Church Planting

New Tribe Mission, Used with permission

 

PURPOSE

The Church Planting: Application to Field course assists students in organizing church planting principles and procedures, and in applying them to a particular field and tribal group.

DESCRIPTION

The Church Planting: Application to Field course consists of instructor-guided discussion, following daily outlines, student-led small group discussions, with in-class reporting, and daily home work considering activities involved in each of five church planting stages.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

Upon completion of Church Planting: Application to Field, students will be able to organize and apply church planting principles and procedures to a specific church planting context.

STARTING QUESTION: Will you be joining an existing work? Will you be forming a new team to open a new work?

PRE-EVANGELISM

• Describe and explain the activities you will be doing, who, when, where, how and why you will be doing them.

TRIBAL TEAM CONSTITUENCY

• How many units will comprise your team? Why?
• Who will make up your team? Married people? With or without children? What ages? Single folk? Men or women?
• Will nationals or tribal Christians be a part of your initial team?
• Will your team be all new missionaries, or will you be joining an existing team?

MOVE-IN

• Before, during or after linguistic survey and dialect checks, phonetic warm up, mapping the village, house census, genealogies? Why?
• Will all the units move in at once? Why or why not?
• Will your entire family move in at once? Why or why not?

HOUSING

• Will you build a house right away? Why or why not? Before, during or after linguistic survey and dialect checks, phonetic warm up, mapping the village, house census, genealogies? Why?
• Rent first? How long? Why or why not?
• Live with a tribal family? How long? Why or why not?

WHERE WILL YOU BUILD/LIVE?

• Tribal Team in close proximity? Why or why not?
• In the village or outside? Why or why not?
• Right among the tribal people, or some distance from them? Why or why not?

TEAM RELATIONSHIP

• What type of relationships would you like to cultivate with fellow team members? Why?
• How do plan or expect to cultivate these types of relationships?
• Who do expect to take initiative in developing these relationships?
• When will you begin?
• What would you like to see in these relationships?
• What expectations do you have regarding these relationships?
• What do you think they may expect of you?
• What part, if any, do you see "responsibility", "accountability", "obedience", "submission" and "grace" playing in all of this?

TEAM FUNCTION

• How would you like to see your team functioning?
• How do you expect this to come about?
• Who do you expect to take initiative in your team?
• Will you have team meetings? Formal or informal? How often? Where? What type of format? Will the ladies be included? Will some one take notes? How will you make decisions?
• What part, if any, do you see "responsibility", "accountability", "obedience", "submission" and "grace" playing in all of this?

TEAM PROPERTY/POSSESSIONS/PROJECTS, etc.

• Do expect to have Team properties, possession, projects, etc. ? (In NTM most tribal ministries are funded through the personal accounts of NTM tribal missionaries, these often become "Tribal Team" projects involving properties, possessions, funds, etc. Some of these would include: Medical Programs, Publication of Scripture and Lesson Materials, Airstrips (mowers, etc.), Boats, Vehicles, SSB Radios, etc.)
• If so, who will administer, oversee and maintain these things?
• How will they be funded?
• Who will use these things? Missionaries only? Tribal workers and co-workers? Tribal and National? Friends of the missionaries? Government Leaders? Church Leaders?
• Who will cover the costs of usage, repairs, damage and bodily injury? Who is liable? Example: Plane and airstrip: Who can ride the plane? When? On what basis? Who pays? How much do they pay? Can religious groups resisting or opposing your presence and ministry use the plane to come in and "minister"?

TEAM JOB DESCRIPTIONS

• Will you have Job Descriptions for all Team Members (including wives)?
• Who will make up the Job Descriptions?
• How will you decide who will be doing what jobs?
• How often will you update this?
• Will you have Consultant or Field Leadership help on this?
• What part, if any, do you see "responsibility", "accountability", "obedience", "submission" and "grace" playing in all of this?

TEAM PLANNING and SCHEDULING

• Will you be doing Team Planning and Scheduling? Why or Why not?
• How will this be done?
• Who will do it?
• When will you begin?
• How often will you update?
• What about Furloughs? School Breaks? Visitors? Time out of the tribe?

LANGUAGE and CULTURE: GENERAL

• How many members of the team will learn language and culture?
• What is the minimum degree of fluency you will attain?
• How long do you expect it will take you to reach this degree of fluency?
• What method or approach will you take?
• Who will make up the lessons or course?
• When will you begin? Before or after "moving in" to the tribe? Why? Before, during or after building your house? Why?
• Will you study with your spouse and fellow team members or predominantly by yourself?
• Will you have native language helpers/informants?
• What percentage of your learning time will be spent with native speakers?
• How will you schedule and prioritize your study time?
• Which is more important: Learning Culture or Language? Why?

LANGUAGE and CULTURE CONSULTANTS

• Would you like help from consultants if available? Why or why not?
• If so, when do you think that should begin? How often? Where? What type of help?
• Who will pay the cost of consultant visits?
• Would you like help from fellow Team members, if they are able to help?

DICTIONARY

• Who will do this? How many team members will be involved?
• When will work on this begin?
• Why do it? What is the purpose?

LINGUISTICS

• Who will do this? How many team members will be involved?
• What is involved?
• Why do it? What is the purpose?
• When will this begin?
• Would you like Consultant help, if available?

LITERACY

• Who will develop the literacy materials? How many team members will be involved?
• What is involved?
• Why do it? What is the purpose?
• When will you begin developing materials?
• Will you want Consultant help with this?
• When will you begin teaching Literacy?
• Who will teach literacy? How many groups will the missionaries teach? How many villages?
• Will you involve tribal people in teaching literacy? Why or Why not? If so, how will you train them? When will you begin training them?

TRANSLATION

• Who will do this? How many team members will be involved?
• What is involved?
• Why do it? What is the purpose?
• When will this begin?
• What will you translate first? Why?
• Would you like help from consultants? Why or why not?
• If so, when do you think that should begin? How often? Where? What type of help?
• Who will pay the cost of consultant visits?
• Would you like help from fellow Team members, if they are able to help?
• How much of the Scripture are you planning to translate? Why?
• How many years do think this will take?

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

• Who will do this?
• What is involved?
• Why do it? What is the purpose?
• When will this begin? Why?
• What types of lessons and materials will you develop?
• For Whom will you develop Teaching lessons and materials? (Yourself? Fellow Team Members? Tribal Teachers?)
• What audience(s) will you target? (Adults? How old? Young people? Children?)
• Will you train tribal people to develop teaching lessons and materials? Why or Why not? If so, when will you begin training them? How long do think it will take to train them?

RELATIONSHIP WITH TRIBAL PEOPLE

• What kind of relationships will you form with the tribal people?
• When will you begin forming these relationships?
• How can we develop good relationships with them?
• Why is this important?
• How will you handle offenses between yourself and the tribal people? When you offend them? When they offend you?
• Will you experience culture shock? How will you handle it? Will you seek help?

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

• Who will do this?
• What is involved?
• Why do it? What is the purpose?
• When will this begin? Why?
• What types of community development will you do? Will you do anything the tribal people or government asks you to do? What types will you not do?
• Who will decide what projects you will do? How will that be decided?
• How will these projects be financed? Will the tribal people contribute anything?
• Who will make these decisions? On what basis will they be made?
• Who will be responsible for the outcome (good or bad)? Who will be given credit?
• Who will be held liable?
• Will these projects be limited to the village you are living in or will you include surrounding villages as well? How far away will you go with these projects?
• Will these projects be done for the entire community or only for believers? What about the groups who may resist or oppose you and your message?
• If you help the Christians build their churches, will you help the Muslims build Mosques?

MEDICAL WORK

• Who will do this? How many missionaries will be involved with this?
• What is involved?
• Why do it? What is the purpose?
• When will this begin? Why?
• What types of medical work will you do? Will you do anything the tribal people of government asks you to do? What types will you not do?
• Who will decide what medical work you will do? Who will set the guidelines? How will that be decided?
• How will the medical work be financed? Will the tribal people pay anything? Will you allow them to incur debt? Who will make these decisions? On what basis will they be made?
• Who will be responsible for the outcome (good or bad)? Who will be given credit? Who will be held liable?
• Will medical work be limited to the village you are living in or will you include surrounding villages as well? How far will you go? Will you go to them or have them come to you?
• Will you provide medical help for the entire community or only for believers? What about the groups who may resist or oppose you and your message?
• Will you seek to indiginize the medical work? If so, how will you do this? When will you begin? Will you train the tribal people to do medical work? Will you train only Christians or non-Christians as well? Will you train those who oppose your presence and ministry?

RELATIONSHIP WITH:

• Village leaders and government officials.
• Other Missions or other churches working in the area.
• Roman Catholic priests.
• Commercial or business groups working in the area.
• Anthropologists.
• Tourists.
• Terrorists or anti-government forces.

 

OUTLINE FOR CHURCH PLANTING SESSIONS

PURPOSE

• What is the main goal and purpose for Chronological Teaching Phase I: "Creation To Christ"
• Why teach chronologically? Why not use other teaching programs or methods of evangelism?

INITIATING PHASE I TEACHING: GENERAL

• When should we begin teaching Phase I ?
• What factors need to be in place before beginning our "formal" teaching of Phase 1? Have we done our "homework" in each area? Have we planned ahead?
• What if we have not done our homework and planning well?

LESSONS

• How many lessons are completed and ready to teach?
• Are they idiomatic and culturally appropriate? Do they include culturally appropriate illustrations, proverbs, idiomatic expressions, comparisons, etc.?
• Do you have sufficient copies for all your teachers?
• Have you "test" taught them?
• Are they "User Friendly"?

SCRIPTURE

• Do you have all the Scripture portions for Phase I completed (at least "teaching draft"?)
• Do you have sufficient copies for all your teachers?
• Have they been "tested"?

 

VISUAL AIDS

• What types of visual aids are you planning to use?
• Do you have these prepared and ready to go?
• Are they culturally appropriate?
• Can the tribal people "read" them and understand them?
• What types of visual aids do they use when explaining things?
• Are you planning to use any native or indigenous visual aids?

TEACHERS

• Who will be teaching Phase I for the first time? How many will be teaching?
• Will you be doing "Team Teaching"?
• Do you have sufficient teachers? Are you planning for sickness or other absences?

PREPARATION/TRAINING

• Are your teachers well prepared? Have they taught before?
• Have they taught chronologically before?
• Are they familiar with this material?
• Have they had experience teaching these tribal people anything before this?
• Do we know how the tribal people "teach" each other?
• Do we know how the tribal people "learn" from each other?
• Have you had any "full dress" practice teaching sessions teaching this material to anyone (fellow missionaries, native helpers and informants)?

PLANNING AND SCHEDULING

• How long will Phase I run? How many weeks or months?
• How many times a day will you teach? What time(s) of day?
• How many times a week? What day(s) of the week?
• How did you arrive at this schedule?
• Were your fellow missionaries involved in planning this?
• Are they comfortable with this plan?
• Were the tribal people involved? How does this fit their daily, weekly, monthly and yearly schedule and cycle?
• Are they comfortable with it? Do they think it will work?
• Have they planned ahead? Will they have enough to eat and have time to do the other things they need to do to live?
• Have you had help or input from a consultant or veteran missionaries who have had experience doing this before? Are they comfortable with your plan?

POTENTIAL AUDIENCE

• How many people will be studying this first time?
• How many would like to study?
• Where are they from? (Part of the village? Entire village? Several villages?)
• Will they all gather together in one place, or will their be several smaller groups?
• Should you teach them all together, or try to have several smaller groups?
• Do they ever have large group gatherings? On what occasions and for what purpose?
• Would it be appropriate to gather a large group together for this purpose, or would it be best to meet in smaller groups? What do they feel most comfortable with?
• How large a group can you (and your teachers) teach at one time?
• Would it be more effective to teach several smaller groups?
• Will men, women and children all gather in one place? Do they ever do this? On what occasions and for what purposes?
• Would it be appropriate for men, women and children to meet together to learn?

TEACHING SETTING

• Where will you teach phase I? Indoors? Outdoors? In their homes? In missionary homes? In a special structure for this purpose?
• Do they ever have large group meetings? Do they ever "teach" large groups?
• Where do they meet? For what occasions or purpose do they meet?
• Would their meeting places be appropriate for this type of meeting?

TEAM RELATIONSHIP

• How will you maintain good team relationships with the added pressures and responsibilities?
• How important are team relationships to you?
• Will you cut back, maintain or add to your times of prayer, fellowship and social interaction with your team?

TEAM FUNCTION

• How will your team function during this time?
• Will you re-evaluate and adjust your team function or try to maintain the same function you had?
• Are you beginning to see each others spiritual engiftments and God given abilities?
• Are you taking those into consideration as you function and work together?
• How are you functioning? Dependent upon each other? Independently of each other? Inter-dependently?
• Do you "feel" threatened or intimidated by each other?
• Are you excited about doing this job together from that which "every part supplies"?

TEAM JOB DESCRIPTIONS

• Will you re-evaluate and re-define job descriptions for this stage of ministry?
• What part, if any, does spiritual engiftment and God given ability have to do with "jobs" we do?
• Are you beginning to see each other's spiritual engiftments and God given abilities?
• Are you taking those into consideration as you work out job descriptions for each team member?
• What if someone want to take on responsibility in an area for which they don’t seem to have engiftment or ability?
• What if someone who seems to have the spiritual engiftment or God given ability but does not want to take on that responsibility?
• What, if anything, does "a burden" or "calling" have to do with any of this?
• Will you have Consultant or Field Leadership help on this?
• What part, if any, do you see "responsibility", "accountability", "obedience", "submission" and "grace" playing in all of this?

TEAM PLANNING AND SCHEDULING

• Will you be doing team planning and scheduling? Why or why not?
• How often will you update?
• What about furloughs? School breaks? Visitors? Time out of the tribe?

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

• What degree of fluency have we achieved to date? Is it sufficient for teaching Phase 1?
• In our study of their culture, have we discovered how they teach each other? What are their teaching styles? What are their favorite teaching styles? When and how do they use these? Have we taken this into consideration as we have made up our Phase I lessons and decided on the teaching styles we will use teaching Phase I? Do they take a place of prominence when they "teach"? What is their posture or stance when teaching (sitting? standing?)?
• Are we able to speak idiomatically? Can we use the common everyday "proverbs", illustrations, comparisons appropriate to their culture?
• Are we able to understand and "read" their responses and evaluate their comprehension of what we are saying?
• Are they able to understand us when we speak with them in everyday life?

LANGUAGE and CULTURE CONSULTANTS

1. Would you like help from consultants if available?
2. Will you continue studying language and culture during this time? Why or why not?
3. How many team members will continue studying language and culture? Why or why not?
4. What methods and procedures will you use?
5. How will you schedule this in?
6. Would you like help from consultants if available?

DICTIONARY

• Will you continue work on the dictionary file?
• How many team members will do this? Who will do it? Why?

LINGUISTICS

• Will you continue work on Linguistics during this time?
• What will you be working on? Why? For what purposes?
• Who will do this?

LITERACY

• Have you taught literacy before this? What percent of your potential studiers can read?
• How important is it that at least some can read and write by this time?
• Will the literacy program continue? Why or why not?
• If so, who will teach it? When, where and to whom?

TRANSLATION

• What will you have translated before teaching Phase I? Why? Will it be printed and in the hands of the people? Why or why not? Will they use it during the teaching sessions?
• How will it be distributed?
• Who will pay for it?
• Will you give it out free? Subsidize?
• Who will distribute it?
• What will you be translating during evangelism? Why?
• What will you translate after that?
• Who will be doing this?
• Will the translator(s) also be teaching Phases I? If not, will they attend the teaching sessions?

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

• Will you have phase I teaching lessons completed before beginning to teach phase I? Why or why not?
• What form will they be in? Rough notes? Teaching draft in tribal language? Will they be printed? Who will have copies?
• For whom will the lessons be prepared? For you personally? For you and fellow missionaries? With future tribal teachers in mind?
• Will you continue making lessons during while teaching phase I? Why or why not?
• If so, what lessons will you be working on?
• What lessons will you work on after that?
• Who will be making the lessons?
• Will the tribal people be involved? Why or why not? If so, When? How? Who? To what extent? What is our goal in involving them?

RELATIONSHIP WITH TRIBAL PEOPLE

• Will you continue working on relationships with the tribal people?
• How will you do this during this time?
• Who will do it? How many team members will do it? Why?
• What will you do when problems arise? How will you handle them? When they offend you? When you offend them?

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

• Will you continue with community development projects during this time? Why or why not? If so, what types?
• Who will handle this area? How many missionaries will be involved?

MEDICAL WORK

• Will you continue the medical program during this time? Why or why not?
• Who will handle this? How many missionaries will be involved?

MISCELLANEOUS

• Relationship with:
1. Village leaders and government officials.
2. Other missions or other churches working in the area.
3. Commercial or business groups working in the area.
4. Anthropologists.
5. Tourists.
6. Terrorists or anti-government forces.

 

TEACHING AND DISCIPLESHIP:
EQUIPPING THE DEVELOPING CHURCH

Our major focus during this time is teaching and grounding the infant church, discipling, equipping and training believers in ministry. Describe and explain the activities you will be doing, who, when, where, how and why you will be doing them.

What are you expecting to happen through teaching phase one of the chronological teaching program?

GENERAL

• How will you know who has trusted Christ and who hasn’t? How will you find out?
• How will you determine if they are understanding and believing the Gospel? Who will do this? When? Where?

REVIEW: WHAT IS THE GOSPEL? For justification? (Define and explain - I Cor. 15:1-8)

• How does a person become a child of God?
• Just what is it that a person must know, understand and believe in order to be saved from eternal punishment in hell to eternal life with God?
• What if it doesn’t happen that way? What if no one makes a profession of faith? What if only a few make professions of faith?
• What if many people make professions of faith? Then what?
• What will you do next? Will you be prepared? Will you have your "homework" done?

AFTER TEACHING PHASE ONE (the first time), WHAT THEN? (Chart all this out on the board as you discuss it.)

• What are you trusting God to see happen in and through the lives of these new believers? (Growth, spiritual reproduction, needs, problems, etc.)
• What if they do start sharing the Gospel with others? What if others in the village ask to be taught? What if other villages begin asking to be taught?
• Who will teach phase I to the new folks asking to be taught? Missionaries or new believers?
• If the new believers, than who will train them to teach? How will you train them to teach others? Who will develop teaching materials for them to use in teaching?
• What about those who went through all of phase I but haven’t made a clear profession of faith? Will you teach them phase I again? Who will do this? When will you do all this? (Make a schedule)

WHAT IF THE NEW BELIEVERS DON’T SHARE THE GOSPEL WITH OTHERS?

• What if there is no interest or response?

WHAT ARE YOU TRUSTING GOD TO SEE HAPPEN IN THE LIVES OF THESE NEW BELIEVERS? (Make a list together.)

• How do you expect to see these things come about?
• Who will teach them? (Just the missionaries???)
• How? (In class? In Church meetings? In Life???)
• Where? (In what "contexts" do expect to see this take place?)
• When? (Scheduling)

WHAT ABOUT BAPTISM?

• When will you baptize the new believers? How soon after their profession? Will you prepare them in some way for baptism? Will you teach them what baptism is and is not? Do they have any previous knowledge of "baptism" through their own culture or the influence or knowledge of other religious groups in the area?
• How will they "read" or understand baptism? How will the non-Christian community understand it?
• What about those who studied through Phase I but do not have a clear profession of faith? What effect will this have on them?
• Who will baptize them? When? Where? How? (What method or form?)
• Who will decide all this?

WHAT ABOUT "BELIEVERS MEETINGS"?

• When will you begin having "believers meetings"?
• Will you have "believers only"? If so, how will you see this come about? What about the unbelievers who desire to meet with you? Will you have a separate meeting for them?
• Where will these groups meet? (In missionaries home? In tribal home? Outside? In some existing building? Build a building?)
• How will they conduct their meetings? What type of format will they have? What will their meetings consist of? What will be the focus? (Teaching? Worship? Fellowship?)
• Will they sing at their meetings? Where will they get their songs and music? (Translate from English? Translate from national language? Develop their own?)
• When will the believers meet together? How often?
• Will the missionaries attend these meetings?
• What part, if any, will the missionaries take in these meetings?
• Who will make all these decisions? Will the tribal believers be involved in the decision making process?

WHAT ABOUT "MAKING DISCIPLES"?

• When will you begin making disciples?
• What does it mean to "make disciples? What is involved?
• What is a "disciple"?

• How do we make disciples? How did Jesus make disciples? How did Paul make disciples?

WHAT ABOUT LEADERSHIP TRAINING?

• When will you begin training leaders?
• What types of leaders will you train? (Local church? Inter-church? Beyond?)
• What is involved?
• When (schedule), where (context) and how (method) will you do this?
• Who will do it?
• How long will this take?
• Will you entrust them with responsibility? If so, when?
• Will you ordain, commission or set them apart for ministry both locally and beyond?
• If so, when will you do this? On what basis or criteria?
• Who will make these decisions? (Missionary teachers? Missionary team? Will Field Leadership be involved? Will the tribal people be involved in the process?)
• How (method) will you commission, ordain or set them apart?
• Will there be some type of ceremony?
• Who will do this? Where will it be done? When?
• What is the purpose? What do we want to result from all of this? Will it really make any difference if they are commissioned, ordained or set-apart?

TEAM RELATIONSHIP

• How will you maintain good team relationships with the added pressures and responsibilities?
• How important are team relationships to you?
• Will you cut back, maintain or add to your times of prayer, fellowship and social interaction with your team?
• What about your tribal co-workers? (Church Leaders? Teachers? Church Planters? Do you "assimilate" them into your missionary team? Do you form another, larger, Team including them? Do the missionaries have their team and the tribal folks their own team?
• Which, if any, of these relationships should take priority or precedence: your relationships to missionary co-workers or to tribal co-workers?
• How will you "balance" your relationships with missionaries and tribal co-workers so that one does not take precedent over the other?

TEAM FUNCTION

• How will your team function during this time?
• Will you reevaluate and adjust your team function or try to maintain the same function you had?
• Are you recognizing see each others spiritual engiftments and God given abilities?
• Are you supporting and facilitating one another in these as you function and work together?
• How are you functioning? Dependent upon each other? Independently of each other? Inter-dependently?
• Do you "feel" threatened or intimidated by each other?
• Are you excited about doing this job together from that which "every part supplies"?

TEAM PROPERTY/POSSESSIONS/PROJECTS, etc.

• How are you handling these areas?
• What about "indigenizing" some of them and entrusting them to the tribal people?
• If you decide to do this, how will you do it?

TEAM JOB DESCRIPTIONS

• Will you reevaluate and redefine job descriptions for this stage of ministry?
• What part, if any, does spiritual engiftment and God given ability have to do with "jobs" we do?
• Are you recognizing each others spiritual engiftments and God given abilities? How do we discover our spiritual engiftments?
• Are you taking those into consideration as you work out job descriptions for each team member?
• What if someone wants to take on responsibility in an area for which they don’t seem to have engiftment or ability?
• What if someone who seems to have the spiritual engiftment or God given ability does not want to take on that responsibility?
• What, if anything, does "a burden" or "calling" have to do with any of this?
• Will you have Consultant or Field Leadership help on this?
• What part, if any, do you see "responsibility", "accountability", "obedience", "submission" and "grace" playing in all of this?

TEAM PLANNING and SCHEDULING

• Will you be doing team planning and scheduling? Why or why not?
• How often will you update?
• What about Furloughs? School Breaks? Visitors? Time out of the tribe?
• Who will be involved in planning and scheduling? Will you include the wives? Will you plan together with the tribal church leaders, teachers and church planters?

LANGUAGE and CULTURE

• What degree of fluency have we achieved to date? Is it sufficient for teaching and discipleship?
• Are we able to speak idiomatically? Can we use the common everyday "proverbs", illustrations, comparisons appropriate to their culture?

• Are we able to understand and "read" their responses and evaluate their comprehension of what we are saying?
• Are they able to understand us when we speak with them in everyday life?
• Are continuing to actively study their culture and learn how they view life?
• Are we able to recognize when they are assimilating God’s Word and applying it correctly in their every day lives?
• Do we understand the Major Themes in their culture?
• Are we recognizing areas of syncretism or potential syncretism with their culture and God’s Word?
• Are we able to effectively apply God’s Word and do comparative and contrastive teaching in areas where their culture and God’s Word are in conflict?

LANGUAGE and CULTURE CONSULTANTS

• Will you continue studying Language and Culture during this time? Why or Why not?
• How many team members will continue studying Language and Culture? Why or Why not?
• What methods and procedures will you use?
• How will you schedule this in?
• Would you like help from consultants if available? Will you ask for consultant help? Will you receive consultant help?

DICTIONARY

• Will you continue work on the Dictionary File?
• How many team members will do this? Who will do it? Why?

LINGUISTICS

• Will you continue work on Linguistics during this time?
• What will you be working on? Why? For what purposes?
• Who will do this?

LITERACY

• Will the Literacy Program continue? Why or why not?
• If so, who will teach it? When, where and to whom?
• What percentage of your "potential audience" would you like to have literate? What ages?
• What is your plan for seeing this accomplished? Do you have adequate materials and teachers prepared?
• Is your literacy program preceding the evangelism and church planting into new areas?
• Who is responsible for the literacy program? (Missionaries? Tribal Church? Shared?)
• Who is teaching literacy? Who is training the teachers?
• Is it dependent upon the missionaries?
• Will you indiginize it? If so, how?

TRANSLATION

• What will you have translated by this time? Why? Will it be printed and in the hands of the people? Why or why not? Will they use it during the teaching sessions?
• How will it be distributed?
• Who will pay for it?
• Will you give it out free? Subsidize?
• Who will distribute it? Will the tribal people be involved? Will you indiginize this? Will you entrust them with this area?
• What will you be translating during next? Why?
• What will you translate after that?
• Who will be doing this?
• What involvement, if any, will the translator(s) have in teaching and discipleship? What are some areas he/she could be teaching and discipling people in?

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

• What lessons and teaching materials will you be developing during this time? Why? What form will they be in? Rough notes? Teaching draft in Tribal Language? Will they be printed? Who will have copies? What lessons will you work on after that?
• Who will be making the lessons?
• Will the tribal people be involved? Why or why not? If so, When? How? Who? To what extent? What is our goal in involving them?
• Are you planning to "indigenize" curriculum development? If so, when? How? If not, why not?

RELATIONSHIP WITH TRIBAL PEOPLE

• Will you continue working on relationships with the tribal people?
• How will you do this during this time?
• Who will do it? How many team members will do it? Why?
• What will you do when problems arise? How will you handle them? When they offend you? When you offend them?

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

• Will you continue with community development projects during this time? Why or why not? If so, what types?
• Who will handle this area? How many missionaries will be involved?
• How long will missionaries continue with community development?
• Are you planning to "indigenize" this entire ministry? If so, when? How?

MEDICAL WORK

• Will you continue the medical program during this time? Why or why not?
• Who will handle this? How many missionaries will be involved?
• How long will missionaries continue with the Medical work?
• Are you planning to "indigenize" this entire ministry? If so, when? How?

RELATIONSHIPS WITH:

1. Village leaders and government officials.
1. Do you know these people? What type of relationship do you have with them?
2. Do your churches and church leaders know them? What type of relationship do they have?
3. What type of relationship and interaction should your churches and leaders have with them?
4. What are you doing to foster this?
5. Do these local officials know and recognize these churches and church leaders?
   
2. Other missions or other churches working in the area.
1. Will you begin teaching your churches and leaders about these groups? Why or why not? If so, how will you do this?
1. Will you begin acquainting your church leaders and churches with these groups? Why or why not?
2. If so, how will you do this?
3. What type of relationship and interaction should your churches and leaders have with them?
4. What are you doing to foster this?
5. Do these groups know and recognize these churches and church leaders?
• Commercial or business groups working in the area.
• Anthropologists.
• Tourists.
• Terrorists or anti-government forces.

 

THE CONTINUING CHURCH

Describe and explain the activities you will be doing, who, when, where, how and why you will be doing them.

• How many churches are there to date?
• Are these churches continuing on or are they "dying" or returning to heathenism?
• How long will they continue? How many generations?
• What is in place now that will contribute to their continuing growth and expansion?
• What is our major focus during this time?
• What is god’s plan and purpose for these churches?
• What are you trusting god to see happen in and through these churches? How will this come about? How can we assist, equip and facilitate them in this?

THE GOSPEL OF GRACE

• JUSTIFICATION: Do they have a clear understanding of grace for justification? If not, how can this be corrected? Are they passing it on to their children, grandchildren, relatives, friends and neighbors? Are their children and grandchildren trusting Christ and their Savior?
• SANCTIFICATION: Do they understand God’s grace for living the Christian life? If not, how can this be rectified? Are they living by grace? Are they teaching their children and grandchildren to live by grace?

THE "WHOLE COUNCIL OF GOD"

• Are they taught and established in the Whole Council of God?
• If not, areas are they weak in? What should be done about this? How?
• Are they putting it into practice in their daily lives?
• Are they teaching their children and grandchildren?
• Is there some means (teaching program) whereby the Whole Council of God is continuing to be taught to the entire Church through successive generations?

CHURCH LIFE and FUNCTION

• How many believers are functioning?
• How many are functioning according to their spiritual engiftments?
• Are the believers and leaders functioning together and building one another up in love in accord with God’s Word?
• What about the children and young people? Are they being included in the Body Life and function?

CHURCH GROWTH and DEVELOPMENT

• Are the believers growing in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?
• Are they recognizing needs and trusting God to see those needs me?
• Are their children and grandchildren actively involved?

CHURCH LEADERSHIP

• Have Elders and Deacons been set-apart in each church?
• Are they functioning? Are they teaching and shepherding the flock?
• Are they being supported and sustained in the ministry by the local church?
• Are new and younger leaders being trained and prepared for local church leadership?
• Is there a platform or training program for training, equipping and appointing successive leaders?

EXPANSION AND REPRODUCTION: EVANGELISM AND CHURCH PLANTING

• Are these believers reproducing more believers? Are these churches reproducing more churches?
• Are they evangelizing their own children and grandchildren?
• Are they reaching out and evangelizing the unsaved in their village and surrounding area?
• Are the young people involved in evangelism in any way?
• Are they discipling believers in evangelism?
• Are they reaching out to evangelize nearby and more distant villages in their own language group?
• Are they preparing, sending out and sustaining evangelists and church planters to reach other unreached people groups?
• If not, what can we do to help foster and facilitate this?
• Is there a platform or training program for training, equipping and appointing successive generations of evangelists and church planters? If not, what can we do to help foster and facilitate this?

 

In each of the following areas, how can we assist the tribal church in fulfilling the great commission in their own tribal group and other unreached people groups?

(Note: Our main focus is the first four areas.)

SCRIPTURE TRANSLATION: The translation of New and Old Testament portions used in chronological teaching, along with the training of indigenous personnel to carry on the translation project and successive revisions.

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT: Basic Bible curriculum, including chronological and topical lessons for tribal teachers in the tribal language (at least through Phase IV of the chronological teaching program). Indigenous personnel trained to produce Bible curriculum to meet the growing and developing needs of the churches.

TEACHING PROGRAM: Chronological and topical teaching, carried on in the local churches and outreach areas by tribal teachers and leaders. Reaching out both geographically and down through successive generations.

EQUIPPING FOR MINISTRY: Each believer and each leader, equipped for ministry, both in their local churches and beyond.

LEADERSHIP TRAINING: Ongoing leadership training in the local churches, which results in self-propagation" of leaders down through successive generations.

• Outreach training: Training, equipping, and sending out evangelists and church planters, both locally and cross culturally.
• Translation and development of teaching aids: Visual aids, plays, skits, puppetry, flannel graph, etc. All teaching aids need to be within the cultural and linguistic context of the specific people group.
• Music: Choral and instrumental music. Indigenous music.
• Medical: Basic health and hygiene, medical workers, clinics, etc.
• Administration and clerical needs: Bookkeeping, record keeping, typing, computer literacy, etc.
• Christian education: In the family, church, and schools.
• Christian literature: Books and Bibles. Printing and production of literature in the tribal language.
• Physical plant needs: Church buildings and facilities, transportation, communication, etc.
• Community development: Agriculture, clean water supply, electricity, trade and commerce, etc.