8. Reading #3: What is the potential of lay driven “sheep make sheep” evangelism?
T4T (Training for Trainers) is a highly successful, lay driven evangelism movement originating in Communist China from a Chinese-American Southern Baptist missionary by the name of Ying Kai. It is a part of CPM (Church Planting Movements) which became the paradigm for the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist denomination under David Garrison.
In 2000 Ying Kai began to seek God for new ways to be more effective in evangelism and starting new churches. He began with 30 lay persons; within 7 weeks they had started 20 evangelistic small groups. In seven months Ying could count 327 small groups formed with 4000 newly baptized believers. By the end of the first year the movement counted 908 new house churches with more than 12,000 newly baptized members. The following year saw 3,535 new churches formed with more than 50,000 baptisms … By the end of the second year the movement had added another 104,000 baptisms and 9000 new churches … by 2008 researchers report that nearly 2 million baptisms have taken place in less than a decade and more than 80,000 new churches had been started. And this began in Communist China, an area known for being hostile to the spread of the gospel.
Adapted from David Garrison, “T4T: The Ying Kai Story” – Youtube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmXXoMuVPCo&index=4&list=PLE64A6408FFB3377B
COMMENTS
REFLECTIO
N QUESTIONS:
*Reflection Question 1.2.1:
The photo “Disciple Making 101” is by David Kueker.
SOURCES:
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All Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.