Six lessons from James, Rick and Abood
Insights from a recent podcast.
1.Journey from ‘movement soup’ to movement reality.
Rick caught the vision years before he arrived in Beirut. He grasped the idea. To turn vision into reality he needed two additional elements:
Real field engagement.
A mentor who had seen multiplication.
Now Rick knows movements from the inside and is training and mentoring others.
2. God is in control
God rules over creation and history for his purposes. The best training and mentoring that Rick received could not change the receptivity of the Lebanese and Syrians he worked with.
Years of war and tyranny have changed the equation. People are tired of a religion that does not bring peace. They are ready to meet the Prince of Peace.
3. It is not how many disciples you train, but how many are training.
Notice the generations of disciple makers. James trained Rick, who trained Abood, who trained his disciples, who returned to Syria to multiply disciples and churches. The simple pattern of 100, 50, and zero fueled multiplication.
4. Discipleship takes time
Abood was a believer for three years and he’d never shared the gospel. He was making disciples among strangers long before he’s shared with his wife and family. He was afraid. With James’ encouragement, Rick persisted and the breakthroughs came.
5. Seize the opportunities
When the war erupted in Lebanon, Rick and Abood seized the opportunity to bring small groups of disciples together in safe houses to train and form churches.
When the Syrians fled home Abood seized the opportunity to visit and strengthen the disciples and churches.
6. Local ownership is the end-game
James and Rick decrease as their disciples increase. The local disciples have the vision, the skills and the ownership of the core missionary task.
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