What Happens in Three Days of Training?

What happens in three days of training?  It is impossible to describe all of the dynamics that take place as relationships are built, vision is extracted from the team, principles of church planting movements are taught and discovered through teaching, sharing, and case study exploration, team issues are dealt with, and personal issues often come to the forefront.

But just to provide a glimpse into one part of the outcome, here is a list that the team in Southern Mexico came up with that they intend to apply in order to produce greater fruitfulness in church planting:

1. Cast more seed: besides the medical clinics and the work program, we (this team) want to extend our efforts to connect with still more people.
2. Simplify and clarify our compelling vision to train church planters.
3. Help existing groups to begin multiplying. Use the practical training of helping them to tell their stories and develop their list of people to share with.
4. Pray and look for Persons of Peace more intentionally and more expectantly.
5. Go to pastors and see if there are any who would want to cooperate by having some of their members getting involved in starting new churches.
6. Increase our prayer focus.
7. Use discovery-based discipleship methods.
8. Use oral Bible story-telling.

This has been a fantastic group to work with and we are excited to partner with them and support them in every way that we can.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: Just two days after returning we received this wonderful story by email on the impact this training had:

We are so grateful for you guys! Thanks for taking the time to hang out with us, get into what God is doing here and providing the MUCH NEEDED encouragement and direction we needed. I believe we ALL feel VERY encouraged.

Regarding the Church Planting side of things you will enjoy this little glimpse of our trip to a village yesterday (about 1.5 hours from here and a bit remote)... We set up our Diabetic Clinic and did our screenings by a glucometer and many more came than before. BUT the exciting part was we met this family who came to Christ 10 years ago and they pretty much are the only Christians there. The husband (A Man of Peace) goes to another house to meet a family of believers about 1 hour away and another family he meets with another day  of the week.

We assured him that he didn't "need" a "church" he has one. I went back to work with more patients as Tony and Jenny spent another 1 hour plus praying with this couple and sharing the vision of planting churches DIRECTLY from your explanation of multiplication.  Then Tony used the story-telling tool to teach him from Scripture the story of the seven deacons sharing the responsibility.  Tony asked him to repeat the story. 

Then, this man replied that he could go other places and share the gospel and start churches if someone else did his part (like the seven deacons) and he was so excited that he didn't have to carry all the burden. They baptized them in the Holy Spirit and WE WILL BE ABLE TO RETURN as we have favor with the agent there and it was such an awesome day.
 
Anyway, we feel such freedom and how good God is to reveal to us what it looks like in action.