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MentorNet #51 SEEING THE HARVEST THROUGH SIMPLE MAPS Copyright © 2007 by Edward Aw, George
Patterson and Galen Currah Ex-marine, Ed Aw, offers an
apt illustration of the importance of maps. In military operations, a key to
success is having accurate maps in hand, not only the commanders but also the
front-line soldiers. Maps allow commanders to plan proper strategies. We
called them "beans, bullets, and bandages" strategies. You have to
know how to supply the front-line troops with food, how to provide fighting
equipment, and how to take care of the wounded. The best course of action
becomes evident from factors indicated on maps, such as enemy strongholds,
geographical terrain, friendly encampments, and prisons where civilians are
unjustly imprisoned. Based on these data, you can determine a strategy for
battle. As the battle advances, field-level soldiers must update their maps
pass them up to the commanders, so that they can make strategic adjustments
and lay new plans to move toward the end goals of defeating the enemy and
setting captives free. How much more important are
the soldiers of Jesus, who wage battle to recapture territory dominated by
the evil one and set his captives free! Maps can help us see the harvest
fields, plan for the harvest, assign workers and allocate resources to them.
(Matt. 9:35-38, John 4:35) Some church and mission
organisations invest big amounts of time, money and personnel in demographic,
cultural and social research, generating reams of statistics, tables and
charts. Such information, without question, proves useful in creating vision,
laying strategies, co-ordinating efforts, evaluating outcomes and adjusting
plans in a timely manner. Even if your organizations cannot afford such big
investments, a few of your workers should plan to spend about five percent of
their on-going ministry time in research in the field. One practical way to
do so is with paper and pencil, drawing and revising maps. Here is an example of
map-making from a ministry in Number of believers at each
district. ·
Numbers of Hindus, Muslims, etc., according
to the level of detail that he needs. ·
Numbers of house churches and traditional congregations.+ ·
Number and names of leaders by district,
region, postal code, etc., according to the level of detail that he needs. Moving down the leadership
chain, those at each level of leadership prepare maps showing more details
from smaller areas. The leader over a particular village or house church would have a map
that might show: ·
Geographical features such as streets, rivers, lakes, mountains,
railroads, and highways. ·
Mosques (using the crescent moon as a symbol), Hindu temples (use the om symbol). ·
Traditional congregations (use a triangle with a cross on top); house
churches (use a round circle with a cross inside it). ·
Potential house churches (use a round circle with NO cross in it,
yet). ·
Draw arrows from "mother" churches to "daughter and
grand-daughter" churches. ·
Distances between house churches. ·
Dates when house churches were started or are
projected to start. In
training and coaching sessions, take workers through a mapping exercise.
Doing so helps workers to focus, by faith, on potential house churches by
indicating them on their maps, revealing family and friendship networks that
already exist. Have workers write down on their own maps: ·
Family names. ·
Number of people in each home (Noting names can lead to specific
prayer). ·
Prayer items. ·
Date on which they will visit each home or
send someone else to do so. The person who has brought a
house church leader to Jesus should help him or her make
a neighbourhood map, using the simple, easily reproducible tool that you can
download from the site noted below, and freely translate and photocopy it.
(We can format your translation for you, if you send it to Ed Aw at
[email protected].) Notice that both sides of the booklet are exactly the same. A worker can draw his map and make notes
on one side, and keep the other side clean to photocopy and share with other
workers to draw different maps. Every leader, from house
church leaders on up, should have someone to whom they report (Exodus You will find maps very
helpful in mentoring leaders. Their maps hold a wealth of facts that one
cannot learn so easily from conversations. You will be able to see weaknesses
in their strategies, both planned ones and implemented ones, and you will be
more able to make corrections. Maps provide concrete items to discuss and
from which to develop and improve strategies. For instance, knowing where the
enemy's strongholds (mosques, temples. etc.) are located is critical to
strategy planning. Perhaps you will arrange for prayer walks around these
fortresses, asking the Lord to bind the strongman so that you may set his
captives free. Patterson reports, "A
turning point in our Honduran work, when pastors began taking serious
initiative to plant churches, came when they drew a map of their area on a
large piece of cardboard. They noted every village and urban area that lacked
churches. They noted 'mother churches' and drew arrows from them to potential
'daughter churches' with names of potential workers beside the arrows. From these
they added arrows to granddaughter churches and so on, until they had a plan
for reaching every village and neighbourhood. Details changed over the years,
but the original vision portrayed by the map remained a major motivating
force that God used". Making maps of this type
proves powerful in the battle for souls in which we are
engaged. Remember the Israelites who scouted out the Promised Land
before they entered it. As a final note, do you remember the research I
mentioned above that should take only about five percent of your time? Well,
since every leader, down to the house church level, gathers data by making a
map, data for strategic research can be easily obtained
from their map! Download Ed Aw's
simple map-making guide http://www.paul-timothy.net/docs/harvest_mapping_a4.pdf (A4-sized paper) http://www.paul-timothy.net/docs/harvest_mapping_ltr.pdf (letter-sized paper) Other Resources Reproducible Pastoral Training, to
multiply churches, O’Connor. http://missionbooks.org/wcl/customer/product.php?productid=533&cat=1&page=1 Mentoring tools and sites, visit <http://www.MentorAndMultiply.com>. Train & Multiply®, Pastoral training, church planting. Info: Currah [email protected] . Obtain T&M® www.TrainAndMultiply.comFree, reproducible training materials for new leaders &
missionaries, visit <http://www.Paul-Timothy.net>. Download “Come, Let
Us Disciple the Nations” (CD-ROM), visit <http://www.Paul-Timothy.net>. Order Church Multiplication Guide from a bookshop or via <http://www.WCLbooks.com>. To
subscribe or to download earlier MentorNet messages,
visit <http://www.MentorNet.ws>. Training materials that combine pastoral
training with church planting: <http://www.Paul-Timothy.net>. |