God is working in amazing ways among the Bhojpuri speakers of North India, with a CPM of more than 10 million baptized disciples of Jesus. God’s glory in this movement shines even brighter against the backdrop of this area’s history. The Bhojpuri area of India is fertile in many ways – not just in its soil. A great many religious leaders were born here. Gautama Buddha received his enlightenment and gave his first sermon in this area. Yoga and Jainism originated here as well. 

The Bhojpuri area has been described as a place of darkness – not just by Christians, but by non-Christians as well. Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul, after traveling in eastern Uttar Pradesh, wrote a book entitled An Area of Darkness, describing well the region’s pathos and depravity. 

In the past, this region was very, very hostile to the gospel, which was viewed as foreign. It was known as “the graveyard of modern missions.” When the foreignness was removed, people started accepting the good news.

But God does not want to only reach the Bhojpuri speakers. When God began to use us to reach beyond the Bhojpuri group, some people asked, “Why don’t you stick with reaching the Bhojpuri? There are so many of them! 150 million is a huge number of people! Why don’t you just stay there until that job is finished?” 

My first response is the pioneering nature of gospel work. Doing apostolic/pioneering work involves always looking for places where the good news has not taken root: looking for opportunities to make Christ known where He is not yet known. That’s one reason we expanded our work to other language groups. 

Second, these various languages overlap in their usage, one with another. There’s no clear-cut line where use of one language ends and another begins. Also, believers often move because of relationships, such as getting married or having a job offer elsewhere. As people in the movement have traveled or moved, the good news has gone with them. 

Some people came back and said, “We see God working in this other place. We would like to start a work in that area.” We told them, “Go ahead!” 

So they came back a year later and said, “We’ve planted 15 churches there.” We were amazed and blessed, because it happened organically. There was no agenda, no preparation, and no funding. When they asked what was next, we began to work with them to help the believers get grounded in God’s word and quickly mature. 

Third, we started training centers which expanded the work, both intentionally and unintentionally (more God’s plan than ours). Sometimes people from a nearby language group would come to a training and then return home and work among their own people. 

A fourth reason for expansion: sometimes people have come to us and said, “We need help. Can you come help us?” We assist and encourage them as best we can. These have been the key factors in moving into neighboring areas beyond the Bhojpuri. 

The work began among the Bhojpuri in 1994, then spread into other languages and areas in this order: Awadhi (1999), Cousins (2002), Bengali (2004), Magahi (2006), Punjabi, Sindhi, Hindi, English (in urban communities) and Haryanvi (2008), Angika (2008), Maithili (2010), and Rajasthani (2015). 

We praise God that the movement has spread in a variety of ways to different language groups, different geographic areas, multiple caste groups (within those language and geographic areas), and different religions. The power of the good news keeps breaking through all kinds of boundaries. 

The work among the Maithili people serves as a very good example of partnership. Our partnership with one key leader was an experiment in expanding the movement. Instead of us opening our own office with our own staff, we accomplished the same goal in a more reproducible way.

While these movements are led indigenously, we continue to partner together. We recently began training 15+ Angika leaders in Eastern Bihar in holistic (integrated) ministry. We plan to help start holistic ministry centers in three different Angika locations in the coming year and raise up more local Angika leaders. Our key partner working among the Maithili is also extending work into the Angika area.

I come from Nagaland, a small state in the Northeast part of India. I’ve been in church planting for the past 17 years. I represent today a huge number of leaders who have come together to agree on the [Matthew] 24:14 vision. Irrespective of our denominational background or mission agencies, we’ve come together, agreeing on this vision and saying, “Let’s get the job done.” 

Today my country has the world’s largest harvest field: a population of 1.5 billion and growing each day. We have 615,000 villages 1,757 people groups that have been identified so far. Out of those 1,757, 1,517 are on the unreached people groups list. The list of unengaged unreached people groups lists 688 in India. So, with the overwhelming task ahead of us, we as the 24:14 family in India have prayerfully agreed: we will finish the task of getting the gospel to every people group, so that by December 31, 2025 there will be no unengaged people groups. So we have a sense of urgency and an overwhelming task. 

We could get caught up with the huge numbers ahead of us. But we want to go back to the simple tools: the simple paths the Bible has shown us for the work that has been assigned to us. The Great Commission has been given to every believer: to go and preach the gospel to all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded. This Great Commission was given to all believers, so we believe in the priesthood of all believers. In 1 Peter 2:9, Peter writes: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood.” We agree, not just on a piece of paper; we agree in practice. 

It’s like in John 4, where Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well and revealed who he was. This lady had lived a very dark past: with five husbands, and the sixth one was not even her husband. But she just received Jesus Christ and believed, then she left her water jar and want back to the village and said: “Come see this man who told me everything I have done in the past. Could this be the Christ?” And the whole village came to faith. So this woman, who had just believed, became a child of God. She received an identity as a priest and was willing to immediately exercise her priesthood. 

We also we want to mobilize all our believers, so they become the workforce to take the gospel to every people group. We want to train them with a simple plan, giving them a simple tool for how to enter a new village. That is from Luke 10, where Jesus sends out 70 people, two by two. That means 35 pairs going to different places: praying and asking God to give them the person of peace. We equip them with a simple tool: being able to share their story and God’s story. And we give every believer training on simple discipleship and how to form a church. 

For that, we looking at Acts 2:41-47. What did the first believers do as a church? It was simple. Where did they meet? They met in their homes. We see examples of this throughout the New Testament . In Colossians 4:15 Paul writes: “Greet the saints that meet in your home.” To Philemon also: “Greet the saints that meet in your home. And in Romans 16 and 1 Corinthians 16 we read of believers meeting in their homes. The normal place of gathering was in their homes. 

So we equip the believers with a simple path and simple tools. We want them to know how to form a church and what to do as a church. Then they choose leaders from among themselves. So they have a simple five-step plan: Entry, Gospel, Discipleship, Church Formation, and Leadership Development. We would like to mobilize all believers and send them out into the harvest. We want every believer beginning to take ownership of the gospel, and able to share their story and God’s story. We have them make a list of their friends and relatives that they know. The goal is to touch a lot of these people groups that have never heard the gospel. These are people who we come across every day in the marketplaces and in businesses. Even when we socialize we meet many of them. 

So we equip every believer to take ownership of the gospel and to make a list of their family and friends – similar to the demoniac in Mark 5. Jesus had just delivered this guy, who was sleeping half of his life in a graveyard. When the villagers told Jesus to leave the area, this brand new believer (now clothed and in his right mind) begged Jesus: “Take me with you!” But Jesus did the opposite: instead of taking him with him, Jesus released him and gave responsibility to a brand new believer. He had no educational qualifications and no Christian background. But Jesus just released him into the harvest and said: “Go to your family and tell them what the Lord has done.” 

So if we mobilize all believers and train them, we will be able to achieve this task. As we go on engaging these people groups, many people would ask, “How can we measure engagement?” We as the 24:14 family in India have said we want to measure engagement. We consider a people group engaged when a movement has begun: four generations of churches being planted. Where the churches are led by an insider – a local person. Where churches are planting other churches. That means local sending – sending to the next village to plant another generation of churches. When we see four generations, it shows that the churches are now able to sustain themselves; there is a local ownership and local leadership in place. That means the new believers themselves are taking the gospel to others. The churches are healthy, self-governing, self-supporting, choosing their own leaders, and sending out laborers to other villages where the gospel has not been preached. They are self-correcting and self-feeding. They don’t need an outsider to come and lead the movement. When four generations of churches have started, we say that a people group has been engaged. 

A movement needs to be self-sustaining. If we exit a field too early, or just send out one or two laborers for prayer and just sharing the gospel, we don’t say the people group has been engaged. The word that comes to mind is Christian stewardship. Are we being good stewards? Have we left the field too early? If the gospel is not able to sustain itself, we left the field too early. We could fall into the danger of leaving some people groups behind, taking it for granted that they have been reached just because we have sent one or two laborers. But we need to aim for and measure according to the CPM practices of four generations of churches, where it is self-sustaining. We want to be good stewards of these people groups. We want to meet these people groups in heaven. Revelation 7:9 describes people groups of different languages coming together to worship Jesus Christ. So we do not want to leave any people group behind. As a request from the 24:14 India family, we ask you all to pray for the Indian church. Pray that we would take ownership of this gospel and be able to finish this task. Remember the urgency of our timeline: by December 31, 2025. So please join us in prayer that we would mobilize and train every believer, to get the gospel to these unengaged unreached people groups. And that we would be good stewards in this; that we would not leave the field too early and leave the task unfinished. Pray that God would also provide us the resources to build this momentum everywhere. 

We have seen that when a movement takes place, other movements are sparked. So as movement leaders, we want to have more and more laborers trained up to become church multipliers. Then we want to send them out to the harvest field. So please join us in prayer for this overwhelming and urgent task, and for the Indian church to walk in unity. Pray that at such a time as this, we can have unity to agree on the 24:14 vision and say, “Let’s come together and get the job done!”

Con demasiada frecuencia comenzamos con la pregunta equivocada: “¿Cuál es la voluntad de Dios para mi vida?” Esa pregunta puede ser muy egocéntiza. Se trata de ti y de tu vida.

La pregunta correcta es “¿Cuál es la voluntad de Dios?” Período. Entonces preguntamos: “¿Cómo puede servir mejor a eso mi vida?”

Para glorificar el nombre de Dios, necesitas entender lo que Dios está haciendo en nuestra generación: Su propósito. Para descubrir eso necesitas saber lo que Dios está haciendo en la historia: la historia que comenzó en Génesis 1 y terminará en Apocalipsis 22.

A continuación, puede encontrar su lugar en la parcela histórica. Por ejemplo, el rey David sirvió de manera única al propósito de Dios en Su propia generación (Hechos 13:36) precisamente porque era un hombre seña de corazón de Dios (Hechos 13:22). Trató de contribuir con sus esfuerzos hacia la historia del Padre. La promesa abrahámica (heredar la tierra y convertirse en una bendición para las naciones) dio un gran salto adelante cuando Dios encontró a un hombre que tendría su corazón y serviría a sus propósitos. Según 2 Samuel 7:1, su promesa de heredar la tierra se cumplió, ya que no quedaba lugar para que los israelitas conquistaran.

El corazón de nuestro Padre es la historia. Acelera la trama cuando encuentra a los protagonistas que tienen su corazón. Dios está llamando a una nueva generación que no sólo será en

la trama, pero terminará

la trama, acelerando la historia a su clímax. Está llamando a una generación que algún día dirá: “No queda lugar para que el Reino de Dios se expanda” (como Pablo escribió de una gran región en Romanos 15:23).

Conocer la historia es conocer la voluntad de Dios.

Una vez que conozcas la historia, puedes ocupar tu lugar en ella, no como un personaje secundario, sino como un protagonista impulsado por el poder del Autor.

La gran historia comenzó en la Creación (Génesis 1) y terminará en la Consumación (el regreso de Jesús — Apocalipsis 22). Es la historia de una gran raza. Cada generación corre una vuelta en esta carrera de relevos. Habrá una generación final que corra la última vuelta, una generación que vea al Rey recibir Su recompensa por Sus esfuerzos de toda la historia. allí será ser una generación de última vuelta. Por qué no
nosotros
?

El propósito de la historia

Esta historia central se extiende a lo largo de la Biblia, tejiendo su camino a través de cada uno de los 66 libros. Sin embargo, es fácil olvidar o ignorar la historia, y muchas personas se burlan de tal pensamiento.

Los scoffers vendrán en los últimos días con burlas, siguiendo sus propios deseos pecaminosos. Ellos dirán, “¿Dónde está la promesa de su venida?” Porque desde que los padres se durmieron, todas las cosas continúan como lo fueron desde el principio de la creación. (2 Pedro 3:3-4)

Esta realidad describe a nuestra generación, así como a la de Peter.

¿Cuál es la historia?

• CREACION: En Génesis 1-2, Dios creó a la humanidad con un solo propósito: convertirse en Una Esposa (compañero) para Su Hijo, morar con él para siempre en amorosa adoración.
• FALL: En Génesis 3, por medio del pecado, los seres humanos se alejaron del designio de Dios, ya no en relación con el Creador.
• SCATTERING: En Génesis 11, las lenguas estaban confundidas y la humanidad se dispersaba hasta los confines de la tierra, fuera de contacto con la redención de Dios.
• PROMESA: A partir de Génesis 12, Dios prometió llamar a los pueblos de la tierra de vuelta a Sí mismo a través del precio de sangre de un Redentor proclamado por los esfuerzos de buena comunicación de compartir el pueblo de Dios (los descendientes de Abraham).
• REDEMPTION: En los Evangelios,Jesús proporcionó el precio para pagar la deuda del pecado, para recompra del pueblo de Dios, gente de todos los etnos

  (grupo de personas).

• COMISION: Al final de Su vida, Jesús lanzó al pueblo de Dios para terminar la misión de Dios: la gran historia. Y prometió su poder para hacerlo.
• DISCIPLE-MAKING: Desde el Libro de los Hechos hasta hoy, el pueblo de Dios ha sido bendecido para cumplir un gran mandato. “Vayan a todo el mundo” y cumplan esta redención: hacer discípulos de todos los etn,

  para ser la Esposa completa de Cristo.

• CONSUMACION: En la consumación, Jesús regresará para tomar a Su Esposa— cuando esté completa y lista. Todo, desde Génesis 3 hasta Apocalipsis 22, se trata de llamar de vuelta a la Esposa de Jesús de entre las naciones. Hasta que la Novia esté completa, la misión de la iglesia no ha terminado.

Pedro se refiere a esta historia en el último capítulo de su segunda epístola.

Pero no pases por alto este hecho, amado, que con el Señor un día es como mil años, y mil años como un día. El Señor no es lento para cumplir su promesa como algunos cuentan la lentitud, pero es paciente hacia usted, sin desear que nadie debe perecer, pero que todos deben llegar al arrepentimiento. Pero el día del Señor vendrá como un ladrón, y entonces los cielos pasarán con un rugido, y los cuerpos celestiales serán quemados y disueltos, y la tierra y las obras que se hacen en ella serán expuestas. (2 Pedro 3:8-10, cursiva agregada)

Dios es paciente. No enviará a Su Hijo de vuelta hasta que la historia haya terminado. Dios no es lento; no desea ningún grupo de personas (Etnia) para perecer. Quiere que todas las naciones dispersas de Génesis 11 sean parte de la Esposa de Cristo en gran número. Estos son los ethn Jesús se refirió en Mateo 24:14. Estos son los de

lo que habló en la Gran Comisión (Mateo 28:18-20 “hacer discípulos de todos los etn

“). Estos son los en

la imagen de Apocalipsis 7:9.

El clímax de la historia es una novia completa presentada al Hijo con un gran banquete de bodas para celebrar. En el último capítulo de Pedro, se refirió al recogimiento de esta Esposa y también a los escritos de Pablo:

Por lo tanto, amado, ya que usted está esperando a que estos, ser diligente para ser encontrado por él

sin mancha o mancha

, y en paz. Y contar la paciencia de nuestro Señor como salvación, tal como nuestro amado hermano Pablo también les escribió de acuerdo con la sabiduría que se le ha dado, como lo hace en todas sus cartas… (2 Pedro 3:14-16, cursiva agregada)

Pablo se refirió a la misma historia usando las mismas palabras:

Cristo amaba a la iglesia y se entregó por ella, 26 para santificarla, haciéndola limpiado por el lavado de agua con la palabra, 27 así que podría presentar la iglesia a sí mismo en esplendor, sin mancha o arrugas o cualquier cosa, que podría ser santo y sin mancha…. Este misterio es profundo, y estoy diciendo que se refiere a Cristo y a la iglesia. (Ef. 5:25-27, 32, cursiva agregada)

Pablo se refirió al mismo plan en Efesios 1:

Dios nos ha revelado ahora su misteriosa voluntad con respecto a Cristo, que es cumplir su propio buen plan. 10 Y este es el plan: En el momento adecuado reunirá todo bajo la autoridad de Cristo

…. todo en el cielo y en la tierra.

(Efeso 1:9-10, NLT, cursiva agregada)

El plan de Dios desde la Creación hasta la Consumación ha sido recayendo a personas de todas las lenguas y culturas para que regresen a la vida en Cristo, como Su Esposa para siempre. Pero ahora mismo, esa Novia está incompleta. Todavía le falta un brazo, un ojo y un pie. Su vestido todavía está manchado y arrugado. Mientras el Esposo se para en el altar listo para envolver a su Esposa en sus brazos, la Novia parece tener poca prisa para prepararse para el Día de la Boda. Pero la postura de la Novia está cambiando. Este es uno de los grandes distintivos de nuestra generación, y nos señala la singularidad de nuestra vuelta en la carrera de la historia. Durante las últimas dos décadas, la iglesia global ha aumentado el ritmo hacia la participación de los más de 8000 grupos de personas noprochadas restantes en el mundo, las partes del mundo aún no están bien representadas en la Novia.

Este es un buen primer paso, pero el compromiso nunca fue el objetivo final.

Dado que más de dos mil millones de personas en el mundo todavía no tienen acceso al Evangelio, nuestros esfuerzos para involucrarlos deben cambiar. Tenemos que llegar a ellos, no sólo involucrarlos.

Jesús nos dijo que oremos para que el Reino de Dios viniera plenamente a la tierra como en los cielos (Mateo 6:9-10). Cuando el Evangelio se compromete a un lugar inaprobado, el Reino de Dios debe liberarse. Jesús siempre imaginó a sus discípulos haciendo discípulos para hacer discípulos e iglesias plantando iglesias que pueden plantar iglesias. Esto es lo que sucedió en el Libro de los Hechos. El ADN del discipulado temprano era que cada discípulo sería a la vez un seguidor de Jesús y un pescador de hombres (Marcos 1:17).

Jesús no está satisfecho con una Novia pequeña o incompleta. Quiere una novia que nadie puede contar, de todos los ethn. La única manera de hacerlo es a través del Reino multiplicando en cada uno de ellos. El impulso está construyendo para que los movimientos de Dios vuelvan a ser comunes. ¡En los últimos 25 años el número de estos Movimientos de Plantación de iglesias en todo el mundo ha crecido de menos de 10 a más de 1.000! ¡Dios está acelerando la cronología de la historia!

Sin embargo, miles de grupos y lugares de personas no afiliados todavía no tienen una iglesia multiplicadora entre ellos. Con Pedro, debemos unirnos a Dios para acelerar la línea argumental hacia su final.

Conviértete en un protagonista de la historia, no en un personaje secundario. Elige enfocarte en llegar a todas las personas y lugares no alcanzados, y hazlo a través de movimientos similares a los hechos de discípulos, iglesias y líderes multiplicadores.

Pregunte :¿Cuál es la voluntad de Dios?” y “¿Cómo puede mi vida servir mejor a ese propósito en esta generación?”

Jesús promete Su poderosa presencia a todos los que se unen a ese esfuerzo (Mateo 28:20).

Alguna generación terminará la última vuelta. ¿Por qué no nosotros?

প্রায়ই আমরা ভুল প্রশ্ন দিয়ে শুরু করি: “আমার জীবনের জন্য ঈশ্বরের ইচ্ছা কি?” এই প্রশ্ন খুব আত্মকেন্দ্রিক হতে পারে। এটা তোমার আর তোমার জীবনের ব্যাপার।

সঠিক প্রশ্ন হচ্ছে “ঈশ্বরের ইচ্ছা কি?” পিরিয়ড। তখন আমরা জিজ্ঞেস করি, “আমার জীবন কিভাবে সেরা সেবা করতে পারে?”

ঈশ্বরের নামের গৌরব করতে হলে আমাদের প্রজন্মে ঈশ্বর কি করছেন তা আপনাকে বুঝতে হবে। এটা বের করার জন্য আপনাকে জানতে হবে ঈশ্বর ইতিহাসে কি করছেন: জেনেসিস ১-এ শুরু হওয়া স্টোরিলাইন এবং উন্মোচন ২২-এ শেষ হবে।

তাহলে আপনি ঐতিহাসিক প্লটে আপনার জায়গা খুঁজে পেতে পারেন। উদাহরণস্বরূপ, রাজা দায়ূদ তাঁর নিজের প্রজন্মে (আইন ১৩:৩৬) ঈশ্বরের উদ্দেশ্যে অনন্যভাবে ঈশ্বরের উদ্দেশ্যে কাজ করতেন, কারণ তিনি ছিলেন ঈশ্বরের অন্তরের (আইন ১৩:২২)। তিনি পিতার স্টোরিলাইনে তার প্রচেষ্টা অবদান রাখতে চেয়েছিলেন। অব্রাহামীয় প্রতিশ্রুতি (জমি উত্তরাধিকার সূত্রে প্রাপ্ত এবং জাতির জন্য আশীর্বাদ হয়ে ওঠে) এক বিশাল লাফ দেয় যখন ঈশ্বর এমন একজনকে খুঁজে পেলেন যার হৃদয় থাকবে এবং তার উদ্দেশ্য পূরণ করা হবে। ২ স্যামুয়েল ৭:১ অনুসারে, জমি উত্তরাধিকার সূত্রে প্রাপ্ত তার প্রতিশ্রুতি পূরণ করা হয় কারণ ইস্রায়েলীয়দের জয় করার কোন জায়গা অবশিষ্ট ছিল না।

আমাদের বাবার হৃদয় ইতিহাসের গল্প। সে প্লট ত্বরান্বিত করে যখন তিনি তার হৃদয় আছে এমন নায়কদের খুঁজে পান। ঈশ্বর একটি নতুন প্রজন্মকে আহ্বান করছেন যা শুধু হবে না

হবে প্লট, গল্প তার চূড়ান্ত পর্যায়ে নিয়ে যাওয়া। তিনি এমন এক প্রজন্মকে আহ্বান জানাচ্ছেন, যারা একদিন বলবে, “ঈশ্বরের রাজ্যের সম্প্রসারণের আর কোন জায়গা নেই” (যেমন পৌল রোমানদের একটি বৃহৎ অঞ্চলের কথা লিখেছেন)।

স্টোরিলাইন জানা ঈশ্বরের ইচ্ছা জানা।

একবার আপনি স্টোরিলাইন জানতে পারলে, আপনি এতে আপনার জায়গা নিতে পারেন, একটি পার্শ্ব চরিত্র হিসেবে নয়, বরং লেখকের শক্তি দ্বারা চালিত একজন নায়ক হিসেবে।

গ্র্যান্ড স্টোরিলাইন সৃষ্টি (জেনেসিস 1) শুরু হয় এবং ভোগ (যীশুর প্রত্যাবর্তন – উন্মোচন 22) শেষ হবে। এটা একটা মহান জাতির কাহিনী। প্রতিটি প্রজন্ম এই রিলে প্রতিযোগিতায় একটি ল্যাপ চালায়। একটি চূড়ান্ত প্রজন্ম থাকবে যারা শেষ ল্যাপ পরিচালনা করে- একটি প্রজন্ম যারা রাজাকে তার ইতিহাসব্যাপী প্রচেষ্টার জন্য তার পুরস্কার গ্রহণ করতে দেখে। সেখানে হবে শেষ ল্যাপ প্রজন্ম হও। কেন নয়
আমরা
?

ইতিহাসের উদ্দেশ্য

এই কেন্দ্রীয় স্টোরিলাইন বাইবেল জুড়ে চলে, 66 বইয়ের প্রতিটি র মাধ্যমে তার পথ বুনন। তা সত্ত্বেও স্টোরিলাইন ভুলে যাওয়া বা উপেক্ষা করা সহজ, এবং অনেকে এই ধরনের চিন্তা নিয়ে ঠাট্টা করে।

শেষ দিনগুলোতে ঠাট্টা-বিদ্রুপ ের মাধ্যমে, তাদের নিজেদের পাপপূর্ণ বাসনা অনুসরণ করে। তারা বলবে, “তার আসার প্রতিশ্রুতি কোথায়?” যখন থেকে পিতা-মাতা ঘুমিয়ে পড়েন, তখন থেকেই সৃষ্টির শুরু থেকেই সব কিছু চলতে থাকে। (২ পিটার ৩:৩-৪)

এই বাস্তবতা আমাদের প্রজন্ম এবং পিটারের বর্ণনা করে।

ইতিহাসের কাহিনী কি?

• সৃষ্টি: জেনেসিস ১-২-এ আল্লাহ মানবতা সৃষ্টি করেছেন: তাঁর পুত্রের জন্য নববধূ (সঙ্গী) হওয়া, তাঁর সাথে চিরকাল ভালবাসায় বসবাস করা।
• পতন: জেনেসিস ৩-এ, ঈশ্বরের নকশা থেকে মানুষ দূরে সরে গেছে- স্রষ্টার সাথে আর সম্পর্ক নেই।
• বিক্ষিপ্ত: জেনেসিস ১১-এ ভাষাগুলো বিভ্রান্ত ছিল এবং মানবজাতি পৃথিবীর শেষ প্রান্তে ছড়িয়ে পড়েছিল- ঈশ্বরের মুক্তির সংস্পর্শে রদের সংস্পর্শে।
• প্রতিশ্রুতি: জেনেসিস ১২ থেকে শুরু করে আল্লাহ তাআলা র ্যাডিমারের রক্তের দামের মাধ্যমে পৃথিবীর জনগণকে নিজের কাছে ফিরিয়ে আনার প্রতিশ্রুতি দিয়েছিলেন।
• মুক্তি: ইনজীল-এযীশু ঋণের মূল্য দিয়েছেন, যাতে তারা আল্লাহর লোকদের

  ফিরিয়ে দিতে পারে।

• কমিশন: তাঁর জীবনের শেষে যীশু ঈশ্বরের মিশন শেষ করার জন্য ঈশ্বরের লোকদের চালু করেন: মহান স্টোরিলাইন। এবং তিনি তার ক্ষমতার প্রতিশ্রুতি দিয়েছিলেন।
• শিষ্য-রচনা: আজ পর্যন্ত কর্ম গ্রন্থ থেকে, ঈশ্বরের লোকেরা একটি মহান আদেশ সম্পন্ন করার জন্য আশীর্বাদ প্রাপ্ত হয়েছে। “সমগ্র জগতে যাও” এবং এই মুক্তি পূরণ করুন: সকল ইথেনের

  শিষ্যদের খ্রীষ্টের সম্পূর্ণ বধূ বানানো।

• ভোগ: ভোগে, যীশু তার বধূ গ্রহণ করতে ফিরে আসবেন– যখন সে সম্পূর্ণ এবং প্রস্তুত হবে। জেনেসিস ৩ থেকে Revelation ২২ পর্যন্ত সবকিছুই জাতির মধ্যে থেকে যীশুর বধূকে ফিরিয়ে আনার জন্য। যতক্ষণ না নববধূ সম্পন্ন হচ্ছে, চার্চের মিশন শেষ হয়নি।

পিটার তার দ্বিতীয় এপিস্টলের শেষ অধ্যায়ে এই স্টোরিলাইনউল্লেখ করেন।

কিন্তু এই সত্যকে উপেক্ষা করবেন না, প্রিয়, একদিন প্রভুর কাছে এক হাজার বছর এবং একদিন ের মত হাজার বছর। প্রভু তার প্রতিশ্রুতি কিছু ধীর হিসাবে পূরণ করতে ধীর নয়, কিন্তু আপনার প্রতি ধৈর্যশীল, কেউ ধ্বংস হতে চায় না, কিন্তু এই সব কিছুর তওবা করা উচিত। কিন্তু সদাপ্রভুর দিন চোরের মত আসবে, তারপর আকাশ গর্জন করে চলে যাবে, আর স্বর্গীয় দেহগুলো পুড়িয়ে ফেলা হবে এবং তার উপর যা করা হবে তা উন্মোচিত হবে। (২ পিটার ৩:৮-১০, জোর যোগ করা হয়েছে)

ঈশ্বর ধৈর্যশীল। গল্প শেষ না হওয়া পর্যন্ত তিনি তাঁর ছেলেকে ফেরত পাঠাবেন না। ঈশ্বর ধীর গতির নন; সে কোন দলকে কামনা করে না ।জাতি) ধ্বংস হয়ে যাবে। তিনি চান জেনেসিস ১১ এর সমস্ত বিক্ষিপ্ত জাতি বিপুল সংখ্যক খ্রীষ্টের বধূর অংশ হোক। এই হল ইথনা যীশু মথি ২৪:১৪-এ উল্লেখ করেছেন। এই হল তিনি

গ্রেট কমিশনে বলেছেন (মথি 28:18-20 ” সকল জাতিগত

শিষ্য বানান“). এই হল ethnè

revelation 7:9 এ তোলা হয়েছে।

ইতিহাসের গল্পের চূড়ান্ত পর্যায়ে একটি সম্পূর্ণ বধূ একটি মহান বিবাহ ভোজ উদযাপন সঙ্গে পুত্র উপহার দেওয়া হয়। পিতরের শেষ অধ্যায়ে তিনি এই বধূর সমাবেশ এবং পৌলের লেখাও উল্লেখ করেছেন:

অতএব, প্রিয়, যেহেতু আপনি এগুলির জন্য অপেক্ষা করছেন, তাকে

কোন দাগ বা দাগ ছাড়াই খুঁজে পেতে পরিশ্রমী হতে হবে

, এবং শান্তিতে। আর আমাদের প্রভুর ধৈর্যকে মুক্তি হিসেবে গণনা করো, ঠিক যেমন আমাদের প্রিয় ভাই পৌলও আপনাকে চিঠি লিখেছিলেন, যেমনটা তিনি তাঁর সব চিঠিতে লিখেছিলেন। (২ পিটার ৩:১৪-১৬, জোর যোগ করেছেন)

পল একই শব্দ ব্যবহার করে একই স্টোরিলাইনউল্লেখ করেছেন:

খ্রীষ্ট চার্চ ভালবাসতেন এবং তার জন্য নিজেকে ছেড়ে দেন, 26 যে তিনি তাকে পবিত্র করতে পারেন, শব্দ দিয়ে পানি ধোয়া দ্বারা তাকে পরিষ্কার করা, 27 তাই যাতে সে গির্জাকে নিজের কাছে উপস্থাপন করতে পারে ঐশ্বর্যে, অস্পট অথবা কুঁচকে যাওয়া বা এমন কোন কিছু, যাতে সে পবিত্র হতে পারে এবং অদোষারোপ…. এই রহস্য গভীর, এবং আমি বলছি যে এটা খ্রীষ্ট এবং চার্চের কথা উল্লেখ করে। (Eph. 5:25-27, 32, জোর যোগ করা হয়েছে)

পল ইফিসিয়ানদের ১-এ একই পরিকল্পনার কথা উল্লেখ করেছেন:

ঈশ্বর এখন খ্রীষ্ট সম্পর্কে তাঁর রহস্যময় ইচ্ছা আমাদের কাছে প্রকাশ করেছেন, যা তার নিজের ভাল পরিকল্পনা পূরণ করবে। 10 এবং এটাই পরিকল্পনা: সঠিক সময়ে তিনি সবকিছু খ্রীষ্টের কর্তৃত্বের অধীনে একত্রিত করবেন.

স্বর্গে এবং পৃথিবীর সবকিছু।

(ইফিসাস ১:৯-১০, এনএলটি, জোর যোগ করা হয়েছে)

সৃষ্টি থেকে ভোগপর্যন্ত ঈশ্বরের পরিকল্পনা হচ্ছে প্রতিটি ভাষা ও সংস্কৃতি থেকে মানুষকে খ্রীষ্টের জীবনে ফিরিয়ে আনা, চিরকালের জন্য তাঁর বধূ হিসেবে। কিন্তু এই মুহূর্তে, সেই বধূ অসম্পূর্ণ। তার এখনো একটি হাত, একটি চোখ এবং একটি পা অনুপস্থিত। তার পোশাক এখনো দাগ িত এবং কুঁচকে গেছে। যখন বর তার নববধূকে কোলে জড়িয়ে রাখার জন্য প্রস্তুত বেদীর কাছে দাঁড়িয়ে আছে, তখন মনে হচ্ছে নববধূ বিয়ের দিনের জন্য নিজেকে প্রস্তুত করার জন্য খুব তাড়াতাড়ি করছে। কিন্তু কনের ভঙ্গি বদলাচ্ছে। এটা আমাদের প্রজন্মের অন্যতম মহান স্বতন্ত্র, এবং এটা আমাদের ইতিহাসের দৌড়ে আমাদের কোলের অনন্যতার দিকে ইঙ্গিত করে। গত দুই দশক ধরে গ্লোবাল চার্চ বিশ্বের অবশিষ্ট ৮০০০+ অপৌঁছানো ব্যক্তিদের সাথে যুক্ত হওয়ার গতি বাড়িয়ে দিয়েছে- বিশ্বের কিছু অংশ এখনো কনেতে ভালোভাবে প্রতিনিধিত্ব করেনি।

এটা একটা ভালো প্রথম পদক্ষেপ, কিন্তু এনগেজমেন্ট কখনোই শেষ লক্ষ্য ছিল না।

যেহেতু বিশ্বের দুই বিলিয়নেরও বেশি মানুষ এখনো সুসমাচারে প্রবেশাধিকার পায় নি, তাই তাদের সাথে যুক্ত করার জন্য আমাদের প্রচেষ্টা অবশ্যই পরিবর্তন আনতে হবে। আমাদের তাদের কাছে পৌঁছাতে হবে, শুধু তাদের সাথে যুক্ত করা নয়।

যীশু আমাদের বলেছিলেন ঈশ্বরের রাজ্য যেন স্বর্গের মত পৃথিবীতে আসে (মথি ৬:৯-১০)। যখন সুসমাচার ের কোন অশেষ স্থান থাকে, তখন ঈশ্বরের রাজ্যকে ভেঙ্গে ফেলতে হবে। যীশু সবসময় কল্পনা করতেন যে তাঁর শিষ্যেরা শিষ্য বানিয়ে শিষ্য ও গির্জা তৈরি করতেন যা গির্জা রোপণ করতে পারে। কর্ম গ্রন্থে এটাই ঘটেছে। প্রারম্ভিক শিষ্যত্বের ডিএনএ ছিল যে প্রত্যেক শিষ্য যীশুর অনুসারী এবং পুরুষদের একজন মৎস্যজীবী (মার্ক ১:১৭)।

যীশু ছোট বা অসম্পূর্ণ বধূনিয়ে সন্তুষ্ট নন। সে এমন একজন বধূ চায় যে কেউ গণনা করতে পারবে না, সব কিছু থেকে ইথনা. এটা করার একমাত্র উপায় হচ্ছে রাজ্যের মাধ্যমে তাদের প্রত্যেকের মধ্যে গুণ করা। ঈশ্বরের গতিবিধির জন্য গতি গড়ে উঠছে। গত ২৫ বছরে সারা বিশ্বে এই চার্চ রোপণ আন্দোলনের সংখ্যা ১০ থেকে বেড়ে ১০-এ উন্নীত হয়েছে! ঈশ্বর ইতিহাসের সময়রেখাত্বরান্বিত করছেন!

তা সত্ত্বেও হাজার হাজার মানুষের দল এবং স্থানে এখনো তাদের মধ্যে কোন গুণিতক গির্জা নেই। পিটারের সাথে, আমাদের অবশ্যই ঈশ্বরের সাথে যোগ দিতে হবে প্লট লাইনকে চূড়ান্ত পর্যায়ে নিয়ে যাওয়ার জন্য।

গল্পের নায়ক হয়ে উঠুন- পার্শ্ব চরিত্র নয়। প্রতিটি অপৌঁছানো মানুষ এবং স্থানে পৌঁছানোর উপর মনোযোগ প্রদান করুন, এবং শিষ্য, গির্জা এবং নেতাদের বহুগুণ ের আন্দোলনের মাধ্যমে তা করুন।

“ঈশ্বরের ইচ্ছা কি?” এবং “এই প্রজন্মের মধ্যে আমার জীবন কিভাবে সেই উদ্দেশ্য পূরণ করতে পারে?”

যীশু সেই প্রচেষ্টায় যোগ দেওয়া সবাইকে তাঁর শক্তিশালী উপস্থিতির প্রতিশ্রুতি দিয়েছেন (মথি ২৮:২০)।

কিছু প্রজন্ম চূড়ান্ত ল্যাপ শেষ করবে। আমরা কেন নয়?

Too often we start with the wrong question: “What is God’s will for my life?” That question can be very self-centered. It’s about you and your life. 

The right question is “What is God’s will?” Period. Then we ask, “How can my life best serve that?” 

To glorify God’s name, you need to understand what God is doing in our generation—His purpose. To figure that out you need to know what God is doing in history: the storyline that began in Genesis 1 and will finish in Revelation 22. 

Then you can find your place in the historical plot. For example, King David uniquely served God’s purpose in His own generation (Acts 13:36) precisely because he was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). He sought to contribute his efforts toward the Father’s storyline. The Abrahamic promise (inherit land and become a blessing to the nations) took a huge leap forward when God found a man who would have his heart and serve his purposes. According to 2 Samuel 7:1, his promise of inheriting the land was fulfilled as there was no place left for the Israelites to conquer. 

Our Father’s heart is the storyline of history. He speeds up the plot when He finds protagonists who have his heart. God is calling up a new generation that will not just be in the plot but will finish the plot, hastening the story to its climax. He is calling out a generation that will one day say, “There is no place left for the Kingdom of God to expand” (as Paul wrote of one large region in Romans 15:23). 

Knowing the storyline is knowing God’s will. 

Once you know the storyline, you can take up your place in it, not as a side character but as a protagonist driven forward by the power of the Author. 

The grand storyline began in Creation (Genesis 1) and will end at the Consummation (the return of Jesus — Revelation 22). It is the story of a great race. Each generation runs a lap in this relay race. There will be a final generation that runs the last lap—a generation that sees the King receive His reward for His history-long efforts. There will be a last-lap generation. Why not us? 

The Purpose of History

This central storyline runs throughout the Bible, weaving its way through each of the 66 books. Yet it is easy to forget or ignore the storyline, and many people scoff at such a thought. 

Scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming?” For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. (2 Peter 3:3-4)

This reality describes our generation as well as Peter’s. 

What is the storyline of history? 

• CREATION: In Genesis 1-2, God created humanity for one purpose: to become a Bride (companion) for His Son, to dwell with Him forever in loving adoration. 
• FALL: In Genesis 3, through sin, humans fell away from God’s design—no longer in relationship with the Creator. 
• SCATTERING: In Genesis 11, languages were confused and humanity was dispersed to the ends of the earth—out of touch with the redemption of God. 
• PROMISE: Starting in Genesis 12, God promised to call the peoples of the earth back to Himself through the blood-price of a Redeemer proclaimed by the good-news-sharing efforts of the God’s people (the descendants of Abraham). 
• REDEMPTION: In the Gospels, Jesus provided the price to pay the debt of sin, to buy back the people of God—people from every ethnos (people group). 
• COMMISSION: At the end of His life, Jesus launched God’s people to finish God’s mission: the great storyline. And he promised his power to do so. 
• DISCIPLE-MAKING: From the Book of Acts until today, God’s people have been blessed in order to accomplish one great mandate. “Go into all the world” and fulfill this redemption: making disciples of all ethnē, to be the complete Bride of Christ. 
• CONSUMMATION: At the Consummation, Jesus will return to take up His Bride— when she is complete and ready. Everything from Genesis 3 to Revelation 22 is about calling back Jesus’ Bride from among the nations. Until the Bride is complete, the mission of the church is not finished.

Peter refers to this storyline in the last chapter of his second epistle.

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfil his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (2 Peter 3:8-10, emphasis added) 

God is patient. He will not send His Son back until the story is finished. God is not slow; he does not wish any people group (ethnos) to perish. He wants all the scattered nations of Genesis 11 to be a part of the Bride of Christ in great number. These are the ethnē Jesus referred to in Matthew 24:14. These are the ethnē he spoke of in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20 “make disciples of all ethnē”). These are the ethnē pictured in Revelation 7:9. 

The climax of history’s storyline is a complete Bride presented to the Son with a great wedding banquet to celebrate. In Peter’s last chapter, he referred to the gathering of this Bride and also to Paul’s writings: 

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters.… (2 Peter 3:14-16, emphasis added) 

Paul referred to the same storyline using the same words: 

Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish…. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. (Eph. 5:25-27, 32, emphasis added) 

Paul referred to the same plan in Ephesians 1: 

God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ— which is to fulfill his own good plan. 10 And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ….everything in heaven and on earth. (Ephesus 1:9-10, NLT, emphasis added) 

God’s plan from Creation to Consummation has been to regather people from every language and culture to return to life in Christ, as His Bride forever. But right now, that Bride is incomplete. She is still missing an arm, an eye and a foot. Her dress is still blemished and wrinkled. While the Bridegroom stands at the altar ready to wrap his Bride in his arms, the Bride seems to be in little hurry to prepare herself for the Wedding Day. But the posture of the Bride is changing. This is one of the great distinctives of our generation, and it points us to the uniqueness of our lap in the race of history. Over the last two decades the global church has increased the pace toward engaging the remaining 8000+ unreached people groups in the world—the parts of the world still not well represented in the Bride. 

This is a good first step, but engagement was never the end goal. Since over two billion people in the world still have no access to the gospel, our efforts to engage them must change. We need to reach them, not just engage them. 

Jesus told us to pray for God’s Kingdom to come fully on earth as in heaven (Matthew 6:9-10). When the gospel engages an unreached place, the Kingdom of God must break loose. Jesus always envisioned his disciples making disciples to make disciples and churches planting churches which can plant churches. This is what happened in the Book of Acts. The DNA of early discipleship was that each disciple would be both a follower of Jesus and a fisher of men (Mark 1:17). 

Jesus is not satisfied with a small or incomplete Bride. He wants a Bride that no one can count, from all the ethnē. The only way to do this is through the Kingdom multiplying in every one of them. Momentum is building for movements of God to become common again. In the last 25 years the number of these Church Planting Movements around the world has grown from fewer than 10 to over 1,000! God is accelerating the timeline of history! 

Yet thousands of unreached people groups and places still have no multiplying church among them. With Peter, we must join God in speeding up the plot line toward its finale. 

Become a protagonist in the story—not a side character. Choose to focus on reaching every unreached people and place, and do so through Acts-like movements of multiplying disciples, churches and leaders. 

Ask “What is God’s will?” and “How can my life best serve that purpose in this generation?” 

Jesus promises His powerful presence to all who join in that effort (Matthew 28:20). 

Some generation will finish the final lap. Why not us?

I remember trying to define Team Expansion with the lawyer who helped us incorporate, back in 1978. It wasn’t easy. We were a collection of independent thinkers, each focused on a different location, yet united behind a common vision: church planting.

That hard-won clarity might be one reason I struggled as Team Expansion’s President, nearly 35 years later (in 2013), when I heard rumbles of a different strategy for missions. As I look back on my journey and our organization’s journey, I wonder how it took me so long to embrace it. Why was it difficult? How did I navigate the transition personally? And how are we, as an organization, seeking to apply these strategies?

First, movement thinking seemed too “fuzzy” for me, with no single source of truth. And what I heard people describe seemed too simple. Surely, if all we had to do was live out the book of Acts, why would it have taken 19 centuries for us to sort it out? I asked myself: “If there really are 1000+ movements, with millions upon millions of participants, why can’t we see them? And can we really be sure those aren’t just inflated numbers?”(1) I also wondered: “Even if the reports from Asia and Africa are true, if this is so simple, why doesn’t it seem to work in North America and Europe?”

Besides, I reasoned, we had always focused on a central nucleus: a group with 100 people in a rented or purchased building. I had been trained to define a church as having a staff, programs, and a budget. My years of training had prepared me for one paradigm: the “standard” model of a church. With all those expectations and definitions imprinted in my mind, the mold was hard to break.

So what changed – in me and in our organization? The following elements aligned to bring a paradigm shift:

1) An advocate: a person I trusted championed the cause. In our case, he’s our Executive VP. Eric has been my lifelong friend. I respect his vision and passion for the lost. As I look back at how he “won me over,” I can identify some additional things he did that were helpful.

2) Patience: the advocate spoke my language and understood how to influence me.  He didn’t lecture me or talk in a condescending way. He asked if we would allow him to begin  experimenting with training selected field workers in our organization. We gladly blessed his efforts, and he often invited me to those training to get me involved. He was sneaky in a good way. How could I welcome all those workers to a training in this new approach if I didn’t endorse it? But I still wrestled. For months and months, I poked around, trying to “get it.” But I kept asking: what exactly is “it”?

3) Endurance: The advocate never gave up on me. He held a steadfast belief that our organization would transition to movement thinking more effectively if its founder and CEO was in favor of the change. I’m not the kind of CEO who calls all the shots. But he saw the clear benefit of  having the CEO on board. He just never gave up on me. I remember specific discussions like they happened yesterday. “You mean this all happens rather simply? It just keeps multiplying? There has to be more to this.” He would just gently walk through case studies and principles with me, helping me understand.

4) Case Studies: he showed me examples.  He always looked for stories, so I could embrace an illustration – especially from one of our own fields. Once we started seeing some fruit from our early adopters, he knew I’d start talking it up. That’s part of the CEO’s role: telling stories about the organization’s ministry at its best. It helps people believe in the organization’s effectiveness and helps people feel good about partnering with our workers.

But besides these four things, I still needed TIME. I had to break the entire process down into components that I could digest a little at a time. Rather than eating the entire elephant, I just focused on one meal… sometimes just one bite. I started prayer-walking in neighborhoods of my own city (Louisville, KY) where internationals live and work. I began inviting others to meet with me in training cohorts and peer-mentoring groups. I worked with two other families to start a “My Spiritual Family” weekly gathering, using the easily-learned three-thirds (DBS) style format. (Learn more about these simple ideas at www.Zume.training.) As I took these simple steps, some groups flourished while others seemed to fail. Once I started experiencing the process personally, it suddenly just clicked, within a two-week period.

Along the way, I began to group together ideas and jot them down as principles. I did this with a friend, trying to multiply from the beginning. These principles, for me, turned into a training website for my own needs, along with those of others on a similar journey. Writing down what I learned was a good practice for me. (It’s available free of charge at www.MoreDisciples.com.) As I worked on More Disciples, we were blessed to have a part in testing and implementing the online training materials at www.Zume.training. That course now trains thousands of others in dozens of countries and languages all over the world. 

As an organization, we began doing frequent trainings. Thankfully, many of our workers began implementing CPM/DMM principles both personally and as teams. Today, we estimate that 80-90% of our workers have embraced DMM strategies as their primary approach. And in the entire transition, we might have lost just one family over it. It’s been a huge success. We are now a much more effective organization because of the change. Even in the middle of a pandemic, God has worked through our team members and those we’re training to baptize 2,400 people and launch 796 new groups. There are now over 4,000 active groups in the 50 countries where we serve, with over 25,000 people attending faithfully.

We’ve wondered why more people aren’t implementing these simple and effective principles in North America. Perhaps it’s because we’re so accustomed to defining the Christian life as attending a service on Sunday morning. Maybe our lives are so full of sports and leisure activities that we think we don’t have time to live out these simple, reproducible principles. Whatever the reason, we need to find a way to mobilize hundreds and thousands of prayer advocates and implementers if we intend to catch up with what God is doing in many other parts of the world.

My journey toward movement thinking was slow. But it was a huge transition. I’m thankful to the advocate who helped me along the way. And I’m most thankful to God for his patience and grace in my life. I look forward to stories like this from other leaders and organizations.

I am one of the servants in No Place Left Haiti. Our vision to faithfully obey Jesus by making disciples who make disciples, planting churches that plant churches, and mobilizing missionaries to the nations until there’s no place left. We do this by entering empty fields, sharing the gospel with anyone who will listen, discipling those who respond, forming them into new churches, and raising up leaders from within them to repeat the process. This is happening in every different location in Haiti. As these churches gather in homes, under trees, and everywhere, we are seeing new leaders and teams being raised up from the harvest. 

A great example of this is Joshua Jorge, one of our team leaders. He is laboring for no place left in Ganthier, an area located in Southeast Haiti. Recently, he sent out two of his Timothies, Wiskensley and Renaldo, to an area called Anse-à-Pitres. Following the example of Luke 10, they went with no extra provisions and searched for a house of peace. They arrived and immediately began sharing the gospel house-to-house, asking the Lord to lead them to God-prepared people. After a few hours, they met a man in the street named Calixte. As they shared with him about the hope found only in Jesus, he received the gospel and gave his life to Jesus.

Wiskensley and Renaldo asked Calixte where he lived and he led them to his home. They entered the house, shared Jesus with his entire family and they all chose to follow Jesus that day. These two ambassadors spent the next four days with this family, training them and taking them out into the harvest to share with their neighbors. During those four days, 73 people turned and believed in Jesus, 50 of them were baptized, and they formed a new church in Calixte’s home. Wiskensley and Renaldo continued to return to train a few emerging leaders in simple, biblical, reproducible tools. Within just a few weeks, this new church had already multiplied into two other churches! Praise Jesus! 

My people have been physically and spiritually oppressed for generations. Haiti tells people, “You cannot follow Jesus until your life is clean.” They say, “Do not read the Bible because you will not understand it.” Jesus says, “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Now we are listening to Jesus. Haitians are finding freedom in the Gospel of Grace. As we follow Jesus’ Kingdom strategy given to us in the Gospels and in the book of Acts, being faithful to obey all of His commands, the Lord of the harvest is doing a great work. We are truly experiencing a movement of the Spirit of God. Thousands of Haitians are accepting their identity as ambassadors for Christ and thousands of new Jesus gatherings are being formed. We are not seeking to build our own kingdom, but giving away God’s Kingdom. And He is multiplying it!

We began implementing movement principles in February 2016. We are now tracking seven streams of 4th generation churches (and more) representing more than 3,000 new churches and 20,000 baptisms. 

10. Is the CPM approach against traditional churches?

God is using many kinds of churches to accomplish His purposes in the world. We are all parts of the Body of Christ and we need to honor each other. At the same time, church history and current global realities make this very clear: the Great Commission cannot be completed using only traditional church models. The amount of resources needed for a traditional Western-style church does not allow for Kingdom growth to exceed population growth. Also, cultural patterns from the Western world often make a poor medium for bringing the gospel to non-Westerners. And most of the world’s unreached peoples are non-Western. The primary push for CPMs is to reach those not being reached and unlikely to be reached by traditional church patterns. Simple and easily reproducible biblical patterns offer the best hope for bringing the gospel to all peoples. God is using patterns such as these to bring CPMs among the unreached. So for anyone serious about reaching the unreached in significant numbers, we strongly recommend ministry patterns aiming to catalyze a CPM.

1.  24:14? Who are you?

We are a coalition of like-minded individuals, practitioners and organizations who have made a commitment to a vision: seeing movements in every unreached people and place. Our initial goal is see effective kingdom movement engagement in every unreached people and place by December 31, 2025. We do this based on four values:

1. Reaching the unreached in line with Matthew 24:14 – bringing the gospel of the Kingdom to every unreached people and place.
2. Accomplishing this through Church Planting Movements, involving multiplying disciples, churches, leaders and movements.
3. Having a wartime sense of urgency to engage every unreached people and place with a movement strategy by the end of 2025.
4. Doing these things in collaboration with others.

2.  Why do you use the name 24:14?

Matthew 24:14 forms the cornerstone for this initiative. Jesus promised: “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations (ethnē), and then the end will come” (NIV). Our focus is to have the gospel go to every people group on earth. We long to be in the generation that finishes what Jesus began and what faithful workers before us have given their lives to. We know that Jesus waits to return until every people group has had an opportunity to respond to the gospel and become part of His Bride. 

3.  Are you setting 2025 as the year that all nations will be reached?

No, our goal is to engage every unreached people and place with an effective kingdom movement strategy by December 31, 2025. This means that a team (local or expat or combination) equipped in movement strategy will be on location in every unreached people and place. We make no claims about when the Great Commission task will be finished. That is God’s responsibility. He determines the fruitfulness of movements.

4.  Why do you feel such urgency in moving this forward?

2000 years have passed since Jesus spoke the Great Commission. 2 Peter 3:12 tells us to “hasten the day of his return.” Psalm 90:12 tells us to number our days. A group of 24:14 founders waited on the Lord and asked if we should set a deadline or not. We felt Him telling us that by setting an urgent deadline, we could make wiser use of our time and make the sacrifices needed to fulfill the vision.

5.  Are you trying to get all missions organizations to align around your strategy?

No, we recognize that God has called many churches, mission organizations and networks to specialized ministries. The 24:14 Coalition consists of people and organizations focused on catalyzing movements. Some have already done and are doing this; others are working toward that end. Various organizations and workers have unique methods and tools but we all share many of the same CPM distinctives. These are strategies based on applying in modern contexts patterns of disciple-making and church formation we see in the Gospels and the book of Acts.   

6.  There have been other attempts to get people to collaborate on finishing the Great Commission. What is different about 24:14?

24:14 builds on these other good initiatives. Some of the previous ones helped the global church reach certain milestones (e.g. adopting people groups). 24:14 aims to finish what others have started by catalyzing movements. These movements can reach entire people groups and places in a sustained manner. The 24:14 coalition partners with other networks such as Ethne, Finishing the Task, Global Alliance on Church Planting Multiplication (GACX), and Global Church Planting Network (GCPN). 24:14 is unique in being led by church planting movement leaders. And experience in movements (particularly among the unreached) has increased substantially in recent years. This has resulted in much-improved “best practices.”

7.  What is a “Church Planting Movement?”

A Church Planting Movement (CPM) is defined as the multiplication of disciples making disciples and leaders developing leaders. This results in indigenous churches planting churches. These churches begin to spread quickly through a people group or population segment. These new disciples and churches begin to transform their communities as the new Body of Christ lives out Kingdom values.

When churches reproduce consistently to four generations in multiple streams, the process becomes a sustaining movement. It may take years to begin. But once the first churches start, we usually see a movement reach four generations within three to five years. In additional, these movements themselves often reproduce new movements. More and more, CPMs are starting new CPMs within other people groups and population segments.

8.  What is your definition of church?

Acts 2:36-47.

There are a variety of definitions around the world. Yet most of these movements would agree on core elements in a definition of church. These are found in the description of the first church in Acts 2. In fact, many movements lead a newly baptized group of disciples to study Acts 2. They then begin to pray and work out how they can become this type of church. We encourage you to do this exercise with your own church.

These churches go on to study and apply many more aspects of being church from the New Testament. We encourage you to have a definition of church, no more and no less than the New Testament gives us.