We exist to glorify God. We as a World Team community exist to glorify God by establishing and facilitating communities of believers that give birth to other communities. We work together to explore new ways to share the message of Christ in a contextualized manner, to build disciples and communities that will multiply themselves exponentially among those least reached with the Gospel.
The purpose, the vision,the focus is quite clear. How will we know if we are actually fulfilling this vision? Do we just ‘hope for the best’ spiritually speaking? Or are there any indicators that allow us to assess God given progress?
Each year, Rebecca and I sit down and decide what we will plant in our garden. We have rented a plot about 5 kilometers from our house and we want to use the space well. One crop we plant every year is potatoes. Two things are important with potatoes: the quality of the potatoes. Not all potatoes store well nor can be used for a variety of cooking purposes. And second, the quantity of potatoes. If we’re going to take the time and energy to plant a particular variety of potato, we want to make sure there is a good return. We will count the approximate number of potatoes harvested at the end of season. We do this because we want to discover if there are some things we might need to change the following year to have a better harvest. For example, different soil composition, more consistent watering, or being better on top of parasites that attack our plants could create a greater harvest. Some things we have no control over, such as the weather, and we simply will do the best with the conditions we face. Quality and quantity are both concerns.
There are surely a number of parallels between gardening and disciplemaking. Any ideas? We can share more about all this in another blog.
“Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty … As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” Matthew 13:8, 23
Filed under: Assessment, Metrics | 4 Comments »
Thoughts Along The Journey 