9 300 CHURCHES PLANTED!

Less than three years ago, thirty tired farmers sat down to listen to a supposedly crazy missionary. The result is one of the most astonishing developments in mission in recent church history: the gathering started a movement in an East Asian nation through which over 9 300 new churches have been planted. Over 104 000 people have been baptized. What happened? "It was a long day," reports Baptist Press' Erich Bridges. Tired from their fields, thirty farmers sat in a small church - the smallest of three in a region with 700 000 inhabitants - listening to 'John', a Southern Baptist missionary. John told them about his vision of planting at least one church in each of the region's two hundred towns and villages in the next three years. The farmers looked at each other, then stared at the missionary as though he had lost his mind. "Each of you can start by beginning a family Bible study at home," said John. "But how can we do that?" they asked. "Who will teach the Bible?" "You are the teachers!" John replied. Frowning and shaking their heads, the farmers objected "But we don't know how." John then told them to say their own story out loud five times, then tell it to one of the others. He then told them to make a list of all their acquaintances who did not yet know Jesus, starting with their own relatives. "Divide these people into groups of five, and invite the groups to your house. Then tell them your story." John returned two weeks later to find out what had happened. Only eleven of the thirty had told others their story. He asked them to tell of their experiences, to encourage the other nineteen. John then challenged the 'silent nineteen' to tell their story to the people on their list, or to stop coming to the meetings. He taught the others a number of simple Biblical lessons which they could teach others. In January 2001, after only two months, twenty small groups had been started. Four months later, the number had already reached 327 small groups totalling around 4 000 newly-baptized believers in seventeen towns. By the end of the year, over 12 000 new believers were meeting in 908 house churches. "We don't teach teachers, we train trainers," John explains. One generation teaches a second, and the second teaches a third. Someone can train one group on Monday, another on Wednesday and a third on Thursday. One old farmer took up the challenge, planting over 100 new churches in one year. He gets up at 05:00 each morning, reads the Bible and prays for two hours, works in his fields until 17:00, then spends time with his family. At 19:00 he goes out again - "this time to God's field, until midnight" as he says. What were the keys to these developments? Prayer (John points to the worn-out knees); passion; a clear vision of the aim; simple training concepts which can be passed on; people who are willing to be trained; commitment; no fear of suffering; signs and wonders, and the openness of people who are insecure and in crisis. - Source: Baptist Press