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Multiplying Movements – Initiation and Cross Pollination, Part 2

Multiplying Movements – Initiation and Cross Pollination, Part 2

By Benny –

Edited from a video for Global Assembly of Pastors for Finishing the Task

In part one of this blog, I shared three stages and three keys the Lord has used to encourage cycles of multiplication in our movements. In this post, I would like to share…

Three Factors Supporting Movement Multiplication

 

What factors support the multiplication of movements? I will mention three factors: patterns, potential and teams of leaders. First, patterns. Simple patterns. Patterns that are taught and repeated again and again. Patterns that are imitated by the next generation of believers. In the Scriptures, we often see that Jesus created a model which he repeated, then taught to his disciples in the same way. Paul, an apostle of Jesus said: “Imitate me as I imitate Jesus the Messiah.” Movement leaders need clear patterns to do their ministry effectively. They need patterns they can transfer to leaders in the next generations. Patterns help a movement stay on track. This is especially important in maintaining purity of teaching from the Bible. 

 

We discover patterns by doing research, then experimenting in different contexts for limited time periods. Then we evaluate the effectiveness of the patterns. We train people in the patterns that prove useful, so they can be used in other areas. 

 

One very helpful pattern is fruit tracking (which we call “egg management,” because the circles in the chart look like eggs). We train leaders in how to track their fruit: to write down their fruit data in a standard format. Every quarter we gather data from leaders: those in the most recent generations up to the leaders in the highest generations. We train and mentor these leaders to analyze several indicators within the standard data. This helps them improve their leadership.  

 

The second factor in multiplying movements is potential. One of the challenges movement leaders must face is discovering the people with the most potential and developing them to be productive and effective. Because of this we must be aggressive in finding persons of peace, who can give access to their social networks. And we must be aggressive in finding people with potential to fill the leadership roles needed in a movement. I have discovered at least 12 different roles in a movement: 

  1. Leaders who carry out leadership responsibilities entrusted to them. 
  2. Apostolic agents from a variety of professions and social statuses, who carry the DNA of movements and start movements in new areas. 
  3. Researchers who research and analyze what they discover. 
  4. Counselors and mentors who come alongside others to help them discover answers to their problems. 
  5. Facilitators who coordinate various community development activities. 
  6. Spiritual teachers who love the word of God and discover and share its spiritual principles. They call others to live their lives according to the Scriptures. 
  7. Trainers who help others improve their skills. 
  8. Administrators who manage various administrative tasks. 
  9. Media creators who are imaginative, creative, and innovative in making media content. 
  10. Donors who provide financial support or other kinds of resources. 
  11. Intercessors who dedicate time and attention to prayer. 
  12. Catalyzers who connect people within various networks. 

 

I want to make special note of the role of the apostolic agent. A person with this apostolic gifting can extend a movement into other unreached people groups. They can live cross-culturally, understand the DNA of movements, and apply movement dynamics in a new cultural context. 

 

You also need to be aggressive in using various multi-purpose community development programs that support your spiritual ministry. 

 

Have you found people who can fill these kinds of roles within your movement? What will you do to maximize them? What would be the benefit of working with people who fill these roles? 

 

The third factor in multiplying movements is teams of leaders. The backbone of movement progress is maximizing leadership potential in multiple teams. Make every effort to weave your leaders together from the beginning, so strong brotherhood bonds develop between them. Weaving brotherhood bonds begins with the leaders of the first through the third generations to form a leader’s group over each cluster (10 or 15 groups). Next a brotherhood bond is woven between leaders of clusters to form a leader’s group over each small region (3 or more clusters). As a movement grows geographically and increases the quantity of fruit, you’ll need to form the top leaders into a leaders’ group over a wide region (3 or more small regions). At first your leaders’ meetings may not have a clear agenda, but eventually the leaders must become aware of the needs that must be addressed in each meeting.

 

The agenda of leaders’ groups includes:

  • Prayer 
  • Study of God’s word, using the Seven Questions
  • Sharing stories about ministry development and challenges they are facing
  • Giving presentations about experiments they are trying and their results 
  • Strategic planning together
  • Using coaching circles to help leaders address a current challenge 
  • Celebrating what you can celebrate. 
  • Giving sympathy to leaders who share bad news.
  • At the end of a leaders meeting give them a challenge. (For example, over the next three months try breaking ground in three new areas.)

 

Regularly scheduled meetings of leaders’ groups at the cluster, small region, and wide region levels should become a greenhouse. The greenhouse of a leaders’ group over one movement plants movement DNA with the potential to birth new movements in other unreached people groups (or even other nations). Leaders’ meetings help leaders to sharpen and empower one another. Leaders’ groups become places to grow and develop the capacity of your leaders. 



Questions for discussion with others in your ministry

Patterns: 

  1. What difficulties do you face in discovering good patterns? 
  2. Do local leaders replicate good patterns into the next generation? 
  3. Which of your ministry patterns are most effective or productive? 
  4. What other patterns do local leaders still need? 

 

Potential in your leadership team: 

  1. Who do you have in your Ring 1 (the top leaders you rely on)? How do you maximize your Ring 1 leaders? 
  2. Of the twelve roles mentioned, which roles are being done by your Ring 1 leaders? Which roles are not being done by them? What will you do to find people who can play these roles? 

 

Teams of leaders: 

  1. What leadership model sounds most like your ministry? 
    1. Centralized leadership: One or more top leaders are responsible for most of the ministry. 
    2. Shared leadership: A top leader is responsible for a limited number of people and issues. Three or more leaders share responsibilities in leadership teams. Multiple leadership teams are over different areas and generations. 
  2. How do these two different models influence how leadership happens? How is movement expansion impacted by each model? 
  3. In what ways do teams of leaders act as greenhouses that transfer movement DNA to new unreached people groups?

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