T4T Training For Trainers: 9-12

January 16, 2012 in Missions, T4T Review with 0 Comments

T4T A Discipleship ReRevolution

T4T: A Discipleship ReRevolution: An Overview by John Lambert

Chapter 9:  ”Starting New Generations, Not Just Multiplying Groups”

T4T is different than traditional small group multiplication.  Instead of grow THEN multiply, it is launch and repeat.  You don’t wait for a new group to grow before launching new groups out of it.

These new groups become their own house churches or sometimes new small groups under the Lordship of Christ in a larger existing church.

Every new believer is potentially a new group.

The trainee may lead his family and friends to faith and incorporate them into his group.  At the same time, he is training them to be a witness to their circle of influence and launch new groups with them.

People you are training should not bring new believers to the original group but rather start a new group with them.  If they do, you must take steps to get them pointed back in the right direction.  If a new believer comes into the group, you should stay with the original lesson, but also be willing to stay after with the new believer and go through lesson one.

Generations of Groups

The author points out that the goal is get consistent 4th generation groups and for a CPM to emerge.  (How often do we lose sight of this or do not ever have it as something we are aiming for?  I would say more often than not.  This maybe why we don’t yet see CPM emerging in our own contexts though we have trained on it.) Continue Reading…

T4T Training For Trainers: 5-8

January 6, 2012 in Missions, T4T Review with 0 Comments

T4T A Discipleship ReRevolution

T4T: A Discipleship ReRevolution: An Overview by John Lambert

Chapter 5: “How To Begin”

T4T is a process, not a set of lessons (The author drives this home!)

He says it is often misunderstood as a set of lessons or an outreach, but he says it is meant to cascade as a church planting movement, generation by generation.  Each challenge faced at each new stage in the process is still part of the T4T process.

Many learned that Ying Kai:

  • Had 6 initial lessons
  • Encouraged new believers to witness 5x per week
  • Had frequent training retreats for leaders
  • Used inductive Bible studies after the first initial lessons

But those same folks didn’t understand that T4T is an “all-in-one-process” that God uses to take a person from lostness to maturing disciples who can start new groups and train others to reproduce the process.  They just copied parts and were not successful.

What has T4T done?   Basically it has tied all of the basic parts of a CPM plan together well and enabled believers to naturally progress from one stage to another as they are trained: evangelism, discipleship, church planting, leadership development-repeating the process generation by generation.

Measuring Rod For CPM:  When groups consistently reach 4th generation with new churches formed in several places over a short period of time, then a sustained CPM has emerged. (One trainer, David Watson, says 200 churches in less than two years with at least 4 generations) Continue Reading…

T4T Training For Trainers: 1-4

January 4, 2012 in Missions, T4T Review with 0 Comments

T4T A Discipleship ReRevolution

T4T A Discipleship ReRevolution  An Overview by John Lambert

Chapter 1: “Kingdom Come!”

This chapter starts with some impressive stats.  Since its inception in 2001, the CPM initiated by Ying Kai has yielded a conservative number of:

  • 1.7 million baptisms
  • 150,000 new church starts
  • 2,000 new churches started each month in places from high rises to factories

T4T is said to be influencing missions efforts throughout the world.

Steve Smith is introduced as a CPM Trainer and Ying Kai is introduced as the father of T4T.

It is said of T4T that it is about:

  • Cooperating with God to see CPMs
  • The Development of a CPM plan
  • God’s vision for a MOVEMENT
  • Majoring on practical ministry

The question that arises in Chapter One is, “What are Churches”?  Steve says in a footnote,

I will define this more later, but these are Acts 2 type churches that display the basic covenant and characteristics of that Acts 2 community whether they meet in homes or in dedicated buildings. Usually I am implying house churches or church-like small groups of a larger worshiping community.

Ying Kai had an end vision of 200 churches in his CPM plan.  He reached that in three months!  These groups were meeting in homes, parks, and factories.

Based on conservative reporting, researchers found 18 generations in this movement in only 4-5 years. Continue Reading…

T4T Training For Trainers: Background

January 4, 2012 in Missions, T4T Review with 0 Comments

T4T A Discipleship ReRevolution

T4T: A Discipleship ReRevolution:  An Overview by John Lambert

Background

In the world of missions, a new wave of the Spirit of God is moving across nations and people planting churches where there were little to none before.  This phenomenon has been called “Church Planting Movements” or “Church Multiplication Movements.”

In the book T4T: A Discipleship ReRevolution, missionary practitioners Ying Kai and Steve Smith seek to lay out the principles and background involved in one of the most explosive examples of “CPM” in modern history.

This book was born out of a growing hunger for missionary practitioners to understand the movement and how they can prepare themselves in their own contexts for a new move of God’s Spirit by implementing the key principles laid out in the book.

Asian Born

It carefully documents the work of an Asian couple (the Kais) working in an Asian context.  Contrary to some thought, it is not another Western import or new method.

After reading this book, I can confidently say that for the serious missionary practitioner this may be “the most important book you’ve not yet heard of.”

Among the global missionary community and those who have heard the term “CPM” there seems to be a lot of misunderstanding as to what the term really means.  A “CPM” is not a method or a strategy, but simply an observation of the phenomena of rapidly multiplying churches among a people group.   Continue Reading…

Entrepreneurs As Missionaries

January 3, 2012 in Missions with 0 Comments

john_doerr

In this video I picked up from the site Missionary Confidential, John Doerr speaks students at Stanford University about how entrepreneurs are like missionaries.

He speaks of entrepreneurs being risk takers who are focused on getting rapid scalable change.

By definition he says that they do “more than anyone thinks possible, with less than anyone thinks possible.”  

He contrasts what entrepreneurs (and missionaries) could be like; mercenaries.

In this video he shows a comparison list that basically says that missionaries are known for

Christmas and Contextualization in Thailand

December 22, 2011 in Thailand with 2 Comments

Santa Claus is Coming To Town...

Have you ever wondered about how Thai people view Christmas?  What do Thai Christians do to celebrate the holiday?  Do people realize that Christmas is the work of missionaries?  Why does this matter for the Thai church?

A Time To Work

I was talking with my friend the other day about what Christmas was like for him growing up.  He is from the island of Samoa.  He told me that since he was a boy Christmas was always a season of outreach and work.  It was only after he married an American girl that he understood Christmas to be a time for family, rest, and worship.

On his island, missionaries worked to share the Christmas story with those who had never heard.  They brought, not only the Gospel of Jesus, but also their Western holidays with them.  So it only followed that the new believers would follow that same customs.  I’m sure the missionaries thought to themselves, “how can we simply spend time with our families sharing in our own custom when there are so many who still haven’t heard the message of Jesus”?  Everywhere they looked they must have been reminded of the need.

So the Christmas season became an intense time of getting the message out to those who had never heard.

A similar scenario plays out here in Thailand.   Continue Reading…

Happy New Year From Thailand

December 19, 2011 in Thailand with Comments Off

John Lambert

Here is our latest family picture going into 2012. Hope you have a blessed and prosperous New Year, from our family to yours!

Continue Reading…

Missions Training: 5 E’s

December 14, 2011 in Development with 0 Comments

missions engage

I recently completed a new training time here in Thailand that I felt went really well.

My goal in training for the most part is to help get people mobilized to fulfill their callings as well as play their part in God’s purpose for their generation.  I try to accomplish this by helping shift some key paradigms and mindsets.

I wanted to take a moment to share the general outline I use.

I believe it could be helpful in your own context as you seek to take people further in their walk with God.

The 5 “E”‘s, are tools which I use to guide me during teaching.

They are:

  • Engage- We must first understand that there is a problem.  What are the problems in your local context?  How can you build your case so that others can join you? We must “engage” the issues involved and be convinced of the problem from God’s perspective. Most “change-agents” fail in their goal because they spent most of their time talking about solutions when they have not taken the proper time to convince their audience of the problem.  Therefore their audience is not engaged.  The problem has not yet become personal.

Ministry & Playing To Your Strengths

December 12, 2011 in Development, Missions with 0 Comments

Strengths Finder

Thankful that one of my local ministry partners (who has the strength of Individualization) convinced us all to take the Strength Finders 2.0 assessment.

He told us that many large companies have used it to revolutionize the way that they work together.  He also said that it was the driving force behind why certain companies became some of the best working environments in the world.

I have taken personality tests and even spiritual gift tests, so I was already thinking…”Do I really need another one of these tests”?  But I would later see that the Strengths Finder 2.0 helped me understand some key things about myself that I didn’t know before.

Since taking the tests, we have a couple of axioms that we have been trying to live by.

  • There is no such thing as a truly well rounded person, but there is the chance to have a well rounded team.
  • We cannot use our knowledge of each other’s strengths to point out what the other person is not.
  • We will use our knowledge of our team mates strengths to call out greatness in one another.
  • We can use our strengths to assign a team member to a project that they would be the most fitted for. Continue Reading…

Steve Jobs Goes To Heaven…

December 11, 2011 in Buddhism with 1 Comment

http://www.mattbors.com

I’ve been continuing to get lots of traffic on my article about Steve Jobs and his Buddhist faith. There seems to be many people who are weighing what it means for them personally, so when I saw this cartoon posted by Steve Addison I had to repost.

 

This is one interesting “tongue in cheek” take on how things could have played out. Continue Reading…

Francis Chan Planting Churches

November 30, 2011 in Missions with 1 Comment

Francis Chan

Fresh from time spent on a spiritual pilgrimage and ministry here in Asia, author and speaker Francis Chan has moved to San Francisco in order to bring the Gospel to the people of the “Tenderloin” district working in conjunction with a ministry called San Francisco City Impact.

His heart and passion for what he senses God calling him and his team to do shines through in this video. I love his strategy and emphasis of going to the people of their city.

I look forward to seeing what God accomplishes through him and his team as they break paradigms and bring the power and love of Jesus to people in California.  There is lots of room for the Gospel to break out into the streets, businesses, and apartment buildings of my home country!  Agree?

Here is the video where he shares the vision.  Continue Reading…

Strategic Missionary Roles

November 27, 2011 in Missions with 0 Comments

Leadership

People sometimes ask me how I view my missions work and what I do.

My short explanation is…

“I am a mission strategist and mobilizer, a thinker and practicioner. I work to empower local leaders through training partnerships & consultation, while also pioneering new context appropriate outreaches, “groups”, and resources.”

But beyond my own role in cross cultural missions work, I have thought through some words that can reveal function in “missions.”

When you think through your own work, key words can also help you understand how you view your own work and function.

Here are some of my own words with a little blurb of my thoughts on each one:

Learner- Taking in new information constantly as a way of life, whether it be through various types of media or in one on one conversations with people who are outside of your normal scope of conversation.  This heart is essential in missions work.  Many times we come in as the teachers when we should first be entering in as the learners. Continue Reading…

Thankfulness Is Powerful

November 24, 2011 in Commentary with 0 Comments

thanks

Real thankfulness is powerful.  

It has the power to bless our lives.  But the reverse is also true. Unthankfulness has the power to destroy our life.

It is our daily choice.

I woke up this morning to join our friends for morning prayer.  As I began to pray I started by recounting the blessings that God has given me throughout my life.

I started with my mother who made the choice as a seventeen year old young single woman to not abort me.  She chose to give me life despite not knowing how we would make it financially or otherwise.

While at a Catholic convent in New Orleans, she prayed to God and told him that if he would take care of us, she would give me back to Him.

Growing up facing all that we faced as a family, both of us would have never known that I would one day have a family of my own and be serving God in a place like Thailand. Continue Reading…

The Revolutionary Life

November 21, 2011 in Missions with 1 Comment

Rev Life

Our friends and coworkers in the Gospel, Dustan and Darlene Stanley, have recently arrived back to us here in Thailand after a trip back to the US.

But not until they first got their reality TV show, The Revolutionary Life, picked up by JCTV.

It’s now being broadcast weekly to a global audience.

When I first met Dustan and Darlene I knew that we were supposed to meet.  At that time, the show was still just an idea in progress and they were working hard to make it a reality.

One day after being in Chiang Mai for just a short time, I was needing to just get out of the house and away from all of the issues that can be associated with moving our family and unpacking.  We had recently moved from the Northeast of Thailand.

I drove my car down to the center of town of our new town, Chiang Mai, and looked for a place to park.  I circled around a certain area for awhile until I finally found a spot.

Once I parked, I took off walking not knowing where I was going but I decided to take a left at the end of the street in front of the city gate.  After walking for a minute or so, right in front of me I saw Dustan and Darlene walking toward me!   Continue Reading…

Praying for Revival in Chiang Mai

November 18, 2011 in Thailand with 1 Comment

Shot at the Bless Thailand Prayer Event held at Thae Pae Gate in Chiang Mai, Thailand. 19 November 2011

A large crowd of Thais showed up to worship God in the public square and pray for the nation of Thailand. Continue Reading…

Loi Krathong &The Water Goddess

November 12, 2011 in Thailand with 1 Comment

Forgive us. But who will answer?

Loi Krathong has been called the most important and significant holiday of the year for the Thai people as well as parts of Laos and Myanmar (Shan state).  It was recently celebrated here in Thailand, but in much less fanfare due to the current massive floods still affecting greater Bangkok.

What is it all about? How does it play out with the current flooding situation?  Is there room for interpretation?

“Loi” means to float and “krathong” is the small boat that is floated.  It is usually very creatively made from natural materials such as banana stalk, banana leaves, and beautiful flowers that are just coming into bloom. The festival is celebrated every year in November at the time of the full moon.  The city is full of light, both naturally and from the glow of lanterns.

The origins and roots of the festival predate Buddhism but have been incorporated into Thai Buddhism as a way of making merit.

Originally and still today, many ask for the forgiveness of the “water spirit or water goddess” called “Pra Mae Khongka.”  There is also  a “serpent-ruler” called Phaya Nak that some Thais seek to “appease” in order to halt the monsoon rain, dispel floods and return the rivers to calm. Continue Reading…

Thai Woman Encounters God

November 10, 2011 in Buddhism, Thailand with 1 Comment

Seeking Answers. Is anyone listening?

Update: Click here for part of this lady’s testimony in her own words.

I have to tell you this testimony while it is fresh on my mind from today.  It is an incredible witness to how God Himself is at work to bring Buddhist people to know his son Jesus Christ.

Today I was meeting with my ministry partner at a local restaurant to discuss some preliminary goals that we needed to accomplish before the end of the year related to our overall outreach and training plan.  We were encouraging each other by sharing what we sense that God is doing in us and through us and what we are believing Him for in regards to Thailand coming to know Jesus.

The verse and saying that has become our mantra of sorts is Luke 10:2, “The Harvest Is Ready.”

Just as we were wondering what could happen here in Thailand, a friend who works here in Thailand came up and thanked us for sharing with a group that he was a part of last week.  We had spoken to a network of fellow missionaries on some fresh insights as to what is happening in Thailand and what we feel needs to happen in order to see a movement begin here.  We didn’t know it then, but we were speaking some things that was confirming the amazing experience he and his team were already having as they made the decision to step out of the four walls and engage the people more than they had done before.

He began to tell us about how he and some of his guys have been going out to a certain village and moving from house to house, meeting with people.  He and his wife had met a Thai lady who he was having small talk with when she asked him “What do you do?  Why are you really here”?  He replied, “I am a Bible teacher.  I love to teach God’s Word and help people to understand it for themselves.”

The lady said something to the affect of, “Everyone in my village thinks I am a crazy woman.  I want to tell you about the experience that I have had.”  She was thinking that this man and his wife might think she was crazy too.

Continue Reading…

Finding Your “Calling”

November 8, 2011 in Missions with 0 Comments

serve

-You don’t have to be a “minister” or “missionary” to be called into God’s service.  In fact, I believe you are called to use your God given “life mix” to make an eternal impact right now, right where you are.  Pastor and author Tim Keller writes,

“Your vocation is a part of God’s work in the world, and God gives you resources for serving the human community.

These factors can help you identify your calling.

  • Affinity—“Look out.”

Affinity is the normal, existential/priestly way to discern call.

What people needs do I vibrate to?

  • Ability—“Look in.”

Priesthood of all believers, secular versus sacred

Ability is the normal, rational/prophetic way to discern call.

What am I good at doing? Continue Reading…

Flooding in Thailand- Fast Facts

November 5, 2011 in Thailand with 2 Comments

thailand floods

Here are the facts I have distilled down and continue to update so far. 

By December 2011 the floods were still affecting over 4.4 million people in 83 districts of 10 provinces, 63 out of 76 provinces have been affected.

Duration: Going on 5 months plus, some areas have been in inundated the whole time.  This is the worst flooding in 50 years for Thailand, but probably much more strongly felt economically in this current time.

Death Toll: 800 plus, many from electrocution.  This is a real tragedy since much of this could have been prevented.

Affected and Non Affected Areas: Bangkok is now free and clear.  We are not sure which provinces are still under water but we know that some, especially North and West of Bangkok are still inundated and the people are still suffering.

Major tourist destinations such as Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lampang, Sukhothai, Kanchanaburi, Ratchburi, Pattaya, Ko Chang, Rayong, Phuket, Krabi, Trang and Ko Samui are all flood free.  Ayutthaya is said to be working to clean up, but there have been reports of problems with foul odors and dirt.

Continue Reading…

Church Planting & 7 Billion

October 31, 2011 in Missions with 0 Comments

people

According to UN calculations today, October 31st, 2011, is the “official day” when 7 billionth person will have been born on planet Earth.

Our “world” has just gotten a little bit bigger now.

What does this reality mean for the global Church in regards to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ (Matt 28:18-20)?  

This means that our strategies have to flex with the growing reality we face if we are going to be effective in carrying out the Commission.

A recent Time magazine article breaks down some of the realities of what seven billion people means for us.

Roger Martin, chair of the NGO Population Matters, writing in the Guardian recently:

The 7 Billion Day is a sobering reminder of our planet’s predicament. We are increasing by 10,000 an hour. The median UN forecast is 9.3 billion by 2050, but the range varies by 2.5 billion — the total world population in 1950 — depending on how we work it out.

Every additional person needs food, water and energy, and produces more waste and pollution, so ratchets up our total impact on the planet, and ratchets down everyone else’s share — the rich far more than the poor.


The author brings to light the massive impact of each person’s physical needs, but what about their spiritual need?  

This reality has seriously challenged me to look even deeper into what we can practically do to see “Church Planting Movements” multiplied in every nation of the world and among all unreached people groups.

I believe that “CPM” is our only real hope.   Continue Reading…

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