DMM: Crafting an End Vision

 

DMM/CPM: Crafting an End Vision

 

To love and obey Jesus was never designed as a fail-safe endeavor. However, in Jesus, through the empowering and filling of the Holy Spirit, it is always safe to fail. 

 

The same can be said for those of us who feel called to trust God for the launch of Disciple-Making Movements.

 

One of the most crucial of pieces in this process is to cultivate a lifestyle of listening to the heart of the Father, as He continues to reveal the End Vision of His desire to be fulfilled among the Unreached People Groups (or otherwise) of His leading. 

 

End Vision (GPS-God’s Heart Positioning for Spiritual Movements locator-What you carry with you everywhere you go)

 

God-sized vision sounds great but in reality so few choose to embrace the Kingdom centric possibilities. C.S. Lewis reflects upon the general condition of the Bride of Christ in his day, "It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory.

 

God beckons. He calls to every heart, of whom He has brought into being the followers of Christ we were created to be. As such, we are called to live out of the overflow of that relationship, which He initiated with us, drew us into, as followers. We are His, He owns us, bought and sealed with the precious blood-sacrifice price of redemption, made possible through Christ alone. 

 

No one, save a fool, would dare consider a journey without first considering the end desired destination. The more clearly we take the time to listen to the Father, the greater clarity on His desired End Vision.  

 

In Disciple Making Movements (DMM)/Church Planting Movements (CPM), one crucial commonality of what could help launch cascading movements to Christ among a given people group is the crafting of an End Vision. 

  

On considering what it is to craft an End Vision, S.P. writes:

 

"Vision: Our goal is to see God glorified in our life and among those whom we serve.

 

In our ministry, we need to first hear from God – what is HIS Vision for our people? We then look for others with a similar vision or for those who will catch the vision. 

 

Significantly, the movement catalysts God uses seem to be people who are willing to receive a God-sized impossible vision to see a whole city, nation, ethne, language reached."

 

 

Consider Paul and the End Vision for how God wired him:

 

Romans 15:16-23…”to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, that my offering of the Gentiles might become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit… And that’s why it has taken me so long to finally get around to coming to you. But now that there is no more pioneering work to be done in these parts,…”

 

Paul was clear in his End Vision. The saying goes, if you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time. 

 

As one considers what it is to seek the Lord, hear His voice, and invite His Spirit to lay out the End Vision, I typically coach others to consider four components:

 

·       Be God’s glory centric

·       Be Audaciously Specific

·       Be CPM/DMM Essentials Focused

·       Be Time Bound, By Faith

 

 Samples of End Visions:

 

 

a.      To facilitating church planting movements so that all 300,000 N people are within walking distance of a reproducing house church that is taking the Gospel to the N, Asia, and the world. There will need to be at least one church in every village (16,000).

b.     To glorify God through multiple church planting movements among the two million Muslims of S Town so that there is a reproducing house church in every Muslim neighborhood so that every Muslim can understand the Gospel and participate in a house church. There will need to be 20,000 house churches proportionately distributed through every Muslim sect and ethnic group in the city.

 

c.      Our vision is for XF district is to have an indigenous CPM that is led by lay, unpaid, local Christians. Thus allowing all in XF district to hear the gospel, and have a chance to receive Christ. The DNA of this movement should be evangelism resulting in new churches from the beginning. Our end vision is to have 200,000 new believers worshiping together and training in 13,000 new house churches by 2015.

d.     Every Y in every village (~45,000 villages) in every dialect in Y State coming to know or at least hear about Jesus Christ. Radical Transformation of Y State (is the most corrupt, most poor state in country) from a place of darkness to a place of light. The Y are the key to this transformation. The Y people would cross people group lines and ultimately spread the Gospel to all Y State, then to all of North India, and then to the East to Thailand, China, Japan, etc and to the West to Pakistan and the Middle East.

 

As for my husband and I and our local colleagues, here is our End Vision. 

 

For God’s glory, we are trusting the Holy Spirit to launch a reproducing disciple-making movement, by establishing an indigenously-led house fellowship to the fourth generation+ in each  of the 995 villages in eight regencies across West Nusa Tenggara (NTB)village, by 2020, among SaSumBi Muslim People Groups.

 

As you consider crafting an End Vision, also consider that reality of how God desires His children to simply follow Christ’ model in all. 

 

Meditate upon the following passages in order to get started in crafting the End Vision of the Father's will. Review the DMM/CPM Critical Elements list in order to align your pursuits.

 

Revelation 5:9-14

Revelation 7:9-17

Genesis 12:1-3

Romans 15:16-23

Matthew 28:16-20

Galatians 4:4

Ephesians 2

Acts 1:8

Psalm 67

 

DMM: Between the Miraculous and the Menial

Between the Miraculous and the Menial

Counterintuitive. That is the supernatural nature of the miraculous. 

Expected. That is the natural inclination of the heart of man when considering the menial. 

 

The book of Exodus paints a portrait of a broadsided Moses encountering the revealed presence of the God who is. God called Moses. Moses reluctantly obeyed. Moses learned a lifestyle of trust and obedience by being thrown into the deep end of believing God to be God. The daily obvious reminder of Moses’ desperate need to depend solely upon God was cultivated; a million plus doubting hearts stared him in the face. Wholehearted desperate dependence upon God’s goodness was crafted in the heart of Moses in the process.

 

How would he lead these stubborn people? These people who instantly disobeyed God when asked to wait upon Him for the next steps? Moses wondered.  After the miraculous came the menial. God delivered them but could God provide food for so many? And what about the nasty camping conditions? The Israelites wondered. They doubted. They disobeyed in the midst of the menial after directly witnessing the miraculous. Again, they wandered. Front row seats the Israelites were afforded as witness to a glimpse of the work of God’s mighty hand. 

 

Nothing compares to the greatness of God’s glory. Moses cultivated a heart that yearned for God’s glory while many of the others developed a craving for the wow of His mighty acts. 

 

When one desires to see a movement among an Unreached People Group, one can feign the menial while desiring the instant big fruit. To trust God for the launch of a Disciple Making Movement (DMM), is to believe God desires to accomplish His promised purposes in His timing and by His power. One also chooses to expect God to move asap while surrendering to His perfect timing. Even the intentionality and deliberateness in the yearning can be erroneously formed into just another sacred golden cow. Sometimes one can neglect the cultivation of a heart for God’s glory alone to be our beginning point in all that we endeavor; between the miraculous and the menial.

 

Surveying the landscape of the freshest group of local partners whom we are training/coaching in Disciple Making Movements (DMM), James and I felt a strong sense of awe along with gratefulness. 

 

We began this round of equipping with a commonly communicated challenge. 

Here are the ground rules in trusting God to initiate a DMM among Unreached People Groups:

1.   Forget tradition

2. Focus and rely upon authority of God’s Word alone

3. Trust the Holy Spirit to lead you

4. Be counterintuitive

Movements are fomented in the trenches of life. It is the inch-by-inch gain what wins the day. It is what we believe and embrace of the God who is Lord over the miraculous that delineates whether we walk faithfully and in fruit-bearing ways with Him in the menial.

 

The rain cascaded unrelentingly from the darkened sky in this coaching time. These college students are ones who desire to trust God with their respective profession to be sent as tentmakers among upgs. Hours later, after waiting for a open seam in the fabric of the heavy downpour, we began the next phase of coaching them to form into an indigenous sending agency focused upon DMM. 

 

We waited. And we waited. We were way past the raining “cats and dogs” type rain and were officially experiencing the torrid monsoon phase. 

 

We prayed with the few of the group who were present. After three hours passed, most of the ones desiring to be sent out as teams for long term efforts had managed to come. How we each view these seemingly menial times reveals more than the ready adoration we offer to the Lord in the midst of the miraculous. To choose to trust God for the joy in the midst of the everyday is just that; it is a choice. 

 

DMM: Leadership--Pit Bulls and Other Gnarly Tales

DMM: Leadership--Pit Bulls and Other Gnarly Tales

 

Addressing a growing level of unhealthiness in the Global Missions Community

 

“That leader is a pit bull. He cannot let up on speaking in a mean spirited way to other missionaries with whom he disagrees. Unfortunately, he is influencing others in the global missions community in unhealthy ways,” lamented a highly respected missionary leader. 

 

Upon looking into the eyes of the above brother, that day, I saw a glimpse of the Father’s grief for the Bride reflected in his carefully confided lament. 

 

Honestly, how does one process a comment like the above? From one perspective, you wonder what pain and injury the author of that comment has endured from the said missions leader? And yet, from another perspective, how would you feel if that were said of your own life? What if this pit bull description were thought to be true of you? Somehow, the term “clanging symbol” feels a bit synonymous with the tag “pit bull”. How is the posture of being content to serve as a “pit bull” not breeding anything but that which is diametrically opposed to Paul’s exhortation in I Corinthians 13 to choose love above all else?

 

One of the principles of laying a foundation for seeing the Lord launch a Church Planting Movement is the area of unflinching evaluation. How does one evaluate the above statement, first and foremost, on an individual basis? Then, how does one facilitate on a corporate scale as to whether this is a tendency of the Global Missions Community, at some levels?

 

I must confess to not liking pit bulls. On the outside, pit bulls may appear cuddly, warm, and slobberingly affectionate. Or so, their owners espouse. However, adults come to realize what little children cannot recognize. The more the pit bull has been injured and not healed, the more the animal has the capacity to be injurious to others. The same pattern is true in the lives of missionaries, when left unchecked and not challenged to acknowledge their injurious ways. 

 

The sobering reality is that in missions organizations, there are leaders who rise in position with these same unchecked injurious tendencies. Hurt pit bulls, hurt people. And hurt people, hurt people goes the axiom.

 

 Hurt people, hurt people

 

 

The gaining of wisdom regarding “pit bull” types in the global missions’ community is crucial in our day and time. Those who yearn for unity in Kingdom endeavors without compromise on the essentials, while honoring an atmosphere of diversity in the Kingdom, tend to desire to understand the differences. Those who desire to exhibit tenacious obedience in a grace-filled atmosphere of mutual respect---know the difference. 

 

At the tender age of three years old, my mother lost sight of me only to find her little girl contentedly cuddling the neighbor’s “pit bull” type dog. Apparently, feeling quite secure at my family home induced an adventurous spirit. To my childhood curiosity, without the advantage of adult filters, that dog represented an intriguing challenge in which to draw near. Many years later, I have come to understand the nature of the danger I had embraced at that moment in my younger days. Thankfully, I am not so young now.

 

A Rather Gnarly Tale: An Observation Made

 

In over 32 years of on-going service on the mission field, I have observed a growing seed of unhealthiness which I feel needs to be discussed in Kingdom efforts among missionaries. 

 

There seems to be a growing contempt and disdain among missionaries for those in the Bride with whom one disagrees: in personal philosophical approaches to missions’ efforts, in personal development of convictions in the ever evolving understanding of contextualization, in the process of organizational uniqueness as expressed in differing priorities in Kingdom efforts. 

 

How will we, as the global missions’ community choose to interact with one another on levels of doctrinal import along with areas of philosophical differences? How will we distinguish the two? How will we then relate in such a way as Kingdom advancement does not go wanting for passion to somehow prove others “wrong” when we don’t agree on certain approaches?

 

A former missionary colleague in our area commented on the growing argumentative spirit between missions’ organizations serving on the field, expressing, “It is important for my heart to remember that no one person or organization has a corner on the market on God’s truth and doctrinal purity.” He continues, “Not one individual among us missionaries has one hundred percent accurate theology.” And yet, there is a necessary and healthy dialogue which needs to take place from time to time in these mission field issues in matters related to doctrine. 

 

There is a healthy tension, which can be embraced in the process of understanding the Movements of God and the fulfillment of His purposes in our day. The emphasis is the reality of the need for missionaries to choose to lovingly work through the tension that will arise. It is imperative that we grow in skillfulness in inviting others to dialogue, when necessary, in a way that honors one another. In humility and tangible mercy and grace it is vital that the missions’ community partners hold fast to the common thread which each desires in longing to demonstrate and express the glory of God among the ethne. May we never choose to forget to remember that another missionary or missions’ organization is NOT the enemy. 

 

When Christians turn their guns on one another, they have effectively turned their guns off of Satan and His schemes. 

Recently, we had the opportunity to dialogue with another missionary regarding their desire to write a book so that, in his expressed purpose, the funding trail for a certain type of contextualization approach among Muslims would “dry up”. My heart sank at the thought of the time and effort one can passionately pursue in this type of endeavor. I also wondered if the cumulative hours to be spent on “proving them wrong” type dialogues from one missionary org to others would be better spent invested in direct impactful labor among their targeted Unreached People Group? What amount of investment of time and energy has been spent in this posture, which could have produced eternal fruit in the lives of target people instead? From my perspective, some of these orgs could have actually been involved in enjoying having seen the Lord launch Church Planting Movements if they had been willing to die to some of their personal preferences and made adjustments along the way. 

 

 Be careful to guard your heart from the tendency to confuse personal preferences with biblical absolutes.

 

 Questions to ponder as missions organization leaders;

 

 

→What process does your organization practice to intentionally guard communicating unity in the Global Body of Christ?

 

→Does the person or persons your organization allows to speak to dicey issues represent a grace-filled expression along with a non-attack posture toward others?

 

→Is there any one in your leadership pool who is articulate and skilled in communicating unity in the Bride of Christ without a hinge of contempt or disdain for others? 

 

→Does your organization have an evaluative piece for your leaders which fosters and promotes non-punishment of field personnel for constructive criticism?

 

→Does your organization hold as a core value a deliberateness, by actions and words, of affirming the other organizations in your various fields?

 

→If your  missions organization has developed a reputation as “pit bulls”, in a negative sense, are you willing to ask the evaluative questions that bring correction where needed?

 

→How will your organization equip your personnel in a commitment to model healthy approaches in discussing dicey field issues with other organizations, when needed?

 

→How will your organization guard a commitment to Kingdom advancement which does not go wanting for passion to somehow prove others “wrong” when you don’t agree on certain approaches?

 

→Does your organization have a process in place whereby you can ask evaluative questions of other organizations as to how your organization is perceived in your various fields?  Does your organization factor in seeking counsel from national colleagues as well?

 

→Does your organization have a reputation of being Kingdom partners or Kingdom dividers?

 

The unreached people groups of the world are awaiting the fame and renown of the glory of God to be expressed and demonstrated among them. Vision killers can come in unexpected packages. How can one truly trust that God would bring desired Disciple Making Movements (DMM), unless one is yielded unto Christ in all aspects of the needed daily transformative power of Christ? Unity in the Bride at the expense of doctrinal and theological integrity is not the goal. However, the expression of the unity of the Bride, as Christ intends when he cried in the Garden of Gethsemane is the higher ground. That vision of cultivating unity in the Bride of Christ for the fulfillment of the Great Commission of the heart of Christ is one of the ultimate common grounds of all missionaries.

 

May His Kingdom Come

 

Women2Women DMM Trainer/Coach

www.beyond.org

 

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?

DMM: All In For All Peoples

 

What if God answered our cries for exponential growth in Church Planting Movements (CPM[1]s) globally, in ways which oft times can be overlooked? What will it take (or what must be done) to see CPMs launched in every unreached people in every place?

 

 

 A few years ago, the VP of Global Strategies for Beyond.org, turned to me and stated, “We are observing a challenge to see women come to initial trainings in CPM (Church Planting Movements) globally. If we are serious about the fulfillment of the Great Commission, then, we need to figure out a way to make sure both men and women are equipped/coached in making reproducing disciples for the launch of CPMs among all UPGs (Unreached People Groups).”

 

My husband and I have also observed many cases among other organizations where the commitment to equip/coach women for the making of reproducing disciple-makers in a CPM process, is not emphasized.

 

When it comes to whether the global body of Christ truly yearns to be the “final lap”[2] generation of the fulfillment of the Great Commission, for Jesus’ fame and renown, there is what I like to call the No Child of God left behind policy of Jesus. All disciples of Jesus in for all peoples. Not some for all peoples, not all for some peoples, but ALL disciples for ALL peoples. (See Hab. 2:14, Rev. 5:9-14, Matt. 28:16-20, Rev. 7:9-12, Matt. 24:14, 2 Peter 3:9).

 

 

 

No Caveats in the Kingdom of God 

 

In a recent conversation with an expat CPM Outside Catalyst[3] who visited a movement in the Middle East, she relayed the following. When she listened to their all-male leadership share amazing stories, she asked them what they do to help equip and coach their women in the multiple house churches to reproduce as disciple makers? The leader was puzzled and answered, “We have no plan. The women have to take care of the men and the children. How could they be involved?”

 

Another movement leader, when asked their plan for the equipping of both men and women to implement making reproducing disciples, he looked a bit puzzled and then responded, “The women in our movements must take care of the children, as well as must work in order to support the male CPM catalysts.” 

 

Another movement leader was facilitating a CPM training for the week. He assumed that the women who were gathered in the room next to his were there in order to pray for his training. When, in reality, the women were meeting to be trained in CPM. This common assumption that women’s sole role in movements is to support the men as they lead movements overlooks the rich resource women are and can be in seeing the fulfillment of the Great Commission fulfilled.

 

I assert that we can raise the bar to see both men and women become more effective as a Global missions’ effort to establish a movement mindset norm of ALL in for ALL peoples. 

 

Vision Anemia

 

Where there exists no intentionality to see women equipped/coached in making reproducing disciple-makers, this begs the question, “what needs to be done?”. 

 

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” And what about the lost who will perish? (2 Peter 3:9)

 

At least 50% of most UPGs are female, and in many cultures it is not appropriate for men to interact with women. Often, especially among Muslim UPGs, women see themselves as the gatekeepers[4] for their households. In other words, why wouldn’t we trust the Holy Spirit to leverage women as CPM catalysts in these UPGs? Who, if not women laborers, will seek out Women of Peace to open their oikos to the gospel? And as new households of disciple makers emerge, who will help to equip the multiple generations of local women leaders?

The intent of this article is to encourage those who have yet to make sure both men and women are equipped as disciples who understand how to make reproducing disciple-makers. But it’s important to pause and reflect on the various seasons of life in which women may find themselves that may impact how they engage in disciple-making. Whether they are single, married without children, married with children, married without children again, single again, young or old, they have all been called by Jesus’ command to make disciples who make disciples of the ethne. This great work was given to all people (male and female) in every generation. While the call is the same, the implementation may vary significantly depending on their season of life. However, what is true in any season is that women are hugely gifted in relational acumen. That gift provides avenues into communities that might otherwise have been inaccessible.

 

A Bit of History

 

The Jan/Feb 2016 issue of Mission Frontiers[5] was a huge piece in laying a foundation toward the normalization of women as Jesus’ disciples who make reproducing disciples in CPM efforts. When I had the opportunity to put that issue of Mission Frontiers together in 2016, it was mostly Outside Catalysts who were sharing CPM implementation stories and experiences.

 

Now, six years passed that groundbreaking MF issue, we are seeing the multiplication of near-neighbor and focus UPG women who are sharing their stories, giving their insights as they implement to see the launch of CPMs. Finally, we are seeing the slight increase of ALL for ALL, not outsiders only for ALL peoples, not men only for ALL peoples. Not near-neighbor/indigenous UPG laborers only for ALL peoples, but ALL ethne to ALL ethne. Both men and women for the baseline making of reproducing disciples who love, hear, and obey Jesus.

 

WIGtake? (What’s It Gonna Take)

 

There are presently, at last count from the 24:14 Coalition[6], 1,968+ CPMs being tracked globally. According to rigorous tracking and auditing of these CPMS, there is a core of around 200 CPMs of that number, which have launched the remaining. And yet, according to recent tracking, the traditional evangelistic methods are not keeping pace with birthrates globally[7] among UPG populations. 

 

What must be done, when it comes to seeing women flourish as CPM practitioners?

 

Potential steps for more intentional equipping/coaching of women for CPM focused efforts could include the following: 

 

·      Listen to and learn from Movement leaders and their stories. Discuss with listening ears how they train/coach women in their movements. The purpose is to be diagnostic in gaps in the CPMs to this end. 

·      Discern gaps in present movements in order to serve their gaps of seeing ALL (male and female) of their potential laborers equipped and coached more intentionally. 

·      Create avenues for women within given CPMs to tell the story of how they partner with the men in training/coaching others to reproduce disciple-makers.

·      A weekly CPM Coaching circle of men and women can be a most effective way to equip others. Use 7 DMM High Value Activities[8] to be woven into the coaching times.  The coaching circle can be most effective with 4-6 CPM implementers when held to 1 hour and 30 minutes divided into 1/3 Member Health, 1/3 CPM vision strengthening, 1/3 CPM actionable steps through listening prayer in mutual accountability.

 

All of us (men and women) are to delight in and declare God’s glory, developing intimacy with God. Out of the overflow of this intimacy we are to “be” and “do” in Christ, and seek to reproduce Jesus in others. For all who follow Jesus, making reproducing disciples is a privilege as well as a command.

 

I urge the Body of Christ to consider how to best equip and coach women to thrive and bear multiplying fruit to the glory of God. As co-laborers with God in his mission to reconcile the world to himself, women have a place and a role to play, and it is right beside their brothers in the faith who are committed to the same call.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

---

[1] CPM (Church Planting Movements)—A “rapid and multiplicative increase of indigenous churches planting churches within a given people group or population segment.” Groups of baptized believers reproducing at least four streams wide, each at least four generations deep. Often the result of a DMM or T4T approach.

[2] Smith, Steve. See https://2414now.net/the-storyline-of-history-finishing-the-last-lap/

 

[3] CPM/DMM Catalyst—A person called to help ignite a movement. The catalyst, whether expatriate or near culture Christian, is used by God to raise up and coach the indigenous leaders of a movement. Catalysts can be called the “zero” generation (with the first group of believers from the focus group counted as “first” generation).

 

[4] See articles in blog for further understanding of how Muslim women see their roles in family, in community. 

https://whenwomenspeak.net/resources-books-articles-courses/

 

[5] See http://www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/archive/women-engaged-in-church-planting-movements-among-upgs

 

[6] See Power Point on Global Movement Statistics https://2414now.net/resources/

[7] See World Population Growth rates. https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/WLD/world/population-growth-rate

[8] See Blog entry for DMM Weekly 7 High Value  Activities https://womeninchurchplantingmovements.blogspot.com/2022/12/dmm-raising-sails-7-high-value-weekly.html