I grew up in Minneapolis, a city known for its beautiful lakes. On sunny days, we’d rent kayaks and paddle across the water. One thing I quickly learned: if I didn’t keep my eyes fixed on the shore, I’d end up paddling around in circles without ever reaching my destination.
Disciple-making movement (DMM) efforts can be the same. Without tracking progress, it’s easy to lose sight of our goal—the multiplication of disciples. Many people engage in disciple-making with passion but no clear metrics. It’s like rowing in a boat without a clear destination. That’s fine for a leisurely day, but if you’re serious about launching a movement of disciples, you need to measure and track your progress.
Why Tracking Matters
Tracking helps you answer key questions:
- Are we multiplying or just adding disciples?
- Where are we stuck?
- What’s working—and what’s not?
When you measure progress, you can celebrate wins, diagnose problems, and make strategic adjustments. Without tracking, you may not know what you should praise God for! More than once, during a time of collecting data and reports, I’ve been surprised at the progress and paused to give God the thanks He deserves. Multiplication of disciples is the destination. Staying focused on it requires intentional tracking and evaluation.
How to Track Multiplication Progress
Choose Your Indicators
Start by identifying what you want to measure. Keep it simple. A short list of essential indicators increases the likelihood that you and your team will actually report. You can download our suggested metrics to track here.
Use Visual Tools
Generation charts are especially helpful, especially in oral cultures. Each circle represents a house church or disciple-making group. You can easily see which generation it belongs to and whether it’s multiplying. Comparing charts over time shows us trends and sparks valuable coaching conversations.
Set a Reporting Rhythm
Decide how often you’ll collect data—monthly, quarterly, or during trainings or coaching calls. Use simple tools to record progress. Don’t make it overly complicated. Consistency over time helps you spot patterns and evaluate effectively.
Include Feedback and Action Steps
Reporting without feedback is a missed opportunity and can discourage those who provide the data. Review the stats, discuss them with the team or leader, and help them set goals. A coaching call or meeting is a great place to do this. When people see that their reports are looked at, prayed over, and real insights come from doing them, they’re far more motivated to participate.
Avoid Pitfalls
One of my mentors once told me:
“Big reports are driven by either pride or the desire to impress donors. The first is sin. The second can become sin if it leads to exaggeration or dishonesty.”
Wise words. If your motivation for tracking is ego or fundraising, check your heart. Build trust with your team. Some may resist reporting because they fear being used or judged. Clarify that the purpose is reaching the lost more effectively—not performance or personal gain.
Is It Biblical?
Some worry that tracking numbers is unbiblical, citing David’s census. But Paul said, “I do not run like someone running aimlessly” (1 Cor. 9:26). Measuring progress helps us run with purpose. It’s also part of being good shepherds. Remember the parable in Luke 15? Good shepherds count their sheep!
It’s Not About Control, It’s About Progress
Tracking disciple-making progress isn’t about control—it’s about clarity. It helps you stay focused, make wise decisions, and support your team (or teams) effectively. Want help getting started? Join the conversation in our Dare to Multiply Community. Join the Exploring Level for more detailed articles on how to go about tracking your movement efforts in effective ways.
Need a list of what to track? Download our free disciple multiplication indicator list.
When was the last time you recorded your disciple-making growth stats?
What makes you want to track numbers? What makes you resist doing that?
If you track progress in disciple-making, what tools do you use? Share them with others in the comments below or on the community.
Comments
Thank you for the very helpful resorces
Again, a great article. What you say is what we have been doing here in Mexico. Recently we have been using this system https://disciple.tools to track movement.
Author
Wonderful to hear of your efforts to start DMMs there in Mexico Mike! Thanks for sharing about the tools you are using. Have you considered joining the DMM Facebook group? Would be great to have you share them there as well. You are welcome to join that community as we learn together!