“T4T: A Discipleship Re-Revolution” by Steve Smith and Ying Kai. WIGTake Resources: Monument, Colorado. (www.churchplantingmovements.com) 2011. Review by Steve Hyde There is rarely a book that I find that I think every church leader, pastor, elder or deacon should read, but this is one. I love church research because it helps me to adjust my…
In Ethiopia I had the great honor of meeting a group of believers who lived in a very remote part of the country. There was no road to their village, only a random path marked by the odd African shade tree. When the pastor was directing me there, he tried to talk to me in his broken English. He explained that it takes him four hours to walk to the village. This village used to be fully Muslim. He shared with me that this church “was in the shadows”.
“Our church is dead”, announced the Baptist Deacon to the other leaders. It was piercing words to one couple who had come to Christ in that fellowship and had been with it for many years. They started discipling their remaining believers and in a less than a month their church was alive again with many new believers and some people returning.
A young pastor explained that after the August training session he went back to his area determined to reach 9 more villages around him with a new church. So he and his wife got permission from the nine villages to show the gospel. Now they have 9 churches planted in less than four months work.
A small church of 90 people started discipling their own people and then those people started discipling others in the village. People started coming to Christ rapidly. The church has now grown to more than 400 people in one month! Praise the Lord!