He who
does the work is not so profitably employed as he who multiplies the doers.
—John R. Mott (1865–1955).[1] In
1902 Andrew Murray widely publicized the observation that one discipler,
winning one person to Christ each year and building them up to do the same in
successive generations, would win the whole world in just 32 years.[2] Jesus
invested in twelve and sent them to teach the world, one generation at a time.
Paul includes four generations in his instructions to Timothy to pass on by
investing in capable and faithful disciples (2 Tim. 2:2). So Murray and Mott
were simply reflecting on the potential impact of a biblical principle.
In this
Coach’s Corner, let’s look at the relationship between training and multiplication.
Let’s be honest. Often our training is strong on content and weak on
reproduction. I am increasingly convinced that if those who receive training don’t
run to pass on the things they have learned, something is lacking. I realize
some are involved in formal training that is not so easily reproduced. But something
should be passed-on intentionally; trickle-down learning rarely works.
For multiplication
to take place, we need intentional training with a “generational perspective.”
First
generation: Outsiders launch the training in partnership with local leaders.
They are catalysts, while local leaders assist and learn.
Second
generation: Church planters who have put the training into practice serve as trainers
and outsiders as helpers and advisors.
Third
generation: The training is entirely owned and deployed by the national
movement. Outsiders are distant advisors and prayer partners.
I just came
across the story of Ying Kai. He started church planting in the year 2000 and,
after planting one house church per year, he realized he could accomplish more
for Christ by training church planters. Later he decided to train trainers of
church planters. Recently he co-authored T4T (training for trainers) with Steve
Smith and the book was published last year. Hope you’ll take a look at his
God-sized story: http://www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/article/training-for-trainers-process
We
also have our own unfolding story of training multiplication. At the 2009
Africa Conference, Dr. Craig Ott from TEDS spoke on Foundations for Church Multiplication.
After the conference, he was asked to teach the same material in the Congo to
almost 1,000 pastors. What an opportunity! But he replied that, David Kiamu the
Church Planting Director for ReachAfrica and its president, Nubako Selenga, could
develop and teach training material better suited for Africa. Not everyone
agreed. But they went ahead and spoke in the conference in Congo DR.
As
a result they received invitations to train church planters throughout the
Congo. Dave wrote Church Multiplication Church Planter Training. With it they
trained eighty-one people in Lomé Togo later that year. God blessed and
multiplication has been taking place as you will see in this January 2012 report
from Nubako Selenga:
"The ReachAfrica
multiplication church planters training material for level 1 and 2 are already
available in English, French and Portuguese. Level 3 on healthy churches is
already in preparation. In 2011, we were able to use Level 1 to train 1,095 as
first generation church planters in 8 countries and 136 new churches were
planted. In July 2012, the training of Master trainers will take place in
Liberia and Kinshasa. We have already planned to launch level 1 this year in: Burkina-Faso,
Bangui, Chad, Mozambique, Kampala and Angola. The Mission Equipping
Center started last year in Liberia and soon, the second will be launched
in Kinshasa. In DR Congo, God is opening a big door for us through the leaders
of the Church of Christ in Congo, ECC. The ECC is an association of 67
different denominations that have committed to work together as Baptist,
Methodist, Evangelical, Mennonite, etc. The vision of these leaders is to
double the number of churches in DRC from 2011-2016. They have asked
ReachAfrica to help them with church planting training."
The
training spread from two countries in 2010 to ten by 2012. Dave and Selenga
will launch the Masters Trainer training in both West Africa (Monrovia Liberia)
and East Africa (Kinshasa) in July and I will have the privilege of helping
them. So much has been has been accomplished with two Master Trainers. Imagine
what will take place with twenty-five more! Another
example comes from Vietnam. Craig Ott, Mark Wold and Gene Wilson launched the
church planter training in three cities from 2010-2012 in partnership with
Bless Vietnam Initiative (BVI). During that time the leader of BVI identified
potential trainers and sites for church planter training centers.
In April
BVI organized a consultation with a handful of potential Vietnamese trainers (John
Yoder and Gene Wilson facilitated). Trainers were chosen for most of the training centers, but it will take time to deploy them. A permanent ministry center
in central Vietnam will be used to train the trainers who will then deploy the
training in five church-based training centers along the coast. One recent
trainee turned down a pastoral situation to set up the training center in the North
as a missionary trainer. In May 2012 two Vietnamese trainers conducted the first totally Vietnamese church planter training.
We still have a long way to go but, here are
some practical lessons we have learned along the way:
1.
Reproducible
training (R.T.) must be principle-based, biblically sound and should include
field-tested fruitful practices. The content must be solid and avoid methodology.
That is developed by the church planting teams as they apply the principles to
their ministry focus people.
2.
R.
T. is a process. Sequencing and timing are important. The best training is
modular with time between training events to reflect and try out the principles.
How much time should there be between level 1 and level 2 training? How will level
2 training build on level 1?
3.
The
process of finding indigenous trainers should begin as early as possible. Trainers
should have experience applying the training, so that are credible and don’t
teach conflicting ideas. In Africa, Master trainers are chosen from among those
who fit a profile, have applied the level 1 training and have taught it to
others.
4.
R.T.
must be simple and practical so that church planters can go out and begin to
apply and implement it from day 1. Initially the training was wedded to T-Net
Training. But proved to be too wooden and long. The workshop should include blocks
of time to plan and discuss ideas with peers.
5.
R.T.
should be developed “in context” or contextualized as early as possible. It
should be offered in the local language with a manual that can be copied
inexpensively. Only technologies (PowerPoint, etc.) that are commonly available
should be used.
6.
R.T.
should be financed locally. In Africa people sleep on mattresses on the floor
of church buildings and cook on charcoal under a tree to keep cost manageable. Training
for Trainers may require financial help to bring in key leaders and potential
trainers from other regions. But local church planter training is funded
locally.
7.
Success
is not measured by the size of the training events, but by the successive generations
of training. The average number of church planters at an event is only 30. But
that makes it more manageable and accessible. Church planter training should be
taken
to other cities and regions, instead of having planters from those regions
travel long distances.
8.
Each
time the training is offered there should be an evaluation with these goals in
mind: 1- adaptation to the local culture, 2- solid, reproducible content, 3- delivery
style (narrative, interactive, etc.), and 4- viability and reproducibility (not
primarily comfort & quality of speakers)
9.
Non-formal
and informal training should be combined for greater effectiveness. How will
church planters be encouraged, coached or mentored as they apply the training?
One option is to select a more mature church planter as a coach for each
region, another is to have a church planter network- groups come together
periodically for peer-coaching.
10. A local coordinating team is
needed to prepare events. Preferably this team brings together people from
different churches and denominations. This team also raise funds and finds
trainers.
Reproducible
training begins with discipleship and requires that DNA be built in from the start. Ying Kai’s story illustrates the potential
of that. Every disciple is seen as a potential
member of a church planting team and every church planter is seen as a
potential trainer. Are you a reproducer? If you have recently launched reproducible training of some
king, please let me know. If would like help designing it, we would be happy to
help. Matt9.38@efca.org
[2] The
Key to the Missionary Problem, Morrison and Gibb Limited, 1902