4.3 ACOP Global Mission’s Strategy

[Caleb]

the addition strategy of missions can be described as sending a missionary to an area and having them make one disciple, then the missionary moves on and makes another disciple. while this is good and people are being saved this way, it is no match mathematically for the salvation of an ever growing population. Believers will dies off before the nation is reached.

multiplication strategy of missions is where its at. this is where a missionary makes disciples who make disciples. they share the Gospel to people, those people believe and those people are equipped by the missionary to also follow the great commission and share Jesus, making more disciples. this creates a train of ever growing disciples of Jesus that keeps growing.

[Micah]

Mathematically, multiplication is what is required to see every nation reached by the gospel, but the benefits of multiplication go beyond that: If missionaries are making disciples from the nation they are reaching who then make disciples of their own ethic background, there is a stronger connection and sustainable bond. As the saying goes, “fight fire with fire.” Not only does this apply in cross-ethnic mission, but also in terms of different generations, as people are the most effective in reaching their own immediate groups, ethnic background, and culture. With the multiplication method, the second generation of believers and onward are being reached by their own people and their culture is baptized and sanctified (as opposed to assimilating Canadian church culture on others).

[VICTOR]

The difference is that, one disciples a soul to be added in the kingdom of God and then goes to find another soul to be discipled, while the other disciples a soul who will become a discipler of other souls, who will also become a discipler of other disciplers.

The later is a preferred approach because it multiplies, rather than just add. We should train disciplers who will train disciplers, who will also train more disciplers.

[Charla]

The “addition strategy” is a one at a time approach that does bring people into the kingdom but slowly. Those new believers are not equipped or encouraged to be disciple makers so the Gospel does not get passed on. The “multiplication strategy” is exponential in it’s growth as you make disciples who make disciples who make disciples… New believers are commissioned to share the Gospel and the Gospel spreads!

[ECO]

According to this logic, we don’t count ourselves successful as disciple-makers unless there are multiple generations of believers flowing from the person whom we led to the Lord. This is the essence of disciple-making movements, which is very popular in modern missiology. It is fantastic in theory, but very rarely the standard for success in a North American ministry context. Why do you think this is so?

[Micah]

I think the biggest reason why is because it is incredibly difficult for a movement to be established. It requires high buy-in and people that are sold out for Jesus, setting aside their dignity and image to further the mission of Jesus. I also think that our individualistic and comfortable culture affects this, as we see a handful of people doing full-time missions work and think “they’re doing it, why would I need to do it?”

I also think our standard of success is often sustainability. This is not bad. However, it can slow down movements if we are set on sustainability alone, preventing us from passing trust and leadership to new disciples in order for them to make disciples; we like to invite people into a steady church rather than send them out to make disciples.