Generational growth

Church Planting Generational growth Training

Why and How to Track Progress in a Disciple Making Movement

By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
track progress

Why track DMM progress? Let me illustrate.

I come from a city in America called Minneapolis. It has many beautiful lakes. We like to rent canoes and go boating on them. I learned something about canoeing. Keeping my eyes fixed on the other side of the lake matters. Otherwise, it is easy to paddle around on the lake for hours without actually crossing it.

Some people engage in disciple-making efforts without tracking their progress. They are a bit like me on the lake. They take their eyes off their goal. read more

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Church Planting Discipleship Facing Obstacles Generational growth

Are You Tired of Initiating All the Momentum for Growth?

By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
initiative in disciple making movements

My husband and I like to run half-marathons together. A few years ago, we were running a race in a South Asian city. The day before the race, one of the church planters there heard about our upcoming event. Excitedly he declared, “Next year I will run the race with you!” I looked at his short, quite round body and smiled. I appreciated his enthusiasm. But I wondered if he truly had the initiative or self-discipline to train for a 21-kilometer race.

Disciple-Making Movements (DMMs) are a bit like a long-distance run. They require a significant amount of self-discipline. It takes initiative and perseverance to launch, grow and sustain a multiplying movement. Often, when hearing about movements, people are excited to get involved. They like the vision of multiplication. But they are like my friend who wanted to run the marathon. They lack the self-initiative and perseverance needed. read more

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Church Planting Discipleship Generational growth

Want Groups to Multiply? Stay Simple & Consistent

By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
groups multiply
Imagine someone running in a baton race carrying a large, heavy piece of wood. It would be hard to pass on to the next runner, right? One person may be large and strong and able to run with it. But the next runner may not. Discipleship groups are very similar to this.
 The baton used in a race is lightweight. It is designed to be easily transferred from the hands of one runner to another. It is the same in a Disciple Making Movement. Discipleship methods must be simple and light. In DMMs, we are intentional about making everything we do easy for others to also do.

Reproducible Discipleship

Keeping your discipleship structure and meeting format consistent lends toward multiplication. While it is fun and interesting to do things with a lot of variety, it often doesn’t reproduce well. Random discipleship doesn’t reproduce. Follow a simple plan. This is much more effective in rapidly equipping new disciple-makers. A Coaching Conversation “What did you talk about in your Discovery Bible Study (DBS) today?” I asked. “We chose one of my favorite passages,” he said. “That is a good one! I like it too,” was my reply after hearing the Bible reference. “I’m curious. How do you decide which scripture to study each week?” was my next question. “We pray and find something that we think will be good,” he said. “Hmm,” I pondered, considering his situation. This DMM effort had been struggling to see multiplication. They were doing regular Discovery Bible Studies. But the group members seemed hesitant to start their own groups. They lacked confidence and self-initiative. “Have you ever considered using an established set of stories? Or a list of verses everyone leading DBS groups follows? Instead of choosing verses randomly?” I asked. This was a new idea to him.

We talked about how to go about deciding on a short and read more

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Church Planting Generational growth

5 Steps for Moving from 1st Generation groups to 2nd, 3rd and Beyond

By on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
generational growth in disciple making movements

How Do You Get Generational Growth In Disciple Making Movements?

They were a faithful and passionate team of local workers. They shared the gospel often and led people to the Lord. They worked hard. They had started 10 1st generation groups of disciples. Not too bad by most peoples’ standards. Generational growth in disciple making had not yet begun though.

They were stuck at 1st generation (1G) growth. They only knew how to start groups themselves. They didn’t know how to get the believers in those groups to start new groups. Sound familiar? read more

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