Catalyst Community #1 in South Asia
I am continually amazed at the opportunities Taking New Ground has to impact the kingdom of God in hard to reach parts of the world. We just completed our first Catalyst Community in Delhi, India with leaders from 6 countries in South Asia in attendance!
- Afghanistan (99.85% Muslim)
- Bangladesh (0.4% Evangelical Christian, 89% Muslim)
- Bhutan (1.8% Evangelical Christian, 75% Buddhist)
- India (2.2% Evangelical Christian, 74% Hindu)
- Myanmar (5% Evangelical Christian, 80% Buddhist)
- Nepal (2.9% Evangelical Christian, 75% Hindu)
- Sri Lanka (1.2% Evangelical Christian, 70% Buddhist)
As I write out these statistics and picture the faces of the men and women we worked with in Delhi, I’m humbled and challenged. Imagine the courage it takes to live a life obedient to God’s call in one of these nations, many of which are hostile to the Gospel.
What does Catalyst Community #1 look like?
Catalyst Community #1 is the first of 3 large gatherings that we do over the course of 2 years. We refer to it as a “Community” because we are inviting leaders and their teams to enter into a learning environment with other leaders. We invite our participants to be both learners and teachers. Over the course of 3 gatherings these teams will form networks (groups of churches) that work together across denominational boundaries as movements (groups of networks) for the purpose of reproducing new churches in their regions. It’s a big goal, but God is in it, and it works!
Catalyst Community #1 is a mix of teaching sessions, team exercises, and group presentations. The primary teaching content in this gathering focuses on how to reproduce leaders through apprenticeship. The ultimate goal is to help these teams hear from God and develop a plan to execute on the dream He puts on their hearts. The main takeaway of the participants generally has nothing to do with the teaching content, but everything to do with what they learn about having faith in God to fulfill dreams that can only be accomplished through His power! To summarize, we come alongside people in whom God is already at work, and we help “activate faith” in a God that can do more in us (and particularly through us as a community) than we ever dreamed possible! (Ephesians 3:20)
Dreaming big and trusting God
We had 27 teams at this Catalyst Community representing 1,393 churches and 1,144 leaders. Those numbers might seem hard to imagine, but remember, in some parts of the world churches look more like New Testament house churches than they do the large gatherings we see in the western church. You will also notice that they started with more churches than leaders. That means some leaders are leading multiple house churches! This is why it is so important to focus on raising up new leaders early in this process.
In Catalyst Community #1 our leaders will develop a 2-year goal. In Catalyst Community 2 & 3 we develop a 5-year plan. We start with a two year goal because it forces immediate action. If all you have is 2 years to accomplish your goals, you know you can’t afford put things off, you have to get started immediately!
When we added up the plans our teams put together they project a 243% growth in the number of churches represented over the next 2 years. Think about what this will look like for them. They aren’t going to be picking up disgruntled members from the church down the street to accomplish these goals. In light of the statistics above, starting new churches in these environments literally means leading people to faith and apprenticing them into leadership, and doing it in environments that are often hostile to your goals. Pray that God would keep them steadfast in their trust and dependence on Him as they work toward these goals!
We need your help
Our mission is to take new ground for the kingdom of God by catalyzing movements of reproducing churches in hard to reach parts of the world, and we’re doing it! It’s a worthy mission, because it fulfills the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20).
“The vigorous, continual planting of new congregations is the single most crucial strategy for 1) the numerical growth of the body of Christ in a city and 2) the continued corporate renewal and revival of the existing churches in a city.”
~ Timothy Keller
We bring leaders together, help them develop God sized dreams, and then show them how to work together to accomplish more than they ever could alone.
Join us! Support Taking New Ground. In doing so become a part of the work that God is doing in hard to reach parts of the world.
