The Timothy Conference

T H E T I M O T H Y C O N F E R E N C E

Have we focused on NURTURE?

• Do we have a plan for preaching and teaching the basics of the faith? • Are we identifying and discipling (apprenticing) emerging leaders so that they are taking increasing levels of responsibility? • Do we understand church discipline and are we holding people accountable to obey what they have learned? • Are we identifying every member’s gifts and are we including everyone in the work of the ministry? • Are we teaching people how to listen to the Word and the Spirit? • Are we recognizing and celebrating what God is doing among the people?

Are we ready to TRANSITION?

• Have called and gifted leaders been invested in through formal and informal discipleship? • Has a church government structure been developed so that the church has a way to make decisions and choose future leaders?

• Is the church doctrinally sound on the essentials?

• Have decisions been made about affiliating with a denomination or association? • Have missionaries planned a way to continue the relationships after withdrawal?

III. What about Cultural Differences?

A Christian missions organization:

Missionary Orientationa dn Training Course: A Guide for New Missionaries with World Impact . (Los Angeles/Wichita: World Impact Press, 1996). p. 4

Crosses class and cultural barriers To reach those unreached by the Gospel of Jesus Christ And form culturally-conducive churches among them.

A. Indigenous Principles and the End Goal.

The end goal is to create a church that is completely at home in the culture of a people group and that is capable of functioning and reproducing without the missionaries.

The most important missiological principle that World Impact embraced in its early days as a ministry was the Acts 15 principle: People do not have to change cultures in order to become Christians.

Some implications:

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