Interactive Training

INSTRUCTOR’S PREPARATIONS

MAIN INSTRUCTOR:

Coordinate an activity yourself or designate a trainee to coordinate it.

· Each of fourteen general activities includes several specific exercises; these all have numbers such as 3b (3 = the general activity; b = the specific exercise).

· An activity’s coordinator assigns its exercises to trainees beforehand, to lead them.

· Trainees will be more enthusiastic and learn more when they lead exercises. After an exercise, add any vital teaching that a trainee has overlooked.

· Use this outline as a menu: choose exercises that fit trainees’ plans. Skip less important exercises if time is limited.

Appoint mature trainees as cell group leaders who serve as ‘shepherding elders,’ in a temporary training church.

· A cell leader leads from two to ten trainees. If there are only a few trainees, then form only one cell. Cells are small but real churches within the larger church.

· Write the name of the elder, if not yourself, who will coordinate an activity in the space provided under each activity title.

· Elders likewise assign exercises to trainees and write their names under the exercises that they lead.

· Elders coordinate the main activities, which are designated by number. Trainees within an elder’s cell group lead specific exercises, which are designated by letter.

· Trainees who plan to work together in the future should be in the same cell.

· Provide time for elders to meet with their cells to pray, prepare the training exercises that they assign to their cell members, and plan future fieldwork.

· If possible, choose elders a day before the training begins, and have them read these instructions and Activity 1, so that they can plan what to do.

· Aim for interaction. Place chairs in a circle or semi-circle.

SHEPHERDING ELDERS (trainees that lead cells and help with training exercises):

· Coordinate a general activity that the main instructor assigns to you.

· Assign to trainees in your cell the exercises under your assigned activity. These exercises are designated by the activity number and a letter, such as 2c). Write the name of the trainee to whom an exercise is assigned in the space provided under its title.

· Let a trainee who leads an exercise read its instructions before the training session starts.

· Let all cell members gain experience leading, especially any who are inexperienced.

· Mention the answers given for discussion questions only if trainees do not answer well.

1
Form a Temporary Training Church
with Cell Groups

Essentials of worship ● Value of Communion ● Challenges of tiny flocks and new leaders

COORDINATOR for Activity 1 (if not the main instructor): _________________________

1a Prepare for Communion before sessions starts.

Bodybuilding exercise, led by main instructor before training sessions start.

Provide one cup for each cell, and bread to dip into the cup.

1) To begin the first session, explain the cell groups and form them:

· Cells of from two to ten persons each will be temporary but real churches. Jesus promised, ‘Where two or three gather together in my name, I am there in their midst’ (Matthew 18:20). Tiny churches or cells that obey Jesus normally grow and reproduce faster and healthier than big churches do, provided they work very closely with other groups.

· Let trainees who plan to work together in the future join the same cell.

· Cells are to do all that the New Testament requires of a church, as much as possible.

2) Mobilize elders to lead the cell groups:

· Lay hands on the elders and pray for help to lead the temporary training cells.

· Arrange for each elder to gather a cell that is part of the training church.

· Two or more elders might lead the same cell, especially if there are few trainees.

1b Develop skill in serving communion to a tiny group.

Bodybuilding exercise, led by the newly appointed elders.

1) Begin with a time of worship, with all trainees together.

· Praise God and celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Use one cup and dip the bread in it. Explain that this simple procedure enables one to serve Communion under almost any circumstances in any field.

· Have no music the first time you worship. Explain that for security reasons in many pioneer fields, believers do not sing aloud. In addition, at first, new believers with a Muslim background can be offended by introducing singing prematurely.

2) A leader prays and then reads a few verses of praise from a Psalm. All stand unless focusing on a culture that would use a different posture. Let all repeat each line after the leader.

3) A dramatic reader reads Child’s Passover Prayer, to introduce the Lord’s Supper:

My name is Zurisadai. I am ten years old. We lived in Egypt until the other day when my daddy told me to catch a lamb. I held it while he slit its throat. Yuk! Blood sprinkled all over me. Flies came. Daddy smeared the red blood beside our door. He told me that Moses had warned that the death angel was going to fly over Egypt and slay each family’s oldest son, but if he saw the blood, then he would pass over.

That night I could not sleep; I was scared, because I am the firstborn. The night grew cold, dark and silent. I prayed, “Almighty God of Abraham, please let the angel see the blood. It’s dark!”

I heard screams, faintly and far off. They grew closer and louder. Soon they were all around us. I pressed my hands over my ears tightly and shut my eyes, waiting.

“Dear God, save me!”

The screams grew fainter and farther away; then, silence. I opened my eyes. Daddy and mama were standing over me, weeping. Daddy cried, “The death angel saw the blood of the lamb!”

4) All pray silently to confess sins to God.

5) The leader asks an elder from each cell to stand in front with him. Serve them the bread and cup saying, “The body of Jesus,” and “The blood of Jesus.” Use one cup and dip the bread in it.

1c Discuss the worship activities that you did.

Dialogue exercise, led by (willing trainee): _______________________

1) Ask if trainees felt awkward worshipping in a different way.

2) Explain.

· New believers also feel awkward when they worship in ways that are foreign to them. Worship in ways that fit their background, respecting local customs.

· Dipping bread in one cup is an old liturgical form that can be used anywhere, where people have contagious diseases, and without requiring little cups for everyone.

1d Explain why, and, how to praise God without music in certain fields.

Discovery exercise, led by (willing trainee): _________________________

1) Explain

· Many people groups have hostile authorities who will detect singing.

· DO NOT introduce Western music styles in pioneer fields. Wait until local musicians can introduce their own style; otherwise the church planting movement will be stigmatized as a foreign faith. Later, if they want some Western music for variety, let them introduce it on their own initiative.

· DO NOT start using music too soon where Muslim converts are accustomed to worship without music and consider it too frivolous to use as a worship form.

· Other biblical methods to praise God: read Psalms, testify of blessings, pray with praise, and meditate on God’s majesty.

· Beware of excessive informality in house churches.

2) IF POSSIBLE, during worship sing or play music from cultures where trainees may work.

1e Develop the skill of working secretly.

Bodybuilding exercise, led by main instructor.

Do this exercise if trainees plan to work were authorities are hostile, and if the training sessions extend over several days.

2
Make Disciples as Jesus Said, Teaching
them to Obey His Commands

Discipleship as defined by Christ ● His Great Commission ● Foundation for life and ministries

COORDINATOR for Activity 2: _______________________________________

2a Act out what the first disciples did to obey Jesus.

Dramatizing exercise, led by: _______________________________________

A ‘Pilgrim’ acts out what might have happened after Pentecost, with Mr. (or Mrs.) Tradition):

· Pilgrim: Explain that you have returned from celebrating the feast of Pentecost in Jerusalem. Tell Mr. Tradition what happened, relating the events of Acts 2:37-47. He interrupts you.

· Mr. Tradition: As Pilgrim mentions the events below; correct him in your own words:

Pilgrim: “We repented…”

Mr. Tradition: “Don’t bother people with repentance. A simple ‘decision’ is easier.”

Pilgrim: “We were baptized, 3,000 of us that day…”

Mr. Tradition: Those baptisms were invalid if an ordained reverend did not do them.

Pilgrim: “We broke bread in homes, celebrating Holy Communion.”

Mr. Tradition: “That was wrong. Only an ordained clergyman can officiate Communion.”

Pilgrim: “We showed love one to another, with wonderful fellowship in Christ.”

Mr. Tradition: “Such unbridled emotion! An abomination before the Holy One of Israel!”

Pilgrim: “We prayed daily, alone and with other believers in their homes.”

Mr. Tradition: “I trust you used the authorized prayers in our church’s worship manual.”

Mr. Pilgrim: “We gave to all who had need.”

Mr. Tradition: “Wrong! You must bring all your offerings here to our church.”

Pilgrim: “We made disciples, teaching them who Jesus is and to obey His commands.”

Mr. Tradition: “Aha! Weak on doctrine! Next time begin with systematic theology.”

2b Build lives and churches on the one true foundation.

Dialogue exercise, led by: ______________________________________

1) Discuss our Supreme Commander’s Great Commission:

· Let all trainees repeat together the Great Commission in Matt. 28:18-20, by memory if they can.

· Ask how believers are to make disciples, according to Jesus’ orders.

Good answer: by teaching them to obey all of Jesus’ commands.

2) Discuss why believers cannot make disciples like Jesus said, unless they know His commands.

· Jesus commanded many things but they can be summarized in seven basic commands, which the 3,000 new believers of the first church in Jerusalem obeyed from the beginning.

· Ask trainees to listen as you read Acts 2: 37-47, to tell afterwards what the new believers in the first church did in obedience to specific commands of Jesus. (Let anyone answer.)

Good answers: Give answers only if the group fails to do so. The first believers obeyed Jesus’ orders to:

Repent (this requires faith and being born again by the Holy Spirit)
Be baptized,
Break bread (Lord’s Supper),
Love (seen in their fellowship)
Pray
Give
Make disciples

· Discuss how soon were new believers baptized, and where they celebrated communion.

2d All trainees: pray and plan to go make disciples who obey Jesus.

Bodybuilding exercise, led by: _______________________________________

Meet in the cells and help each other to memorize the seven basic commands of Christ.

· If someone has the knack, compose a simple poem naming these commands and set it to music, help believers memorize them.

· Covenant together before God to start churches and cells that obey Jesus’ commands before all else..

3
Covenant Together to Start and Sustain
a Church Planting Movement

Your church’s DNA ● The light baton ● Using the New Testament as a filter

COORDINATOR for Activity 3: _______________________________________

3a Illustrate a church’s power to multiply after its own kind.

Bodybuilding exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Demonstrate a normal way for churches or cells to multiply, with a relay race.

· Let trainees from all cells who would like to run in a race form two teams of equal size. If the room is small, do this outside.

· Let the teams line up behind a line. Explain that runners from both teams will carry a baton (roll up some paper) to a marker a few yards away, touch it and run back, and hand the baton to the next team member behind the starting line.

· Run the race.

· Run the race again, but replace the baton of the winning team with several large books, bags and other things that take time to pass on from one to another rapidly.

· Explain that New Testament churches multiplied in a chain reaction, similar to the relay race. Wise church planters pass on a light baton, that is, only those things that are essential for a new church to obey Jesus, such as His commands, the Gospel, the power of the Holy Spirit, and basic biblical doctrines.

3b Discuss how to sustain a movement of church multiplication.

Dialogue exercise, led by: _____________________________________

1) Ask what sort of things a missionary should leave behind, to lighten the ‘baton’ that he passes on to apprentice leaders, when going to a foreign field., where new leaders lack experience, resources and formal education.

Good answers:

· Use the New Testament as a filter–if it does not mention a church activity, filter it out.

· Excess baggage usually includes high technology, expensive methods, ordination requirements that fit only professional clergy with high degrees, evangelism by extracting individuals from their circle of family and friends, entertaining aspects of worship that fit Westerners’ mentality, individualism, institutionalism or things that require more biblical knowledge than what they have.

2) Before reading 2 Tim. 2:2, ask trainees to count the links in Paul’s training ‘chain.’

Good answer: four, Paul, Timothy, ‘faithful men’ and ‘others also’.

3) Examine links in the Paul-Timothy mentoring chain (2 Tim. 2:2; Col. 1:7-8, 4:15)

Antioch. The ‘mother’ church in Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas to new areas.

Ephesus (among many more cities): Paul trained Timothy who served in Ephesus, and others.

Colosse(among many): Timothy trained ‘reliable men’, for example, Epaphras in Colosse.

Hierapolis(among many): Reliable men trained ‘others also’ such as Nympha, a woman worker in Hierapolis.

4) Explain:

· Some workers, especially from traditional churches, fear such reproduction. They assume that it will cost too much money, that they will lose control, or that false doctrine will enter the new churches. However, history shows that the dangerous doctrines that have weakened thousands of churches around the world do not come from new, little churches, but from old, stagnant ones.

Each church that is born starts the process all over again. Jesus compared church and reproduction to that of plants. If this were not so, there would not be a strong church left on earth; all churches are the result of many generations of church reproduction.

3e Act out how to filter out excess baggage.

Dramatizing exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Illustrate how to filter heavy things from the package that you pass on to nationals.

· Use a large box or container to illustrate what missionaries take in excess to the field, and prepare someone ahead of time to receive it:

· Pretend to put into it what most Western missionaries take to the field: electronic gadgets, an individualistic approach to evangelism, entertaining modes of worship, institutional church organization, academic pastoral training, professionalism and other expensive things.

· Tell the people that they are pagans in a pioneer field and offer the package to one of them, telling him to pass it on, like the baton in a relay race, to the others.

· He finds it too heavy, drops it on his toe, and chases the missionary angrily.

· Designate another trainee as ‘culturally closer’ worker and let him pass on a lighter package, using only a Bible. This time the one receiving it finds it light and passes it on.

· Ask the group what should be removed from the ‘package’, and why.

3) If possible, workers who are culturally close to the people in a new field should introduce the gospel first. This avoids stigmatizing the new faith as a foreign religion.

3f All cells: pray and plan to help with a church planting movement.

Bodybuilding exercise, led by: _______________________________________

· Cell members make a covenant with each other and the Lord, to start the kind of churches and leadership training that lead to a church planting movement, with God’s help.

· Draw a rustic map if you know the area where you will plant churches: show potential mother churches, with arrows pointing to potential daughter churches.

· Leave room to add where granddaughter churches will also initiate new churches and cells.

Sample Planning Map

· Plan to give training like this to your future coworkers. Use this outline if you wish, and modify it to suit your circumstances. Download freely:

http://mentorandmultiply.homestead.com/Interactive_Training_to_Multiply_Churches_and_Cells.doc

4
Reproduce ‘Rabbit’ Churches and Cells

Dynamics of church reproduction ● The beauty of smallness ● Spiritual DNA

COORDINATOR for Activity 4: _______________________________________

4a Act out the story of Peter and Cornelius from Acts 10.

Dramatizing exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Instruct actors beforehand to emphasize the points related to the questions below.

2) After actors present the story, ask…

· What did both Peter and Cornelius do at first that moved God to work?

· How did God prepare Peter to respect another culture?

· Did Peter work alone or as a team?

· Whom did Cornelius gather to hear the Good News, and why is it important?

· Did Peter preach a doctrinal message or relate the historical events of the Gospel?

· Did Peter emphasize Christ’s resurrection? Why is this crucial in foreign missions?

· How did Peter and his helpers know that Cornelius and his friends had received the Holy Spirit?

· How did Peter confirm the new believers’ repentance and faith?

· What did Peter and his helpers do after folks were baptized, and why is it important?

4b Act out warding off wolves.

Dramatizing exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Have a man play the part of a shepherd, and three men to act as wolves (or another animal that kills sheep and goats). have the other trainees act as sheep and stand widely separated from each other, in a clear area outside or in a very large room. Rules:

· Sheep cannot move.

· After you count to three, if a wolf touches a sheep, then it ‘dies’(fall down).

· If the shepherd touches a wolf, then the wolf ‘dies’ (fall down).

· Play until most of the sheep are dead.

· Have the shepherd reorganize like Jethro told Moses: Name shepherds who form tight groups of four or so, gathered closely.

· Elders now can run; they also have power to kill wolves by touching them.

· Start the game again. Stop when the wolves are dead or are afraid to come near.

· Ask which is worth more ─ sheep or men? In addition, what should a pastor do when a flock grows big?

2) Ask: Under what circumstances would a congregation normally reproduce cells (tiny churches within a big congregation) rather than separate house churches?

Good answer: A congregation should reproduce small groups before it grows too big to practice normal, New Testament, congregational body life. Cell churches are more common in big cities.

4c Discuss what the first ‘sending church’ did.

Dialogue exercise, led by: __________________________________

1) Ask trainees to listen as you read Acts 13:1-3, to tell afterwards how the Antioch church mobilized church planters.

Good answer: The believers in Antioch fasted and prayed, and, as a body led by the Holy Spirit , laid hands on Paul and Barnabas, sending them to disciple the nations.

Note: When these workers came back several years later, the Antioch church heard their report and rejoiced in what God had done (Acts 14:26).

2) Ask trainees to listen as you read Acts 14:21-23, and to say afterwards what happens in new churches, to enable them to keep reproducing in daughter and granddaughter churches.

Good answer: Workers appoint elders in new flocks so that the process continues until Jesus returns.

Note: The best church-planting teams come from a nearby mother church of the same culture. However, teams made up of outsiders need to start the first churches in places where there are none.

3) Ask trainees to listen as you read Ephesians 4:11-12, to tell afterwards what God promises to give every obedient church.

Good answer: God gives each church apostles (‘sent ones’) whom He sends to neglected peoples, as well as the other types of leaders.

4d Act out four common ways to start churches.

Dramatizing exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Divide trainees into four groups, representing four cities or towns.

ANTIOCH MODEL: A sending church sends a team to distant fields (Acts 13—14).

· Have two trainees from the first group be Paul and Barnabas and go visit the other groups briefly, ‘bless’ them, and return to Antioch.

· Explain: New Testament church planters stayed in a city only long enough to establish elders, or returned briefly later to do so.

JOPPA MODEL: Peter went from Joppa with helpers to start a church nearby. Several go from a group to another city, ‘bless’ them, and return to their own city.

BUSINESS MODEL: Aquila and Priscilla used small business to start churches in Rome, Corinth and Ephesus. A pair leaves a city, goes to other cities, ‘blesses’ them, and stays in the last city that they visit.

WESTERN URBAN MODEL: This works in cities with good transportation, among people of the same culture. Form one large group. A good part of it leaves and forms a second ‘daughter church’ nearby.

2) Let trainees suggest which of these methods would best fit their future church-planting projects, if they know where they will work.

3) Explain:

· New Testament church planting teams were not permanent. Workers joined for a while and left the team. This is normal, and avoids team members bonding so permanently with co-workers that they fail to bond with the people whom God sent them to serve.

· A leader’s first responsibility is not to keep a team together but to make disciples of Jesus. There were no permanent church planting teams in the New Testament.

· The best church-planting team normally is a new and nearby mother congregation of the same culture.

· Teams made up of outsiders need to start the first churches in places where there are none.

· God promises each church ‘apostles’ (sent ones, Eph. 4:11-12) with ‘itchy feet’ who desire to go to neglected people.

4e Demonstrate why God wants many shepherds of tiny flocks.

Dramatizing exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Act out parts of the story of Jethro’s advice to Moses, from Exodus 18.

Prepare six helpers to be Moses, Jethro and four Complainers:

· Do not memorize lines, just the ideas.

· 1^st Complainer is female; change the wording to fit a man if no woman is present.

MOSES: Sit in an open space.

1^st COMPLAINER: Go to Moses complaining loudly, “Moses! My father-in-law promised to give my family five camels for me to marry his son, but one of them was lame!”

2^nd COMPLAINER: (Before Moses can reply to the above, loudly) “I did give you a lame camel, but your father did not warn me that his daughter is lame in the head!”

3^rd COMPLAINER: “Moses, my neighbor’s donkey always eats my barley.”

4TH COMPLAINER: my Donkey does not! It stays at home! It is a good, Jewish donkey!”

Tell other “ISRAELITES” (anyone) to go to Moses and complain about anything.

JETHRO: Go to Moses, walking bent over like an old man with a walking stick. Shout at the complainers to go home and threaten them with your stick. Say, “Moses, you are an idiot! Name elders to help you shepherd the people!” etc.

2) Explain: Moses followed his aged father-in-law Jethro’s advice and named leaders to shepherd the people. Shepherding took place in small groups of ten.

4f Define the need for house churches.

Dialogue exercise, led by: __________________________________

1) Ask why it is increasingly necessary in many fields to form house churches.

Good answers:

· In most societies people come to Christ easier in small groups.

· Authorities who are hostile to Christians often maltreat legal ‘registered’ churches.

· It is easier to reach entire families by meeting in their homes.

· Children can take a more active part in worship and thus know they are an important part of the church body.

· Funds not spent on buildings can be used to send workers to neglected peoples.

2) Explain : Small churches reproduce easily, because they have not become institutions, and have not acquired expensive equipment and traditions that are hard to pass on to daughter churches.

4g Discern where rabbit churches are preferable to elephants.

Discovery exercise, led by: ________________________________

1) Ask in what way big congregations compare to elephants and little congregations to rabbits?

Good answer: ‘Rabbit’ congregations multiply much faster. Believers in an average small congregation win many times more people to Christ than do the same number of believers in an ‘elephant’ church.

2) Explain: differences between elephants and rabbits:


Matures in 18 years				Matures in 4 months
1 baby per pregnancy				Averages 7 babies
Is fertile 4 times a year				Is almost always fertile
Gestation is 22 months				Gestation is 1 month
Family can grow from 2 to 3 in three years				Family can multiply to 476 million in 3 years

· A church can be a hybrid, both rabbit and elephant (a rabbifant?) if it lets cell groups multiply and become tiny churches within a big one.

· Rabbit churches should serve one another and celebrate together occasionally.

· Rabbits must not bite the elephants’ toes, and elephants must not trample the rabbits.

· A group small enough for all to participate actively and serve one another as the New Testament requires, is too small to have all vital spiritual gifts and must cooperate closely with other groups.

3) Ask: How did the Apostle Paul practice church body life between congregations?

Good answers:

· Paul and his coworkers often visited different congregations to help them.

· Paul took offerings from some churches to others where the people suffered from famine.

· Paul sometimes sent workers from one church to help another congregation for a while.

4) Ask: Who should keep starting new flocks after missionaries start the first ones?

Good answer: Rabbits reproduce rabbits. Oranges reproduce oranges. People reproduce people. Obedient churches reproduce daughter churches.

5) Trace the mentoring ‘chain’ that is mentioned in Colossians and 2 Tim. 2:2.

Colossae lies about 100 miles up the river valley from Ephesus, Laodicea and Hierapolis about 10 and 12 miles beyond Colossae.

Link a. Paul, in prison part of the time, writing epistles

Link b. Timothy, resident apostle at Ephesus

Link c. Epaphras, traveled between Colossae and Ephesus

Link d. Archippus, at Colossae

Link e. Nympha, at Laodicea

Link f. Others, at Hierapolis

5
Tell the Historical Gospel Events and
Present the Risen Christ

Using Bible stories to evangelize and edify ● Our witness ● Simple drama in evangelism and worship ● Story telling

COORDINATOR for Activity 5: _______________________________________

5a Define the essential gospel proclamation.

Dialogue exercise, led by: ____________________________________

Ask all to listen as four people read 1) Luke 24:46-48, 2) Acts 2:30-36, 3) Acts 10:38-43, and 4) 1 Cor. 15:1-8, and then tell what facts to proclaim, that people must believe to be saved:

Good answer: Jesus’ death and His life-giving resurrection. NOTE: Western evangelists often neglect Jesus’ life-giving resurrection when relating His saving work, but it was the central point of the apostles’ witness.

5b Act out Bible stories.

Dramatizing exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Act out parts of the creation story in Genesis chapters 1 and 2.

· Announce that helpers will show something that the first man enjoyed doing.

· Explain:
1) God told Adam to name the animals that He had created (Genesis 2:19).
2) God created light, then skies, earth and seas, plants, animals and then man (Gen. 1). 3)
3) God brought the animals to Adam to see what he would call them.

· Tell a child to hop like a rabbit; then ask the people to give it a name like Adam did. They are not to say ‘rabbit’ or a name already known, because Adam did not have that vocabulary. They might say names like ‘hopper’ or ‘long ears.’

· Let all children hop like rabbits.

· Ask a young adult to go like an elephant, swaying one arm like its trunk, and ask the people to name it. If any children want to be elephants for a moment, let them do so.

· Do the same for a bird, kangaroo, turtle and any other animal that local people know.

2) Ask why learners should tell or act out Bible stories.

Good answers:

Bible stories are easy to remember and to repeat to others.

Seekers and new believers who hear Bible stories often repeat them to others.

Stories let the Good News flow among families and friends.

Learners must develop a repertoire of Bible stories that illustrate vital truths.

Ask what Bible stories reveal vital truths about salvation.

Good answers: The accounts of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Prodigal Son in Luke 15, the many accounts of conversions in Acts, and many more. Develop a repertoire of gospel Bible stories.

Ask what Bible stories reveal the grace that God gives to sinners. (Good answers: Parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son in Luke 15, etc.)

Ask what Bible stories reveal the need to repent. (Good answers: Zacheus, Luke 19:1-10, Prodigal Son, Luke 15, Saul on the Damascus road, Acts 9.)

Ask what stories show the need for: Baptism, Communion, Giving, Prayer, Serving the needy.

5c Discuss how to present the living, present Christ.

Dialogue exercise, led by: ____________________________________

1) Ask a lady to stand (or a man if no ladies are present), and announce that you are going to introduce her in a way that will enable everyone to really know her.

· Explain that first you must get information about her. Pretend to write data in a notebook. Say ‘hair’ and then examine her hair, say “Yes!” and pretend to write it in your notebook. Then say ‘Eyes?’ and examine her eyes. Then announce “Two!” and pretend to write it.

· Ask the trainees if this would enable them to know the lady.

· Explain that this is what happens if witnesses for Christ only explain facts about Him, such as how His atonement works.

2) Ask how to help people to meet the risen Christ who is with us. Answers might include…

Emphasize His resurrection and ascension,

Ask God in Jesus’ name for the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13

Let all prophesy as God prompts, as in 1 Cor. 14:24.

Let the Holy Spirit help us to feel His Presence,

Let seekers know how much one loves Him and why,

Pray for healing in His name,

Make other bold requests in prayer,

Celebrate His supper in a meaningful way,

Accept persecution for His sake with joy,

Praise Him joyfully, and thank Him for what He has done,

Obey His commands (Acts 5:32),

Let all use their spiritual gifts,

Talk to Him and about Him and His Presence, in small groups,

Anoint and pray for believers who plan to do specific tasks

Let all participate freely, but avoid letting visitors teach until you know their doctrine is sound.

Avoid strange ‘manifestations’ or anything else that distracts from simply obeying Jesus.

7
Confirm Faith and Repentance with Baptism,
and Keep Focused on Jesus
with Communion

Value of baptism ● Repentance ● Receiving babes in Christ ● Sacramental aspect of Communion

COORDINATOR for Activity 7: _______________________________________

7a Discuss when and why to baptize.

Dialogue exercise, led by: ____________________________________

1) Let some trainees find in Acts 2:37-41 why Christian workers baptize. Let others find another reason in Romans 6:3‑8. Then let both groups report what they found.

Good answer: Baptism demonstrates and confirms repentance. It means dying with Christ to sin and rising with Him to new, eternal and holy life.

2) Ask at what point should seekers be counted as new believers, and why.

Good answer: When they have been ‘added to a church’ by baptism (Acts 2:41). If evangelists count people who are not serious enough to be baptized, then those evangelists cannot evaluate the effectiveness of their work, and they should not report those individuals as new Christians.

7b Show why believers should joyfully receive spiritual ‘babes’.

Dramatizing exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Ask a man with a sense of humor to step outside a door and shut it, then knock on it and, when you open it, announce that he has received Jesus as his Savior. When he does so, you shout ‘Praise the Lord!’ and then push him back and shut the door in his face. After a moment let him come back in and ask how he felt when you excluded him.

· Discuss why it discourages new believers if churches delay baptism for legalistic reasons.

· Ask any mother present if she left her newborn child outside the door of their house until it stopped dirtying its diapers (fouling its ‘nappies’ in the UK).

· Explain: new believers are like babies in God’s sight, and everyone has dirtied their diapers, spiritually. During their infancy, new believers need to be brought into the bosom of the church ─ bring them through the Door, which is Christ, by baptism. Thus, let no one delay the new believers’ assurance of love and acceptance in the church body.

2) Explain the damage that man-made rules for baptism can cause:

· Legalists impose non-biblical requirements for baptism. This cancels grace, obscures repentance, and replaces serving out of love with doing religious works out of fear.

· Such legalism elevates blind obedience to church leaders and to man-made, church policies, above obedience to Christ’s commands.

7c Discuss the purpose of Communion.

Dialogue exercise, led by: ____________________________________

1) Ask trainees to listen as you read 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, to tell afterwards what the bread and drink are, in Holy Communion (Lord’s Supper).

Good answer: To eat and drink are a precious, powerful and edifying ‘participation’ in the body and blood of Christ.

7d Act out Old Testament worship.

Dramatizing exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Explain that you will show how folks worshipped before Jesus came, in the temple in Jerusalem.

· Ask a man to go out of the room with you. Outside, tell him to pretend that he is a sheep that you will pretend to be pulling with a rope. Show him how by crawling on your hands and knees saying ‘Baa!’ and jerking your head back to resist the rope.

· Enter the room with the sheep following you. Pretend to lead it to an ‘altar’ (a chair).

· Request a person to be a ‘priest’ and to sharpen his knife. Tell another that he is a Levite, and to bring the fire. Have them both help lay the sheep on the altar.

· Lay your hands on the sheep’s head and say that you must first confess all your sins.

· Tell the priest to slit the sheep’s throat. When he pretends to do so, recoil and cry, “Blood! Spurting all over!” Pretend to wipe blood from your hands and face.

· Exclaim, in your own words: “Is this worship? It is so shocking and repugnant! Why? Because our sin is shocking and repugnant before God!”

· Ask why Christians no longer take animals with them to worship.

· Explain: God requires that blood cover a sinner’s sin; believers enact Jesus’ sacrifice with the Lord’s Supper. God hates our sin and requires blood to cover it, which Communion recalls. God let some Corinthians die because they ate the bread without respecting Christ’s Body.

· Those who gather in Jesus’ name to break bread are Christ’s body, also, the bread itself is, as both Jesus and Paul said, Christ’s body; these two truths are woven together–a joyful mystery! To try to explain Communion in rationalistic terms destroys the mystery.

· Most new churches in newly opened fields start out small and meet in homes. They need help to sense the presence of God. Christ has given a good way to do so, the Lord’s Supper.

8
Bond with a Neglected People and Culture,
and Find a ‘Son of Peace’

Bonding ● Relationships with nationals ● Good and bad missionary teams ● Pre-evangelism

COORDINATOR for Activity 8: _______________________________________

8a Act out pre-evangelism.

Dramatizing exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Briefly act out Luke 10:1-20, and then discuss:

· How does one find a ‘child of peace’ who welcomes you to a community?

· What guidelines did Jesus mention in Luke 10, to help church planters in a pioneer field?

Good answers:

· Go in pairs (avoid working alone); pairing off is a good way to mentor apprentices.

· Pray for more workers.

· Be prepared to resist opposition from ‘wolves’.

· Do not take excess baggage or get sidetracked into other ministries (avoid using high tech equipment when training apprentices who lack it).

· Seek a person of peace who is hospitable and will open doors into the community; avoid going from house to house seeking better hospitality.

· Pray for the sick.

· Announce the Good News.

· If people do not receive you, ‘shake the dust’ (go to others). In most cases, a missionary does not have to move to a new area, but simply focus on a lower economic level.

· Report work done to your mentor. If you are the mentor, have trainees give their reports.

· Do not get too excited about casting out demons; keep focused on the reality of salvation.

2) Demonstrate why Jesus sent out workers in twos.

· Ask a full-grown man to sit in a chair. Then ask another man to lift the man in the chair (he will find it difficult).

· Ask two men to lift the chair together (very easy).

· Ask trainees to mention advantages of working with two or more others instead of alone.

8b Act out penetrating a different culture.

Dramatizing exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Act out Ruth 1:11-17. Then ask why it was easy for Ruth, a Moabitess, to adopt Israelite culture.

Good answer: Love between Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi made bonding easy. Missionaries must love the people in order to bond with them and their culture.

2) Explain how to bond with a people and culture

· A church planter’s deepest social needs, except for his family, should be met by the local people. To bond with people and their culture, a worker must live among them.

· Missionary teams made up of expatriates often bond with each other instead of with the people whom God sent them to serve. Workers should form teams made up mainly of nationals as soon as possible, and mentor them from behind the scenes.

· Missionaries who fail to bond in this way seldom start congregations and cells that fit their host culture well enough to multiply.

Explain the Anatomy of an Evangelist:

		Eyes: find in John 4:35-39 what God wants believers to see.
		Lips: find in Luke 24:46-48 what believers are to speak about Jesus.
		Hands hold a Bible: Find in 2 Tim. 2:2 what to do with God’s Word. Find in Matt. 28:18-20 what an evangelist is to teach disciples to do.
		Heart: Find in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 what makes one’s work effective. Find in Heb. 11:6 what believers need for God to work. Find in 1 Thess. 5:17 what an evangelist should do constantly. Find in Acts 1:8 from whom believers are to get power and why.
		Hand with a key: Find in Matt. 16:13-19 what Jesus promised Peter. Find in Matt. 18:18 who else received this promise. Find in John 20:22-23 what God does through believers.
		Feet: Find in Eph. 6:15 what kind of shoes God provides. Find in Isaiah 52:7 why feet are poetically called ‘beautiful.’
		Hands joined: Find in Acts 11:12 how many helpers Peter had. Find in Acts 13:2-5 how many helpers Paul had. Find in Luke 10:1 how many disciples of Jesus traveled together.

9
Combine Mercy Ministries with Church
Planting and Pastoral Work

Holistic ministry ● Deacons ● Integration of ministries in Christ’s Body

COORDINATOR for Activity 9: _______________________________________

9a Discuss the biblical role of deacons.

Dialogue exercise, led by: ____________________________________

Ask trainees to listen as you read Acts 6:1-6, to tell afterwards what type of person should serve as a deacon.

Good answer: Deacons were persons of good character, full of the Holy Spirit.

Ask what deacons did in the first church.

Good answer: They dealt with physical needs. Some did evangelism also, as Stephen and Philip did in Acts 7 and 8.

9b Portray obeying both ‘great’ commands at the same time.

Dramatizing exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) HAVE TWO ‘BIRDS’ STAND to show how to combine the two ‘great’ commands of Jesus.

· Birds flap their ‘wings,’ fly across the room, and then stop with wings outstretched.

· Explain: one wing is the Great Commission to make obedient disciples of all nations. The other is the Great Commandment to love God and our neighbor in practical ways.

· Request someone to be Mr.(Mrs.) Specialization and help the birds do their primary ministry. This person pretends to clip one ‘wing’ of each ‘bird’ with large shears, one’s left wing and the other’s right wing. The birds to drop the clipped wing.

· Explain that each ‘bird’ now specializes in one ministry, discipling or serving the needy.

· Tell the ‘birds’ to fly to some people at a distance, because they lack food and need Christ. The birds flap only one ‘wing’ and go in small circles.

· Ask how to correct the damage that Mr. (Miss or Mrs.) Specialization did.

Good answer: ‘Birds’ join arms, flap their good wings to fly to the needy folks.

· Have the birds join their weak arms and ‘fly’ to the needy people.

9c Explore guidelines to integrate vital ministries.

Bodybuilding exercise, led by: _______________________________________

· Have a third of the trainees read together 1 Corinthians 12:4-27 to find guidelines for harmonizing different ministries in the body.

· Have another third read Eph. 4:11-16 to find similar guidelines to harmonize ministries.

· Have the other third read Rom. 12:3-8 to find similar guidelines to harmonize ministries.

· After about five minutes, tell them that only one minute remains, then have each group report a guideline that it discovered.

Good answers:

Believers with different spiritual gifts and ministries should serve one another in love within the same congregation or small group.

Congregations also should serve one another in loving harmony.

Christian workers should not isolate believers with the same spiritual gift in separate church programs.

9d Discover biblical integration of ministries.

Discovery exercise, led by: _______________________________________

Explain:

· If your ministry is not church planting but health services, development, evangelism, pastoral training or some other specialty, you will see many times more such work done if you work together with workers who do the other vital ministries.

· The New Testament does not mention church planters; the new churches learned from the beginning to serve their neighbors in love, evangelize, and take the Gospel to those who had never heard. This obedience normally results in new churches.

· Everywhere the apostles went and made disciples by teaching them to obey Jesus’ commands, churches multiplied, without having to employ professional, specialized church planters.

· Each new church should develop without delay all of the vital ministries, and incorporate them into the church’s DNA to pass on to its daughter churches.

· Ministries are far stronger when integrated in loving harmony with the other vital ministries of a church body, in the spirit of 1 Corinthians 12, which compares gift-based ministries to organs in one’s body that work in coordinated unity.

· Workers can plant churches and do mercy ministry together as a team if they work in loving harmony through the power of the Holy Spirit, united by Christ who is Head of the Body. Churches that practice both ministries seriously normally do a much better job of both, than do churches that lack this balance which is required by 1 Corinthians 12.

2) Explain:

· To integrate gift-based ministries, apply the love principle of 1 Corinthians chapter 13.

· One person does not always have to do both pastoral and mercy work. One can focus on one ministry and work closely with others who focus on the other ministries.

9e Show how not to relate mercy ministry to church planting.

Dramatizing exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) PREPARE two helpers to act as Church Planter and Mercy Worker (see their lines below).

· Explain to all that a church planter and mercy worker have met in a village.

· CHURCH PLANTER argues loudly saying things like:

“People need salvation more than anything.”

“My ministry is more important than yours!”

“Without salvation, people will perish forever.”

“You focus too much on worldly things!”

“They need churches, not rice!”

· MERCY WORKER argues at the same time saying things like:

“Starved people will not listen to the Gospel until fed.”

“My ministry is more important than yours!”

“Loving one’s neighbor is more important than anything, and love must be practical.”

“We are called to serve people, not to convert them to a foreign religion!”

· Explain that New Testament church leaders are ‘shepherding elders’ who teach and lead, and ‘deacons’ who serve in practical ways (1 Timothy 3). These two kinds of leaders are to work in loving harmony to keep the body balanced.

· Ask what happens when church planters and mercy workers both think that their ministry is the most important.

Good answers: Both ministries become weak when isolated. Church planting and mercy ministry are equally important and both honor the Lord. The two workers should let the Holy Spirit enable them work together in loving harmony, as a team.

Let trainees mention Bible passages and stories that emphasize works of love.

Good answers:

Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37);

Jesus’ advice to a lawyer (Luke 10:25-28);

Jesus’ awesome parable of sheep and goats (Matt. 25:31-46);

John’s warning that if one says he loves God but does not feed his hungry neighbor, then he is not a true believer (1 John 3:16-18);

Jesus’ instructions to His followers whom he sent out with a dual commission, to proclaim Good News about the Kingdom of God, and to heal the sick and free victims of demons (Luke 10:1-9).

10
Let All Worshippers Participate Actively
and Serve One Another

Children take part ● Interaction in cells ● ‘One anothers’ ● Prophesying’ in the New Testament

COORDINATOR for Activity 10: _______________________________________

10a Discover together how to teach in small churches or cells.

Discovery exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Explain:

· 1 Cor. 14:26 requires: “When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.”

· 60 New Testament ‘one another’ commands can be done only in small groups; they include: teach one another, confess faults to one another, correct one another in love, bear one another’s burdens, exhort one another, and many more.

· A small group has grown too large to be fully effective when its members can no longer interact and serve one another as the New Testament requires.

· Do not simply split a group in two. Train new leaders while the group is still small, to form new groups. As a group grows, have these new leaders start new groups, taking with them as many as who want to go with them.

· Also, send new leaders out to form groups by evangelizing.

2) Ask trainees to listen as you read Ephesians 4:11-12, to tell afterwards what God’s primary purpose is for teaching His Word.

Good answer:

Equip believers to serve one another doing different, vital ministries. Leaders are not to control everything or do everything; they are mobilizers.

10b Explore how to engage children actively in worship.

Discovery exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Prepare children ahead of time to act out Bible stories briefly during the worship time.

· Avoid memorizing lines; let older children say things in their own words.

· Let a narrator read or tell the story, and pause for children to act out the scene.

· Avoid using props, costumes or other special effects. Keep acting simple and brief.

· Let older children help prepare the younger.

· Let all the children take part. Some may be ‘trees,’ animals in the background, or observers who simply shout ‘Amen!’ or another expression when the narrator tells them to do so. The important thing is that no child feels left out.

10c Keep worship consistent in a pioneer field.

Discovery exercise, led by: _______________________________________

Explain:

· Trainees may have worshipped in different ways for training purposes, but they must not keep changing a worship style in an established church or in a pioneer field.

· Worship leaders should explain any necessary change beforehand.

· Believers often leave a church that changes its worship form abruptly, as they feel insecure, not knowing what they are going to do next. This is especially so where persecution has prevailed; people feel insecure and crave constancy.

10d Keep discussion to the point, restraining wordiness.

Discovery exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Explain five kinds of persons who disrupt small group discussions:

Know-it-all: always corrects others and must have the last word.

Victim: Always has problems, ills, worry and chronic crises; demands the group’s attention.

Debater: Argues often, creating a negative, critical atmosphere.

Leech: Clings to leaders or disciplers, wasting their time.

Wordy Commentator: Talks on and on, boring others.

Things to say or do to restrain these people:

· “Does someone else have an opinion?” or, “Let’s hear someone who has not spoken yet.”

· Call the person’s attention to their disruptive behavior and exhort them to give others a chance to participate.

· If these restraints do not work, it is better to ask disruptive people to leave a cell group than to let the group self-destruct.

10e Show the value of highly interactive participation.

Dramatizing exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Prepare three helpers ahead of time:

1st Small Group Participant, preferably a woman,

2nd Small Group Participant, a former thief,

3rd Small Group Participant, a visitor.

2) Explain to all that 1 Corinthians 14:3 reveals that to prophesy is to strengthen, exhort and encourage one another. Verses 24-25 show what happens when small group members do so.

1^st Participant: Say, in your own words, that since this group began praying for your husband, he has not beaten you (or that you have not beaten your wife). The others praise the Lord.

2^nd Participant: Say, in your own words, that you started to steal office supplies last week, but prayed to Jesus and He helped you not to do it. The others praise the Lord.

3^rd Participant: Grab your chest and cry out saying that last week you stole and beat your wife! Then fall down and exclaim, “God is here!”

3) Ask trainees to listen as you read 1 Corinthians 14:24-25, to tell afterwards what happens when believers exhort, comfort and instruct one another.

Good answer: The Holy Spirit convicts unbelievers and some will turn to Christ. This is a powerful promise that brings many seekers to faith.

Ask trainees to listen as you read Acts 2:46, to tell afterwards where the first Christians normally met to ‘break bread’ (the first Christians said ‘break bread’ to mean sharing the Lord’s Supper).

Good answer: They met in homes, where it was easy for them to instruct and serve one another.

Ask trainees to listen as you read Matthew 18:20, to tell afterwards what Jesus promised ‘rabbit’ churches or small cell groups.

Good answer: Jesus will be present among believers who gather in His Name, even if only two or three.

Guidelines for Using Spiritual Gifts

1. As people serve one another in small groups, their spiritual gifts will become apparent, and others will recognize them. Do not prevent new believers from serving.

2. Provide opportunities for all believers to use their spiritual gifts. This is easier to do in small groups. Do not limit congregational meetings to simply listening to talented people.

3. Continually remind believers that they must have love for people when they use their spiritual gifts. When people are angry or unloving, then their gifts can harm people.

4. Let people have responsibilities, offices and ministries in congregations and cell groups, according to their spiritual gifts. Do not assign people to jobs for which they are not gifted.

5. Elders should have a speaking gift, and deacons should have a serving gift.

6. Small groups and ministry teams should have members with different gifts that the Holy Spirit can harmonize. Avoid grouping persons who have the same gift.

7. Having a spiritual gift does not confer authority over other believers. Rather, spiritual gifts are to be used to serve the Body of Christ in a manner that seeks the benefit of others.

8. Since every believer has spiritual gifts that benefit others, every believer is important to the others, regardless of their ethnicity, educational level, caste or social class.

9. Saved children also have the Holy Spirit and can serve with spiritual gifts. Children’s prayers and blessings can prove quite powerful.

11
Prepare to Work Where Authorities Are
Hostile (Form a Secret Church)

Challenges of pioneer fields ● The persecuted church ● Mobilizing ‘criminals’ for Christ

COORDINATOR for Activity 11: _______________________________________

11a Act out worship where authorities are hostile.

Dramatizing exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Prepare two helpers ahead of time secretly to be police, and another, young, strong man to be a leader of a secret church. The police prepare ‘clubs’ (sticks or bats). They stand by the door to the room and watch for the leader’s signal (nod).

· Announce: A Secret Church will demonstrate worship where authorities are hostile.

· The secret church leader requests three others to join him, sitting in the center on the floor, and asks these three to repeat each phrase after him as he reads from Psalm 67.

· After reading three or four verses, signal (nod) for the police to enter.

· Police rush in, waving their clubs and shouting as they go from one person to another (not the ones sitting on the floor, yet) shouting angrily such things as, “What are you doing here?” “This is an unauthorized meeting!” “Do you have a permit for this gathering?” “What is that book? A Bible?” “Who is your leader?”

· Police lastly go to the secret church leader, take him by the arms, and drag him out of the room. Make noises as though beating up on the leader, and then come right back in.

2) Explain how prevalent such persecution is:

· Every week what you just saw happens hundreds of times in fields around the world where authorities are hostile. They imprison and sometimes kill the leaders of unauthorized meetings.

· Nearly all of the remaining neglected people groups have hostile authorities.

3) Discuss how to avoid hostility and arrests:

· Ask how to work in hostile fields and have churches without authorities detecting them.

· Ask if persecution is normal from a biblical and historical perspective.

Good answer: Jesus and His apostles warned that His followers would suffer persecution. It is common, in one form or another, throughout the world.

11c Know and obey our Commander-in-Chief’s orders.

Dialogue exercise, led by: ____________________________________

Ask all to listen as you read Matt. 28:18-20, to tell afterwards where Jesus said to make disciples.

Good answer: Among all nations, people groups and cultures.

Ask trainees to listen as you read Romans 15:18-21, to tell afterwards Paul’s guideline for deciding where to gather new congregations.

Good answer: in neglected fields that lack reproductive, indigenous churches.

11d Act out mobilizing workers for neglected areas.

Dramatizing exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Have all trainees stand and form groups of three, separated from other groups, in different parts of the room. Each group represents a neglected city neighborhood or village. If there are more than 50 persons, then have more people in each group.

Read 2nd Timothy 2:2, and start a mentoring ‘chain reaction:

· Go to a group and announce that it is your first daughter church.

· Name two persons in the group as new shepherding elders.

· Let the group sit, except for its elders who go to two other groups and do the same thing. Then, they return and sit with their group.

· Go to another group and announce that it is your second daughter church, and name two more elders, and have the group sit down except for its two mentoring elders, who go to two other groups, do the same, and then return and sit with their group.

· Keep repeating this until all of the groups have been reached and are sitting.

· Modify the procedure according to the size number of trainees.

2) Explain:

· Such training and sending ‘chains’ must continue until Jesus returns.

· This non-institutional method of mentoring is needed in fields with hostile authorities.

Cells meet to pray and plan to go to neglected fields, or to train and send others.

· Pray and ask God to give you, your co-workers and leaders a clear vision of how to train leaders in a way that will let congregations reproduce in hostile fields.

· Plan for your future trainees to begin without delay to train other newer leaders, to keep the churches or cells multiplying in hostile fields.

12
Equ ip Believers to Do All the Ministries
That the New Testament Requires

Balance in the Body ● Priorities for activities ● When a church is ‘planted’

COORDINATOR for Activity 12: _______________________________________

12a Demonstrate a healthy church body.

Dramatizing exercise, led by: _______________________________________

SHOW what a church body looks like when members fail to use their God-given gifts in harmony with those who have other gift-based ministries.

· The gift of evangelism: The Bible says, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who carry the gospel.’ Hold both feet of the ‘church body’ so he cannot walk. Let him try and fall.

· Prophecy (the seer). Have someone close their eyes and try to find their way around.

· Serving. Pin someone’s arms to their sides while they pretend to try to serve others.

12b Learn to avoid arguments about what Christians should do.

Discovery exercise, led by: _______________________________________

Explain that to eliminate much confusion in new churches and avoid many disputes, wise trainers teach new leaders to discern three levels of authority for church activities:

1^st LEVEL. New Testament commands, such as baptizing

· Obey God’s commands without voting or arguing about them, He is our Supreme Commander. A church is completely planted when it is doing all of the vital ministries that are required by Christ and His apostles in the New Testament. Do not include Old Testament commands; Christians are not under the Old Testament law. If they were, then they would stone to death anyone who gathered firewood on Saturday.

· Discern between the underlying intent of a command and the cultural form it takes. Head covering, women keeping silent and foot washing were external forms, related to local culture, of obeying another underlying, universally important command.

2^nd LEVEL. New Testament practices, not commanded, such as baptizing immediately

· A Christian has freedom to heed such practices or not to, since they are not commands.

· Do not prohibit following them, since the apostles practiced and approved them.

· Do not command them for other churches; only God has authority to enact general laws.

3^rd LEVEL. Customs with no New Testament basis, such as using baptism as a graduation ceremony after a long doctrinal study

· Never demand blind obedience to traditions. Most traditions are good; many are neutral.

· Prohibit traditions that hinder obedience to New Testament commands.

Mention the following church practices, and let trainees say to which level they belong:

Wearing robes in the pulpit (3). Wearing ties in the pulpit (3). The pulpit (3).

The Lord’s Supper (1). Having Communion in homes (3). Using one cup (2).

Celebrating Communion the first day of the week (2: Acts 20:7).

Celebrating Communion the First Sunday each month (3).

Letting only highly educated, ordained clergy officiate the sacraments (3).

Sunday School as a method of teaching (3).

Requiring academic degrees for ordination (3).

Using a special plate or bag to collect offerings: 3.

Meeting in buildings (3: no chapels were mentioned in history until about 3 centuries after Christ).

Interactive teaching (1: believers are to teach ‘one another’, Col. 3:16; Rom. 15:14; all should prophesy, 1 Cor. 14:24-26, which means to speak to one another to edify, exhort and console; the Bible requires avoiding teaching only by monologue.)

12c Discern priorities for church activities.

Dialogue exercise, led by: ____________________________________

Ask: For what ‘works of ministry’ should leaders equip believers? (What are the vital church ministries that the New Testament requires?) Good answers:

· Counsel people with personal or family problems (Example: Philemon).

· Oversee a flock’s spiritual life; correct the unruly; restore straying lambs (Acts 20:28-31).

· Organize to help believers to use their spiritual gifts in ministry (1 Corinthians 12).

· Strengthen marriage and family life (Ephesians 5:21—6:4).

· Evaluate regularly and keep improving all ministries (Titus 1:5).

· Learn, teach and obey God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

· Disciple children, converts and adults to equip them all for ministry (Ephesians 4:11-16).

· Train pastors, evangelists, church planters and missionaries (2 Timothy 2:2).

· Cultivate loving fellowship among brothers in Christ and among churches (1 Cor. 13).

· Worship in spirit and in truth, as a family and as a church body (John 4:24).

· Develop prayer, devotional life (daily family devotions), spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:10-18).

· Give to church and mission work, as wise stewards of that God has given us (Luke 6:38).

· Care for the sick, needy and mistreated (Luke 10:25-37).

· Tell the Good News of Christ’s salvation to those who do not know Him (Acts 1:8).

· Reproduce new churches or cells locally (Acts chapters 10, 13 and 14).

· Send missionaries to neglected people groups in foreign fields (Matthew 28:18-20).

13
Mentor New Leaders Like Jesus
and His Apostles Did

The proper place of mentoring and of formal training ● Mentoring guidelines ● Menu-based curriculum

COORDINATOR for Activity 13: _______________________________________

13a Discover how to mobilize many powerful leaders.

Discovery exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Explain”

· In widespread, ongoing church planting movements, pastors do not get training only in institutions. When academic training outside of the church is required for everyone who wants to serve as a pastor, churches cannot reproduce rapidly.

· God requires that shepherds mentor newer shepherds. The apostles modeled and commanded this. More-experienced leaders coach newer leaders as these launch new churches or cells.

· Mentoring can take place side-by-side with formal education.

Ask who, according to Scripture, has the main responsibility to train new shepherds.

Good answer: Shepherds are to train newer pastors. It is a pastoral duty (2 Timothy 2:2).

2) Ask trainees to listen as you read Luke 10: 17-20, to tell afterwards what Jesus did, as a mentor of new leaders, when they returned from a field assignment.

Good answer: He had His apprentices report what they did and the results, and he instructed them accordingly.

3) Ask trainees to listen as you read 1 Peter 5:1-4, to tell afterwards what should be the motivation for shepherding God’s people.

Good answer: Elders are to serve humbly and willingly, by their example, not by lording it over their flock, and not out of lust for money.

4) Explain:

· Good shepherding includes mentoring the way Jesus, Paul, Aquila and Priscilla did, strengthening and multiplying churches and cells.

· To mentor new shepherds requires that trainers listen to each novice leader whom they train, before they advise him, assign studies, or help him to plan what his church will do.

· Trainers choose studies for apprentices that fit their flocks’ immediate needs.

· Mentoring works best with small groups of one, two, three or four trainees.

· At the start of mentoring, it normally is intensive and takes a lot of time. Jesus and His apostles decreased their mentoring as their apprentices gained experience.

· Traditional training is too slow to provide leaders when churches reproduce rapidly in a pioneer field. Institutional training has its place, but that place is not in a new field where the workers lack advanced education.

4) Ask for how long one should continue mentoring an apprentice.

Good answer: As congregations mature, intensive mentoring can gradually be replaced by occasional trainings and ongoing accountability of some kind.

13b Discuss distinctive features of mentoring.

Dialogue exercise, led by: _____________________________________

Read features of mentoring below and let trainees explain in each case how mentoring differs from institutional education. Give the answers in parenthesis only if necessary.

Location–where does mentoring normally occur? (No classroom is needed; train on the job.)

Seating–how is it arranged? (Trainees sit in a circle, walk or ride together, or sit at a table.)

Enrolment–for whom? (Any who meet the biblical requirements for elders may enroll.)

Size of a group? (Groups are small enough to listen to each worker, to help him plan his work.)

Duration? (Do intensive mentoring at first and phase it out when leaders no longer need it.)

Relationship between instructor and trainee? (Mentors have loving concern for apprentice’s work.)

Relationship between trainees? (Trainees normally serve one another and work together.)

How achievement is recognized? (Mentors evaluate the results of trainees’ work with churches and recognize it publicly. Normally one does not need to add diplomas and grades.)

Vision and general purpose? (Mentors aim first to extend Jesus’ reign; they do not teach simply to download data into trainees’ memory banks.)

Trainees’ primary commitment? (Shepherd others, starting with their own families)

Trainer’s main commitment? (Apply the Word to current needs & opportunities to serve.)

View of Leadership–what qualifies a leader? (One is a leader only if he leads people to do definite ministries (simply teaching is not leading.)

Reproducible methods? (Train in a way that trainees can imitate, doing it at once with others.)

Costs? (In most cases, mentors charge no fees, and trainees pay no tuition.)

Equipment used while training? (Mentors need no special equipment, and model the use of equipment only if it is available to all the trainees.)

Order in which curriculum content is presented? (Wise mentors avoid linear curriculum, using a menu to offer whatever a trainee’s church needs, after listening and observing.)

The place of theory in relationship to action? (Teaching aims always for action and emphasizing action verbs; traditional teachers often focus primarily on abstraction, emphasizing static nouns. Wise mentors add theory mainly to specify and facilitate action.)

Materials–what kind? (Mentors use materials that trainees understand and can apply at once to meet immediate needs of their flocks. Wise mentors adapt materials to the needs and educational level of each trainee’s flock.)

Ratio of dealing with doctrine to dealing with duty? (Mentors base activities upon commands of Jesus and His apostles, not on abstract doctrines.)

How Scripture is applied? (Wise mentors let Scripture define how to do ministry, and are not content merely to teach it.)

Whose responsibility to train leaders? (All pastors should mentor newer shepherds.)

13c Portray a traditional theology class lacking mentoring.

Dramatizing exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Announce that you are a seminary professor, giving a lecture on the Hebrew names of God.

PROFESSOR: Start to talk about Elohim, the most common name, which signifies His creative power…

STUDENT: Raise your hand and ask, “Sir, my neighbors are open to letting me tell them about my faith. Can you help me to know how to tell them about Jesus?”

PROFESSOR: Reply that this is a theology class, and you have to stick to your topic. Continue, explaining the name Yahweh, by which God established His covenant with Israel.

STUDENT: Interrupt: “Sir, my cousin also wants to be a Christian. Please… What do I tell him?”

PROFESSOR: (Read a paper) “Evangelism. Let’s see. Yes. I’ll teach it next year, first semester.”

2) Explain how to mentor and be mentored effectively:

· Good trainers listen first as Jesus did, and then choose a study for a new leader that deals with the needs and stage of growth of his flock. Formal classroom teaching seldom takes into account the immediate needs of a student and the new church that he serves.

· A newly enrolled trainee begins at once to shepherd his family and friends. If he does so and is conscientious about it, then help him to start at once to mentor newer shepherds.

· Mentors continue with a new leader as long as he needs it, normally a few months, with a few meetings later on, to deal with special needs and coordinate the work.

· Mentor in two ways. 1) model skills, 2) have mentoring sessions.

3) Explain six things a mentor does during mentoring sessions:

i Pray for God’s guidance. Pray also whenever a problem arises during the session.

ii Listen to each trainee report on what his church is doing or lacking.

iii Plan ministry: agree on what each trainee will do with his flock during the next week or two. Bear in mind the list of vital ministries listed in Training Activity 14. Make sure that plans are specific, normally with concrete tasks, names and places.

iv Assign Bible reading and other studies such as Paul-Timothy that fit the trainee’s plans.

v Review studies already done .Listen to each apprentice leader tell what they learned from the previously assigned study. If he has not done it well, ask him to study it again.

vi Pray for each other, for each other’s plans and for your flocks.

Ask a few trainees to repeat in their own words these six things to do in mentoring sessions.

Give this warning! Satan uses chronic problems to waste mentors’ time. Leave them in the Lord’s hands and deal with positive things: plan ministries, initiate new works and edify churches. Do not ‘dance with the devil’ by always running to put out every fire that he starts, letting him dictate your steps.

4) Cells meet to pray and plan to mentor leaders.

· Let someone in each cell mentor another who is currently active in a ministry, while the others observe and comment.

· Do as many of the six mentor’s duties listed above as you can.

· Let cell members mentor each other, until all have both done and received mentoring.

13d Explain guidelines for children’s teachers and their helpers.

Discovery exercise, led by: _______________________________________

Explain how to use the Paul-Timothy studies for children:

Choose activities that a study provides that fit your children’s needs, and skip the rest.

Let children prepare activities during their meetings to present to the adults during worship.

Let children sing simple songs written to tunes that they know.

Let all children take part; smaller children can repeat hand motions and body movements.

Let older children help teach and disciple the younger.

Let children worship together with the adults, at least part of the time.

Talk with the children in tiny groups, and listen to know their needs, to help them grow in Christ.

Find how you can help the children, while talking to them in their small groups.

Let the children act out Bible stories.

Prepare objects or pictures that illustrate what you teach.

14
Regional Coordinators Train Trainers,
Provide Materials and Keep Record s

Evaluation of the work ● Servant leadership ● Inter-church cooperation and ‘body’ life

COORDINATOR for Activity 14: _______________________________________

14a Know what regional training coordinators should do.

Dialogue exercise, led by: ____________________________________

1) Ask trainees to listen as you read Titus 1:5, to tell afterwards what Titus’ job was, as a coordinator in a field where there were many ‘baby’ churches that needed help.

Good answer: Titus was to appoint elders in every town to do take care of what was still lacking.

2) Ask trainees to listen as you read Mark 9:33-37, to tell afterwards what ‘servant leaders’ do.

3) Read and explain Titus 1:5.

· Titus had to train shepherding elders; the rest of the letter from Paul gave Titus guidelines on how to do name and train elders.

· Titus had to find out which ministries were still lacking in the churches, in order to deal with them. To find what is lacking in churches requires listening to their leaders who are being trained, as they report what their churches are doing and not doing.

· It helps to keep at hand a list of ministries required by the New Testament, while one mentors new leaders, and help them to choose what is needed most urgently.

4) Ask what the duties of a regional coordinator of pastoral training should include.

Good answers:

· Hold workshops or series of meetings to begin pastoral training in neglected regions.

· Train new trainers and model skills to mentor other leaders.

· Provide materials geared to mentoring new leaders, and that aim to multiply churches.

· Keep churches multiplying, by helping trainers to mentor new leaders.

· Keep records of who is mentoring whom, where, and with what results. A large map of a region with names of mentors posted on it is useful.

· Gather information on neglected peoples, training opportunities, and new churches or cells. Use this information to pray, plan and inform churches so they can pray, too.

· Reorganize training networks whenever mentoring stops for any reason.

· Continually mobilize other, new coordinators for new regions. Name as coordinators believers who are…

♦ Eager and capable to facilitate pastoral training by mentors,

♦ Not too involved in other ministries to do so,

♦ Able to keep on doing it for many years (not a temporarily elected position)

♦ A servant-leader, not trying to lord it over others or get money.

14b Make definite plans to multiply churches or cells.

Discovery exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Explain

· All major cities and most small towns around the world need churches and cells that are healthy enough to multiply in the normal biblical way.

· A new group becomes a church when the believers are doing all that the New Testament requires of a flock.

· A new church’s activities begin with the commands of Jesus and then the other activities that grow out of His commands.

2) Trainees evaluate progress with their flocks, or new flocks that they are starting. This evaluation requires noting vital activities that still need to be initiated. These include:

· Witness for Jesus and confirm the faith of repentant sinners by baptizing them.

· Start new congregations and send workers to neglected peoples.

· Help all believers to participate actively in worship, including the Lord’s Supper.

· Cultivate fellowship in the church body and strengthen marriages and family life.

· Help persons and families with problems to forgive and to be reconciled.

· Help the flock to seek holiness, daily renewal and transformation by the Holy Spirit.

· Give generously to meet others’ needs.

· Pray, intercede, wage spiritual war against demons, help families have daily prayer.

· Apply God’s Word to people’s lives, and ward off ‘wolves’ who proselytize and deceive.

· Train novice shepherding elders, missionaries and leaders of the new congregations.

· Organize and oversee so that all believers serve by using their different spiritual gifts.

· Co-operate with other congregations nearby to help them do these activities, too.

14c Use training materials geared to mentoring and multiplying churches.

Discovery exercise, led by main instructor (or an elder experienced in using materials geared to mentoring).

Explain that Paul-Timothy studies are prepared for mentors in a church planting movement, and can be downloaded freely, in several languages:

Download the Paul-Timothy Menu and Paul-Timothy studies from www.Paul-Timothy.net.

Look over the main categories of the Paul-Timothy menu below. Its items are brief studies. Categories include the vital ministries that a church must do, in order to be fully planted:

How to use Paul-Timothy studies. #1

Guidelines for trainers of novice shepherds #3

Guidelines for new shepherds being trained. #4

Guidelines for children’s teachers. #5

Helping a congregation's body life #7

Planning and leading group worship #8

Paul-Timothy studies Scripture Index #10

Leading activities during the week. #11

Assurance: Counsel and visit people who need comfort

Overcoming fear and shame. #20

Counseling personal and family problems #21

Joseph received God's liberating grace. #22

River of grace. A story, 64 pages. #110

Visit in homes and bring God’s grace. #23

Break habits of alcohol, drugs, and immorality #24

Bible, general: interpret and apply God’s Word; respect its authority; survey it

Respect the authority of God’s Word. #25

Search God's Word and let it speak for itself. #26

Survey the 66 books that are God’s Word. #27

Important Bible events & eras. #28

Index of Stories & doctrines from the Bible. #29

Old Testament

Pentateuch part 1: Genesis. Patriarchs #30

Pentateuch part 2: Exodus. Slaves freed. #31

Pentateuch part 3: Exodus. God's Law Given. #32

Old Testament historical books. #33

Old Testament poetical books #34

Old Testament prophecies: About Jesus. #35

Old Testament prophets: Great messages. #36

New Testament

The Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John #37

Jesus' life, ministry, death and resurrection. #38

Acts of the Apostles. #39

The apostles’ model. #40

Freedoms of Congregations that Multiply #41

New Testament letters: Advice for new flocks. #42

Christ Showed John What Is to Come #43

Church planting: Start new flocks and cells

Worship in homes and in big groups. #44

Gather sinners to meet Jesus. #45

Start new congregations and cells. #46

Disciple-making: Obey Jesus’ commands

Peter made disciples the way Jesus said. #47

Obeying Jesus, our great king. #48

Parents teach their children. #49

Evangelism: salvation from sin, death and hell, witness for Jesus, repent, be born anew, baptize

Spreading the Good News. #50

Repent, a change of heart. #51

Witness for Jesus with the Spirit's power. #53

New, eternal, holy life in Christ. #54

Family and friends gather to hear about Jesus. #55

How sin entered the world. #56

Giving: Practice stewardship, use time wisely, do tent-making (self-support)

Giving for God's work & for the needy. #57

Self-supporting, bi-vocational 'tentmakers'. #58

Stewardship, use well what God entrusts to us.#60

Growing in Christ: Character transformation and renewal

The Spirit-filled life. #61

Spiritual transformation and godly character. #62

Renewing God's people. #63

Historical events of great importance

Jesus miraculously born as a human. #64

Jesus' live-giving resurrection from death. #65

History of Christianity, part 1: 1st 400 years. #66

History, Christianity, part 2: AD 400 till 1600. #67

History, Christianity, part 3: AD 1600 to now. #68

Love: Serve the needy, work in harmony, family life, fellowship in and between flock

Showing compassion by helping others. #69

Family life, marriage, training children. #70

Serving the needy. #71

Congregations and cells serving each other. #72

Showing love in a practical ways. #73

Mission: Other cultures & neglected peoples, apostolic teams, research, planning, vision

Detecting ripe fields in other cultures. #74

Traveling teams reaching neglected places. #75

Working with other cultures. #76

Send Missionaries to neglected peoples. #77

Spreading a vision of widespread outreach. #78

Organizing and leading: Serve one another, help other flocks, discipline, oversee flocks

Serving one another in love. #79

Serve one another in God's family #80

Organizing small groups to serve one another. #81

Maintaining helpful discipline and order. #82

Organizing the flock to serve one another. #83

Regional overseers of new churches. #84

Serving with God-given spiritual gifts. #85

Understanding spiritual gifts. #86

Performing pastoral duties. #87

God gives overseers to His people. #89

Prayer and faith: Faith in action, healing, intercession, spiritual warfare, family prayer

Praying with effective faith. #90

Spiritual Warfare. #91

Healing in Jesus' name. #92

Believing and doing, as Abraham did. #93

Enduring persecution. #94

Freedom from Satan in Jesus' name. #95

Teaching biblically: Teach like Jesus did, using stories, questions, and discussion

Using stories to teach what God is like. #96

Teach children the way God Said to do it. #97

The Father, the Son and the Spirit are One God #98

Moses Helped his People to Know God #99

Teach Believers during Worship #100

Training leaders: Training new leaders in the way Jesus did

Aquila and Priscilla, mentoring new leaders. #101

Mentor new shepherds like Paul did. #102

Train Novice Leaders As Jesus and Paul Did #103

Obedience-oriented training (48 pages). #104

Worship: Serve the Lord’s Supper, worship in Spirit, celebrate special days

Aaron and Other Worship Leaders. #107

Celebrating harvest, blessings, thanksgiving. #108

The Lord's Table (Communion). #105

Celebrate Communion in your small group. #106

14d Practice mentoring new leaders.

Dramatizing exercise, led by main instructor or an experienced mentor.

1) If trainees will soon be using a menu-based curriculum, then provide hard copies of a few of the studies for each cell, and have trainees practice finding them in the menu.

2) Demonstrate menu-based mentoring, choosing studies listed in the Paul-Timothy User’s Menu, above. Serve as a mentor for six shepherds-in-training, prepared beforehand:

Shepherd-in-training # 1: “People sleep when I lead worship.”

Mentor: “You must improve your worship. Find a study for this under ‘Worship’ in the Paul-Timothy User’s Menu.” (Look together at the menu). “Here it is. Aaron and Worship Leaders, study number 108.” (Pretend to hand it to him.) “Read it and do the field-work. Next time we meet, you can tell us how the worship has improved.”

Shepherd-in-training # 2: “My flock fails to witness to friends and relatives about Jesus.”

Mentor: “You must develop evangelism. Find a study for this under ‘Evangelism’ in the Paul-Timothy menu.” (Look together at the menu). “Here it is. Spreading the Good News, study number 50.” (Pretend to hand it to him.)
“Do what this teaches. Next time we meet, you can tell us how evangelism has improved.”

Shepherd # 3-in-training: “My workers do nothing unless the church pays them.”

Mentor: “You must develop stewardship, and explain ‘tent making.’ Find a study for this under ‘Giving and Practicing Wise Stewardship’ in the User’s Menu.” (Look together in the menu). “Here it is. Self-supporting, Bi-vocational 'Tentmakers' study number 58.” (Pretend to hand it to him.) “Do what this teaches. Next time we meet, you can tell us if workers are volunteering.”

Shepherd # 4-in-training: “My flock disobeys Jesus’ commands.”

Mentor: “You must teach them to obey Jesus in love. Find a study for this under ‘Disciple-Making’ in the User’s Menu.” (Look together at the menu). “Here it is. Peter Made Disciples the Way Jesus Said, number 47.” (Pretend to hand it to him.)
“Do what this teaches. Next time we meet, you can tell me how the believers are obeying Christ.”

Shepherd # 5-in-training: “My flock is disorganized, and I don’t know how to fix it.”

Mentor: “You must organize your church. Find a study for this under ‘Organizing and Leading’ in the Paul-Timothy User’s Menu.” (Look together at the menu). “Here it is. Organizing the Flock to Serve one Another, study 83.” (Pretend to hand it to him.) “Do what this teaches. Next time we meet, you can tell us how you have organized.”

Shepherd # 6-in-training: “My flock has not started any daughter churches or cells yet.”

Mentor: “You must mobilize it to multiply. Find a study for this under ‘Church Planting’ in the Paul-Timothy User’s Menu.” (Look together at the menu). “Here it is. Starting New Churches or Cells, study number 46.” (Pretend to hand it to him.) “Do what this teaches. Next time we meet, you can tell how the believers are starting churches.”

14e Evaluate materials geared to mentoring and church planting.

Discovery exercise, led by: _______________________________________

1) Explain the type of materials that fit church multiplication:

· In order to mentor leaders and reproduce churches, materials need certain features. Good materials enable learners to be self-taught, to take initiative in ‘mining the gold’ from the Bible and other books:

· New leaders must learn actively and not listen passively, as ‘hearers only,’ which James 1:22 prohibits. A good mentor does not teach every detail to new leaders-in-training.

· Materials should inform a student where in the Bible to find what he needs, instead of simply repeating what the Bible says. For example, instead of saying that the Holy Spirit seals believers to protect them, good materials will ask the reader to find what the Holy Spirit does for believers, in Ephesians 1:13-14.

2) Explain features of PAUL-TIMOTHY studies, which are available in several languages:

· Studies come in pairs: one for leaders, another on the same topic for children. Children’s studies all have a Bible story to act out during worship.

· Studies for leaders contain three parts:

1. Bible study on the topic of the week.

2. Activities for believers to do during the next week, related to the topic.

3. Activities to prepare to do during the next worship time.

· Studies are easy to translate, for church planting movements that need materials quickly.

· Studies deal with a wide variety of topics, to fit almost any issue or need that arises.

· Studies enable new shepherds to plan their weekly activities and worship times.

· Most studies fit on one sheet of paper.

· Studies can be used within a non-Christian population and inexperienced workers.

· Downloaded without cost from Paul-Timothy Trainers at www.Paul-Timothy.net.

3) Explain features of TRAIN AND MULTIPLY®, which is available in major languages:

· Studies are more detailed, with better artwork, cover a wider range of subjects than Paul-Timothy studies, and have been proven in many fields.

· The course includes a Student’s Activity Guide with a broad menu of studies and helps for instructors.

· T&M® has a modest fee for the right to reproduce any number for a training program.

· For more information or ordering: https://trainandmultiply.com/.