I was encouraged last night as I sat with a group of house church leaders. We try to all get together at least once each month. Yesterday was fairly typical of these gatherings. Everyone was with their particular church community in the 1st part of the day. Several of the leaders then, gathered about 5pm at our house. The main idea with these gatherings is to provide mutual encouragement and support for the leaders as each is involved in parenting spiritually a group of Christians—and usually also involved in helping several not-yet Christians in the journey towards Jesus. The group tries to provide a safe environment for each to be honest about struggles and victories—and to encourage one another from Scripture—and discern God’s will as a group regarding different challenges—and spend lots of time praying together.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately of the MAWL approach to leadership development. Model. Assist. Watch. Leave. At this point in our ministry here and with our departure date coming up in a few months, we are trying to live squarely in the “Watch” stage. We want to watch our Mexican brothers and sisters as they go about their life and ministry—and we want to be available to provide feedback and conversation along the way.
Last night, I was encouraged to watch my Mexican brothers and sisters minister to one another. It is cool to see so much evidence of growth and maturity. I wonder what will happen in the years to come. I continue to be hopeful!
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