I personally don’t like saying no. It feels…not nice. It seems…unkind, or like I don’t value the person who is asking me to do something. Yet saying no, and meaning it, is a crucial skill for those of us pursuing DMMs. This is why we need to learn not only what to say no to, but also how to say no with honor and respect.
Lets start with the what part. What do we need to say no to as a DMMer? (Is that a thing? Can I call us that?) Sorry. Rabbit trail. Okay, so my point is, we need to say “No” to things that side track us, that pull us away from the main vision we are going after- a Disciple Making Movement. Anything that seems good but isn’t related to making disciples who make more disciples or to reaching lost people should go on our “I might need to say no” list.
What else do we need to say no to? We need to say no to anything that will prevent the movement from reproducing on its own (self-propagating). For example, as mentioned in the last post, boots donated from a foreign team to make it easier for locals to walk on the muddy trails. Say no to someone who wants to help you build a church building with outside funds. Say no to people who want to buy all your workers motorcycles. Foreign teams are usually something you want to consider saying no to. Having them come, especially in the early stages of the movement, is something to be very careful about. All of these things make the local insiders feel “less than” or “less powerful” to build the movement on their own. They hinder reproducibility.
s most important is typical of those who hope to see movements but don’t. 
he sixth chapter of the book that bears his name, messengers come asking Nehemiah to attend a meeting with Sanballat and Geshem. Instead of agreeing he says,
