1700 people trained!
Looking back on the last seven years (2)
October 23, 2014
Seven years ago, LK10 consisted of Kent Smith and myself and a small group of interested people. We were committed to the Vision Statement:
To fulfill the Great Commission by seeing a vibrant family of Jesus in
easy access of every region and people group. Beyond that, we didn’t have a lot except a commitment to listen to God and do what He directed. What the Lord has led us to over these years is completely amazing (and unexpected) to me!
The rhythms. There were two outcomes or goals we had for the house churches we were planting. First, that they would be deeply transformational. That is, that lives would be changed, that we would all be increasingly “conformed to the image of Christ”. Second, that viral multiplication would
occur. That is, that these house churches would multiply like a
“benevolent virus” around the world. (I always loved the title of
Roland Allen’s book: The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church.) But, how to do this?
At some point, Kent introduced us to the term “ rhythms of attention“. That is, that our main job is not to try and make something happen. Rather, it is to become skilled at paying close attention.
Paying attention to our own hearts (mine and yours). And, even more
important, paying attention to God’s heart. What is it that He is up
to? (Prevenience) What is it that He is saying to us? (Listening) How
do we join him in what He is doing? (Jesus models this in Jn. 5:19.)
We realized that everything else (church,
mission, etc.) flowed from these two simple rhythms. If these two
spiritual practices could become the regular rhythms of our lives, deep
transformation and viral multiplication would be the natural
(spontaneous!) outcomes. (This represented a radical paradigm shift
from what most of us had been trained to do in church.) Kent explains
his thinking about the importance of “rhythms of attention” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0Qy_1vWpJw
“Smaller still”. Later, Kent felt he heard this from the Lord: “Smaller still and wider yet.”
There was something smaller than a house church and there was something
wider than an individual house church. As we sought the Lord for what
this meant, we found ourselves asking this question, “What is the smallest number of people you can have and still have church?” The obvious answer was “two”. From this, we coined the term “church of two” or “CO2″. We described it this way, “Two people, two rhythms of attention, as close to daily as possible.” Here again, this was something that was both transformational and viral. We have learned that the CO2 is the “basic building block” of
every larger expression of church” (whether house church or traditional
church). (The principle is explained in Eccles. 4:9-12.) CO2s are
the best way to start new house churches. And, a house church with
multiple CO2s is greatly strengthened.
In
order to teach these concepts we put together a training course.
Initially, it was twelve weeks. Then, two courses of six weeks each.
It went by various names, the Apprenticeship, the Foundations Course.
At the end of 2012, Sean Hyatt, heard from the Lord that we should shorten the course, now called Church 101, to just four weeks and make it free and easily accessible (shareware) to everyone. Sean tells the story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7fyb1RsVrU&list=UUQAhCTc8YIsUEf8dBOL0ovw My recent survey of Regional Coordinators indicated that at least 1700 people have
now been trained through Church 101 (or the equivalent). And, the
course is in the process of being translated into French, Spanish and
Russian. Truly, Church 101 has gone viral!
“Wider yet.” In addition to going smaller, the Lord was instructing us to go wider. As we prayed the 10:2b Prayer(Lk 10:2), we began to see John Knoxers appear.
(John Knox, the Scottish church leader who prayed, “Give me Scotland
or I die!”) These were men and women who felt called to plant churches
in a particular region or people group. In the fall of 2013, we began
using video calls (Google hangouts) to connect these people in “communities of practice”. These were online “hangouts” for mutual support and equipping. You can see what these “hangouts” are like in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndtXeZu5ueU&list=UUQAhCTc8YIsUEf8dBOL0ovw
Current Regional and People Group Coordinators…
Inside the United States: Eastern US (Dennis Brown), Central US (Al and Mitzi Paradise), West Coast (John Parker), Bay Area (Mina Millen), Texas (Jordan Bunch), Central Texas (Jim and Cathy Mellon), Denver and Front Range (Sean Hyatt), ACU Grad School (Kent Smith)
Outside the United States: Australia (Maree Watson), Uruguay (Matt and Toni Daniels), Belgium (Scott Galbraith), France (Paul and Laura Harrigan), Russia (Dennis P), Kenya (Clinton and Pahtyana Moore). The LK10 “Virus” is also present in Nigeria, India, Nepal and Argentina.
People Groups: Asian American Students (Truman Lo), People coming out of abusive churches (Sean Hyatt)
When I think back to where we were seven years ago, I am stunned by what the Lord has done. I am deeply grateful for the way He has led us one step at a time. I’m also deeply grateful for the role that many of you have played in the development of LK10. And, I’m so looking forward to what He will do in the next seven years!
Warmly,
John
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