sop for kiss

As we train indigenous church planters here in South Asia, we try to practice the KISS principle (Keeping It Super Simple). We take the Great Commission from Matthew 28 and teach that Jesus gives us authority to do four things: Going; Making Disciples (the command); Baptizing; and Teaching to Obey. Then we answer the questions: How do we go? How do we make disciples? How do we baptize? How do we teach to obey?

This post will continue to address "how do we go"? We discussed the principle of searching for the "man of peace" in the previous post. The person of peace will be the bridge to his community/household - "oikos". This is his closest circle of family, friends and neighbors. If the person of peace and his oikos receive the church planter, an evangelism/discipleship process begins with stories from the word of God. As the Holy Spirit uses the word, people respond in faith, are reborn and a new church is planted with the first baptisms. Discipleship continues through teaching to obey.

The standard operating procedure (SOP) for our church planters in our corner of South Asia is as follows:

1. They go as a team, following the leadership of the Holy Spirit to a particular people/place.
2. They pray before they go and as they go (prayer walking).
3. They find people who will listen and share their testimony, and God's story.
4. They discover the person of peace and meet separately with his oikos to share more gospel stories and more of their personal story.
5. They baptize those who believe in Christ.
6. They stay with the new household of faith to teach them to obey Christ.
7. They move on but will revisit to encourage and appoint local leaders.

We see this same pattern in the apostle Paul's ministry:
1. Paul and his companions followed the leading of the Holy Spirit to focus on a particular people and place (Philippi) (Acts 16:6-10).
2. Paul and his team went to a place to pray. Could this be a biblical example of "prayer walking"? (Acts 16:13a).
3. Paul's team discovered a group of people (women) the Lord had prepared to hear the good news and shared God's story with them (Acts 16:13b).
4. They identified the person of peace (Lydia) that God had prepared to respond to the gospel and met with her household separately to explain the gospel in more detail (Acts 16:14).
5. They baptized the household, or group of new believers. This group was within the oikos (circle of influence) of the person of peace (Lydia) (Acts 16:15a).
6. Paul and his companions stayed with the new household of faith to teach them to obey (met in homes) (Acts 16:15b).
7. Paul and his team revisited the newly formed church to further equip leaders and encourage them to continue as obedient disciples, but then left them to go start churches in other places (Acts 16:40).

We train indigenous church planters in how to share your personal story (testimony), how to tell gospel stories, and how to pray as you go (prayer walking). Then we send them out to follow this pattern from the book of Acts.

This is "how we go" in our corner of South Asia. We apply patterns from Scripture as our "how to" model. What is your experience in going on mission? What patterns, if any, have you followed? Could the pattern mentioned in this post be adapted for your context?