As clear as...

As we have received a number of questions regarding the LEAD Program from various partners in the Gospel, we thought it might be of value to us all to answer them collectively.

One part of the LEAD Program is called Strategy. This is the first of four modules which we are teaching to individuals selected from both clergy and laity in each of the 28 Dioceses in the Anglican Province of Southern Africa. Strategy explores the ministry of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels as a model for disciple-making and tracks an individual’s growth from unbelief or immaturity to maturity in Christ. This is best illustrated using the diagram below.

There are four major sections all starting with the letter ‘p’.

1.     Passion – we examine the Great Commandment to love God with our entire being and to love our neighbours as ourselves. Without this love, the motive for making disciples will be faulty and, barring the gracious intervention of the Lord, will end in failure.

2.     Purpose – we examine the Great Commission to show that the reason the church exists on earth is for us to make disciples. Jesus’ final command to His followers was for them to make disciples of all nations…disciples who would make disciples who would make disciples. Jesus said that those who believe in Him would do what He did and even greater things than He did – as Jesus’ main focus was on training 12 men and a group of women to do what He did, we believe that this ought to be the focus of the Church as well.

3.     Process – we examine the general progression of an individual from unbelief or immaturity to maturity. This loosely follows the 4 chair Discipling model of Dann Spader (see here: http://4chairdiscipling.com/). We discuss how one wins the lost, builds the believer, equips the worker, and multiplies disciplemakers.

4.     Product – we examine the qualities of a fully discipled person so that we have a clear picture of what we are aiming at when walking with a person to bring them to the point of maturity in Christ. This is important as if we have no measure or nothing to aim at we will not know when we have reached our goal and when it is time for us to leave our disciple to make another disciple. If too soon, our disciple may not imitate us in making other disciples. The idea is based on 2 Timothy 2:2 where Paul encourages Timothy to entrust what he had learned from Paul to faithful followers who will be able to teach others also.

Strategy includes a 60 Day Chronological Study of the Life of Jesus which helps put more meat on the bones of the initial training. This is followed-up with various articles, studies, and other helpful tools and resources on disciple-making. We stay in touch with all trainees via email and telephone calls. Each trainee also receives a link to the Dann Spader videos which are freely available in his website (see link above). We also encourage trainees to obtain a copy of Dann Spader’s book 4 Chair Discipling which is available for a minimal fee…at least one copy for each Diocese if individuals cannot afford their own personal copy.

The other three modules will be taught once we have taught Strategy in all 28 Dioceses. Foundations indentifies six key priorities based on Jesus’ dsiciple-making ministry. Vision focusses on helping leaders define their calling, grow in godly character traits, and develop their unique competencies as leaders. Multiplication identifies different stages of Jesus’ ministry and how He grew an effective movement of disciple-making that ultimately changed the world.

For many, this training is a huge paradigm shift from an attractional or program-based focus to an external, other-person-centred focus. It is also a shift from a clergy-centred model to a every follower model and the goal is to have churches filled with active and mature disciple-makers rather than passive receivers.

There are four steps for training in each Diocese. The first step is us training folks we call “faculty” – trainers of trainers. The next step is to assist these faculty members in training Diocesan teams. The third step is to have the Diocesan team members train parish teams. The final step is to have parish teams train every parishioner in cell/small/Bible Study groups and/or Sunday School classes.

So far we have managed to train individuals in 13 of the 28 Dioceses. Not all trainees have access to the internet, especially those in rural areas, but for the most part that is, at present, more the exception than the rule. Once we begin to make inroads into Dioceses such as Namibia, Angola, and Niassa (northern Mozambique) this may change. Follow-up from a distance is difficult enough but not having email access makes it even more difficult, but hopefully each Diocese will eventually have their own select individuals who would be able to do that part of our work on the ground, so to speak.

The plan is to train in every Diocese at least by the end of next year. Right now, distance and lack of proper funding makes this problematic, but not impossible. We are praying about the possibility of purchasing our own vehicle so that we can travel to more remote areas without having to rent a suitable vehicle at great cost. Louise and I are used to “roughing it” and we have our own tent and camping equipment, so accommodation is generally not an issue.

Each Diocese has a coordinator who helps us organise the training as they are present and can arrange the more practical side of things such as accommodation, transport, and meals. They are appointed by the Bishop of the Diocese and report to them. We have an annual coordinators meeting where we encourage them to give us feedback so that we might work out a way to help them better in the future. The last coordinator’s meeting was overwhelmingly positive for which we are grateful. The coordinators are beginning to see the value of disciple-making and folks are excited and filled with anticipation for what lies ahead.

In the past we have held two training sessions back to back so to accommodate those who, for various reasons, could not make the Friday (working laity) or Sunday (clergy or lay ministers) sessions. This is tricky as there are only two of us and separating laity from clergy is not always the best thing to do, so we try to persuade employed folks to take a day off or for clergy to arrange for someone else to take their services.

The education level of trainees differs from Diocese to Diocese. Generally speaking the folks from poorer and/or rural Dioceses tend to have a lower level of education than those who live in cities. For the time being, our training is limited to the Province of Southern Africa, although we are not opposed to training in other Provinces. We would love to train our Ethiopian brethren some day and perhaps we could do that when we go to the graduation in June 2018.

We hope this helps you understand more about what we are doing here! Thank you once again for your participation in the Gospel! We simply cannot do this without you.

Blessings.

Johann and Louise