Movements Start Movements in South and Southeast Asia
– Originally posted in “Mission Frontiers Jan/Feb 2023”
The following article is reprinted from MF Jan Feb 2018.
By Kumar
In 1995 I started sharing the Gospel among unreached people and planting churches. My goal was to plant 100 churches by 2020. By 2007 I had planted 11 churches. Some people would consider that success, but I was devastated because I realized that at that rate, there was no way I would reach 100 churches by 2020. For two months I cried out to the Lord: “Show me the way to plant 100 churches!”. Then in mid-2007 I got invited to a training in “4 Fields Zero Budget Church Planting.”. I was only able to attend for one session, but that hour changed my life and ministry. I saw that Jesus equipped his disciples to multiply in a way that required zero outside funding.
I realized I had been planting traditional churches in which new believers were passively dependent on me. I saw that I needed instead to disciple new believers to share the Gospel, make disciples and form new churches. I started planting ” budget” churches, which began reproducing.
At first, only fourteen people-unschooled oral learners- came to faith. I trained those fourteen in my house over the course of one month. Since they all had regular jobs, different people would come on different days. It was really challenging, but the Lord told me not to give up. After they were trained, they went off to plant churches.
I saw that I needed instead to disciple new believers to share the Gospel, make disciples and form new churches.
Less than a year later, when I called them all together and did the mapping of the fruit, we had 100 churches!. Using the 4 Fields (CPM model) approach, we had reached the goal of 100 churches 12 years ahead of time!. I asked the Lord “Where should I go now?” He said, “Don’t go anywhere. Coach churches. Train the 100 churches to plant three more churches each.”. As I trained my local church leaders, they trained their people. Some churches planted five new churches. Others planted none. By the next year the network of 100 churches had grown to 422. We trained those churches to plant three more churches each. By the following year we had 1268 churches.
Then the Lord told me: “Cast vision to other churches.”. So I began to do this in other parts of the country. I told people, “Come and see what the Lord is doing; see how our believers live and serve.”. As people came and were trained, they multiplied to the third and fourth generation. I asked for 5000 and the Lord gave 5000. When I asked for 50,000, the Lord gave 50,000.
This movement is starting other new movements in three primary ways:
1. Believers with a vision for reaching their own people come to observe our work and receive ten days of training. Then they go back to start a movement.
2. We personally go to their countries since some cannot afford to come to our location. First we do an initial training, then I invite some of them to a second training where I do 50% of the training and they do 50%. Then for the third training, I coach them to do all the training. I then follow up with ongoing coaching of those who have implemented the training principles. Every three months, we try to call them and see how it’s going. Then we go back to follow up. We keep doing follow-up in different countries on a quarterly rotation.
3. Finally, we cast vision to coalitions of partners for “no place left” in their regions. For follow-up training, we send master trainers (people who understand the whole model and can train others to start movements) to equip them.
As people came and were trained, they multiplied to the third and fourth generation.
We have now engaged 56 previously Unengaged UPGs. We have ministry in almost every state of our country, and the work has spread to 12 countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia. We have developed 150 master trainers in our country. I’m very encouraged by 24:14 to learn that I’m not alone; I’m on the right track. Others in 24:14 are also seeing great fruit and have a similar vision. Our network’s goal fits with that of the 2414 Coalition: We want to see no place left without a Gospel witness by 2025.
Kumar was raised as a temple builder, the son of a non-Christian priest. After over a decade of planting traditional churches, he began using a reproducing model and God has worked through Kumar and many others to plant thousands of churches in the past ten years.