny slipped through our backyard gate. Five-foot-long monitor lizards settling into nesting places in our yard—yes, we had seen that. But a wild white bunny? That was a first.
Through that unexpected little visitor, the Lord tenderly ministered to my heart.
My husband and I had recently endured a difficult season on the mission field. There had been pain, sorrow, and profound sadness. The experience had left scars.
That particular evening, my husband was meeting with a group of men he was training in Church-Planting Movement principles. My own plan for the evening was simple: take my guitar outside and spend time worshiping.
I placed a chair in the middle of our backyard and settled beneath the brilliant canopy of the Southern Hemisphere night sky. There, surrounded by the stillness of the night, I began to worship.
I remember the white bunny. Even more, I remember how the Lord met me and ministered to my wounded heart.
The very essence of who Christ claims to be commands our response. Worship lies at the epicenter of a life that trusts and obeys Him. It is devotion expressed with delight. It is the place where our wounds, questions, and longings are entrusted to the Almighty—the Author and Perfecter of our faith.
In worship, we do not deny our scars. We bring them into the presence of the One who redeems them.
A Transformed Heart Overflows in Worship
I saw this same overflow in the life of my friend Nyn.
From the moment she climbed into the front passenger seat of my car, she could hardly sit still. She began pouring out story after story of all that God was doing in and through her life.
Throughout nearly our entire time together, this precious woman could not stop speaking about the goodness of God. As our hours together drew to a close, I marveled at the passion flowing from her transformed heart.
Was God preparing to launch a movement in and through Nyn? Absolutely.
Yet before a movement could flow through her, something had first moved deeply within her. Her heart had been captured by a holy and loving God. Her words were the overflow of a life being transformed by His goodness.
Her response reminded me of Peter and John in the book of Acts:
“As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
—Acts 4:20
That is the language of worship. A heart that has truly encountered Christ cannot remain untouched or unmoved.
As we press into deeper expressions of worship, there will be times of exuberant declaration. There will also be seasons of quiet reflection—moments of stillness, reverence, and adoration.
Yet whether worship erupts in joyful proclamation or rests in silent awe, Jesus cannot remain peripheral. We may resist Him or surrender to Him, but once we encounter who He truly is, indifference is no longer a reasonable response.
Worship as the Foundation of Movement Coaching
Worship and movement coaching are not separate pursuits.
Our goal is not merely to transfer strategies, teach tools, or review ministry activity. We are helping leaders abide in Christ, recognize what God is doing, and respond in loving obedience. Effective coaching must flow from intimacy with God and lead people back into deeper dependence upon Him.
The following framework provides a simple rhythm for coaching indigenous leaders who are applying Disciple-Making Movement principles.
A Practical Framework for Coaching Indigenous Leaders
1. Invest Consistent Time
Meet weekly, when possible, for approximately one to two hours with the leaders you are training and coaching.
Consistency communicates care. It provides space to deepen relationships, address challenges, celebrate obedience, and help leaders discern their next steps.
2. Begin with Worship, Gratitude, and Care
Devote approximately the first third of your time to worship and personal connection. Use the opening Discovery Bible Study questions to guide the conversation:
- What are you thankful for?
- What challenges are you facing?
Listen carefully. Celebrate God’s activity in their lives, and intercede together over the needs and challenges they share.
This portion of the meeting reminds everyone that the work belongs to God. Strategy must never replace dependence upon Him.
3. Review and Map Current Ministry Activity
Use the second third of your time to review their current Discovery Bible Studies, Discovery Groups, and house fellowships.
A simple diagram or relational map can help everyone see where groups have begun, who is facilitating them, which Persons of Peace are engaged, and where reproduction may be emerging.
Ask accountability and application questions such as:
- What story did your group study last week?
- How did you obey or apply what God showed you?
- How did the people you are training respond in obedience?
- With whom did they share the story?
- Which groups or relationships appear open to taking a next step?
- Where are you encountering obstacles?
This review should be encouraging and discovery-oriented rather than controlling. The purpose is to help leaders recognize what God is doing, learn from experience, and identify the next faithful step.
4. Prepare and Practice the Next Story
Devote the final third of the coaching time to preparing the next Bible story or passage.
Read the passage aloud twice. Then have the leaders retell it twice in their own words. This helps them internalize the story and prepare to facilitate discovery without becoming dependent upon written notes or outside teachers.
As you practice together, ask:
- When will you meet with your Persons of Peace or Discovery Groups?
- With whom will you share or facilitate this story?
- What is working well?
- What is not working?
- What will you do differently this week?
- Who else can you train to do the same?
Conclude by interceding specifically for each Person of Peace, Discovery Group, house fellowship, and emerging leader.
Coach the Person, Not Merely the Process
Care deeply for the leaders you coach.
Invest not only in their ministry activity but also in their hearts, families, spiritual health, and intimacy with God. Create a relationship of mutual accountability in which both coach and leader remain teachable, obedient, and dependent upon the Holy Spirit.
Movement coaching is not merely about improving performance. It is about helping transformed disciples abide in Christ, obey His Word, and reproduce His life in others.
Strategies matter. Tools matter. Accountability matters. But worship must remain at the center.
Before movements cascade through households, communities, and peoples, they begin in hearts captivated by the goodness and glory of God.
May our own lives—and the lives of those we coach—overflow like Nyn’s: unable to stop speaking about all we have seen and heard.
Until the SaSumBi worship,
R. A.
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