Listening to God and starting simple churches by Missional Resource Teams
John White from Lk10.com shares their journey in experimenting with starting new simple churches in the harvest. They use Missional Resource Teams (MRT’s), which are small, regional apostolic teams who are committed to see a vibrant family of Jesus followers planted in their environment.
Simple church planters in the West are experimenting with new, simple ways of planting churches in the harvest. Out of one sentence they heard from God, John White and Kent Smith from Denver (USA) started to experiment with Missional Resource Teams (MRT’s): teams of two or three joining together to facilitate simple church planting in a specific area. John told us how the Lord directed them and what they are learning.
How did the Lord lead you in the MRT experiment?
“In the beginning of 2009, we felt the Lord saying to us: “smaller still and wider yet”. That is, that there was something “smaller still” than the house church. We knew that in Matthew 10:2-4 Jesus called twelve disciples to himself. But, then we noticed something we hadn’t seen before. The twelve were listed in pairs. Simon and Andrew comma, James and John comma etc. It occurred to us that these pairs might be considered “churches of two” (or CO2s, see also Matthew 18:20). Our sense was that the Lord was saying that these CO2s were the basic building block for every larger expression of church including house churches. These CO2s have proven to be both transformational and viral in nature and have spread around the world.
The words “wider yet” meant for us that there was something that would allow house churches to be connected in a sort of organic structure. We began to experiment with what we are now calling MRT’s. These are small regional apostolic teams that are committed to see a vibrant family of Jesus followers planted.
What are the key elements of these MRT’s?
“They meet every week for a few hours and focus on two questions. The first one is: “Where are we individually today?” With this question we encourage people to “show up” who they really are and share their heart. The second question they focus on is: “What do we see the Lord doing among this people and where is He calling us to join Him?” The time is given to listen to the Lord, to share what is discovered in that time, and to discern next steps. A core conviction that guides this process is that “mission flows from listening” (John 5:19). A record is kept of the unfolding stories of God’s work in that place and this record becomes a potent tool in encouraging the team and the growing churches. After a while the MRT engages with the Lord in different activities, e.g. praying in detail for their area, finding houses of peace, fostering vibrant families of Jesus, working together with other MRT’s and training emerging leaders. During the spring, we created a virtual community for three months of MRTs in 15 cities or regions in four countries which we called the MRT Experiment 1.0.”
What have you learned from the experiment?
“The main thing we learned was how to support and learn from other simple church planters in a starfish type community of church planters. A few church planters named the “bright spots” of MRT 1.0. Chris from the UK said: “MRT has helped me to focus together with another local person on how we can best take mission forward in our area. There’s a tendency to ‘drift’ in life, but meeting weekly helps to avoid this. Listening together and sharing what we hear is very valuable. It informs our thinking and our conversations with others.” Hugh in Denver, USA describes: “A bright spot for me as a part of the Denver MRT has been to listen to God together for the whole city. I feel like I am a part of a band of brothers with a common vision. All of us care deeply about Denver desire to see transformation occur through vibrant families of Jesus within easy access of everyone.”
Can you tell me a few stories where new churches are planted through MRT’s?
“One women was at a conference where I shared about CO2. God spoke to her: “Peggy, this is for you. You’ve waited all your life for this, and this is what I planned for you. You can do this.” From that they on she started to share this concept with everybody she knew. When she told about CO2 to two Hispanic women and other women in the neighbourhood, immediately their eyes opened and they caught it. One of the women does a CO2 every night on the phone with her husband who was deported back to Mexico. One of her friends told about CO2 with many of her friends and family. It is spreading like wildfire.”
What are your plans with MRT for the future?
“We are planning to do a MRT 2.0 experiment in the summer of 2010. We would love to see the MRT’s multiplied all over the world. The concept is very simple and easy so everybody can do it.”
Learn more about MRT’s:
http://regionalrevolutionaries.blogspot.com/
Video about the MRT in Denver:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq9W3TwOdAQ&feature=player_embedded
Source: John White, Lk10.com
