Sept. 21, 2012 Training Event Summary
Thank you to everyone who attended and participated in our first training event. We had 30 people attend the training. Nineteen people signed up to try and start a training for trainers group.
Thanks especially to Storm Hutchinson who taught the Xcelerate discipleship model. Remember that Xcelerate can be used as both a Field I and Field II strategy. If you want to learn more about Xcelerate you can contact Storm who has plans to accommodate those who want to see Xcelerate in action. Dan Greider, who is a church multiplication coach (and Storm’s coach) and who has initiated Xcelerate will be the speaker at our Multiplication Training Event that will be held on March 2, 2013.
Special Thanks also to Larry Freed who taught the “Train and Multiply” system to us. Train and Multiply is an alternative system to create a multiplication movement. The advantages of Train and Multiply is that its simplicity and the materials are available in 40+ languages. You and learn more at www.trainandmultiply.com. If you are interested in using Train and Multiply please let me know because the conference can purchase the copyright and then everyone is free to use it.
Your “To Do” List
The first item on the “To Do” list distributed at the seminar was that you would agree to, in the next month:
– produce a map with target communities for church planting (it should include target communities for first and second generation churches.)
– secure the necessary training materials
– review the first months lessons to be taught
– identify prayer partners for your work
– recruit 2-5 persons to train as church planters, with at least two of them being persons of peace that God has led you to; begin training them with “Mobilizing Members” (if you are using Bruce’s system) and teach Gospel strategies.
We are not sure if the one month timeline is correct, we need to collect data from each of you to discern that, but by this time you should be fairly well along in your first month’s “to do” list. Unfortunately we left the seminar without a good system for reporting your progress. That is something that we will have to correct. But for now please feel free to contact me or anyone else who is on our e-mail list if you are getting stuck.
Expect Spiritual Opposition
Some of you know that I spent last weekend in the hospital. I have been getting increasingly ill as we have moved toward implementing this system. The night before the Sept. 21 seminar I was so ill I was not sure I was going to be able to do it. Last Friday my goal was to get this update written since it was just two weeks after our seminar. As I went to get started writing this update my whole body and mind crashed. I became delirious. Dawn took me to the Emergency Room where I was diagnosed with complete dehydration. Since then I have been plagued with serious blood pressure spikes that are both dangerous and debilitating. I have never taken blood pressure medication in my life. The doctor has put me on some medicine now to try and even out the spikes. I say this to tell you to expect Satan’s attack. This week as I have been in battle with Satan I have come to have great joy from the simple juxtaposition of two phrases in the Lord’s prayer. I have enjoyed the fact that the phrase “but deliver us from evil” is immediately followed by “for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” In those phrases is the source of every hope we have.
Going Forward
We have taken a step of faith into the unknown . We do not know exactly how to create this system in a way that it will work in our culture. I have taken great comfort in Bruce’s words that “we may not have precedent, but we have God’s promises.” There is so much yet to figure out. As I mentioned above we need to develop a reporting system. We need more avenues for encouragement. Storm has suggested that we create a “best practices” Facebook page where we can post what has worked and what hasn’t. Storm has also suggested geographical encouragement groups that would meet at least monthly. The district leaders will meet this month and we will spend some time trying to create this missing part of our system. Until then please feel free to share with us what you need, because that will help us create a good system.
Remember also that we are also still praying that God will reveal the person who is to be the Champion.
Bruce’s material now available in Portuguese
Bruce has notified us that the training material has been translated into Portuguese. Please let me know if you would like the link to that site.
Please feel free to respond to anything on this e-mail. I believe you can just click “reply all” and everybody will receive what you write. This whole project is at a critical stage. The information you can provide about your work is essential to our success. Thanks to each one of you who seek to be obedient to God’s command in 2 Timothy 2:2 that we are to entrust what we have learned to reliable people who are able to teach others. I am deeply thankful to God for each one of you, and for your willingness to take a great step of faith to advance Jesus Kingdom.
Be With Him
These will make war with the lamb and the lamb will overcome them; for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are Called, Chosen and Faithful. Rev. 17:14