July 15, 2003
FSM 363 CM/FM
Special ACTION FSM #3
10/00
Copyright © 2000 by The Family
The Live-out Discipleship Explosion Part 22
Tithing and Learning to Share Their Goods2
Building Strong Support Within the Group5
Organizing Events Side by Side with the Live-outs6
Meaningful Meetings and Other Witnessing Opportunities6
Coaching Live-outs to Give Their Testimony in Public8
Organizing Meetings for the Children of Our Live-outs: Teens and Preteens9
Daily Bread 4 and the Vision for Training Leadership10
Keeping Strong Bonds of Friendship Among the Live-outs11
Training Live-outs to Drop Out of the Rat Race and Lead a Simple Life12
Tips on Organizing Follow-up and Caring for Friends and Live-outs15
1. Discipleship Groups15
2. Bible Studies for Friends and New Converts16
3. Special Needs17
4. Ministry Teams18
5. Church of Love/Retreats18
6. Local Mixed Teamwork19
7. Shepherding the Shepherds19
A Note from Jesus on the Live-out Discipleship Ministry20
By Tommy and Spanish Juan, Brazil
God bless you! This is Tommy again, writing with Juan about the live-out discipleship movement in São Paulo and other cities in Brazil. In my first report (FSM 362), I mainly described how our discipleship group started and how it grew in the beginning. After the first year of the course, we decided to open a new discipleship group each year. At that time we had seven in Discipleship I (our dear freshmen) and seven in Discipleship II (our sophomore class). As of August 1997, we were ministering on a regular basis to over seventy people. Of these, forty-two were DF/follow-up members, eighteen were live-outs, and fourteen were members of our two discipleship groups.
When we held the second National Retreat for Live-outs in June of 1997, a total of 115 people attended from seven cities, some as far as 1200 km away. We also were able to complete a 10-week course with about 40 people, on the subject of getting the victory over deep-rooted problems, which we called Inner Healing: More than Conquerors! Three of these people did so well that they entered the Discipleship I course after the Inner Healing course ended. Our little Home was still basing out of an apartment in the city, but a precious couple of longtime CMers, Dave and Ana, joined us, which rounded out our personnel and gave us a more stable Home life. Praise the Lord!
Here is part two of our report on the live-out discipleship explosion:
Tithing and Learning To Share Their Goods
This has always been a touchy point! How soon should you tell a friend about tithing, and when should you actually expect him to do it? Of course, it is our responsibility to explain our needs to our friends, and tithing is the basic solution. At least that's the way we ourselves give to the Lord's work, even though we are far from rich. The basic idea we have passed on to them is that for us to supply them with quality service, we need them to come through with their part: tithes and offerings! It helps when we go over the Treasures article about the Levites (The Windows of Heaven, page 764) to give them the idea that we are their Levites.
We also learned to share the know with our main discipleship group at our monthly Action Committee Meetings and whenever the subject comes up. This helped them to see where their tithes go, and it's also a good time for them to give their suggestions. We encourage them to give extra to bigger projects (new equipment, new housing, etc.) that their tithes don't cover. This is where we try to teach them the importance of offerings, in addition to their tithe!
We ask one or two of them to share their tithing testimonies at retreats, Bible studies, etc. It never fails to get everyone convicted when one of them shares how the Lord didn't bless him when he put buys before tithes!
The Enemy really attacks our friends about giving, especially as many of them have had or are now having financial difficulties. It has been a temptation to hold back and just give what they can when they can. If they proceed with this mentality, they would never give, as the System attitude is that they never have enough money, so there's never anything extra or left over. We've seen time and again that it helps them to hear from one another on this often touchy subject of finances, and not just have another missionary sermon—although these are often necessary too. We need to really give them the Word and be constantly sharing testimonies about how you can never outgive God, as well as continually informing them where the funds are going.
We have tried not to get too heavy on them when talking about money, as they are under a lot of financial pressure. But we have also tried to pass on God's priorities in a simple, straightforward, but non-condemning, nonjudgmental manner. We have had a lot more faith to do this on a regular basis since we have been pouring into them, preparing classes, retreats, fellowships, and personal time, because we're not just showing up at the end of the month when we need their financial help.
We had to face the fact that the media in this country had launched massive campaigns against the tithing idea, targeting the many Protestant evangelical groups who encourage and even demand that their flocks tithe. This had affected the level of people we are trying to reach (the upper class), much as Dad talked about in Operation Anti-Christ (ML #2315, Vol.17) and the scandal involving Jimmy Bakker and other U.S. TV evangelists. (See ML #2314, Vol.17; ML #2569, Vol.19, and related Letters.) Because of the negative treatment of this topic by the media, we had to address the issue and explain to our live-outs that the tithe—contrary to what the press had led them to believe—is not the scheme of a TV evangelist. It is God's standard and always has been, even before the Ten Commandments, way back when Abraham tithed to Melchizedek 4000 years ago!
It seems our friends never tire of hearing how the AC plan is linked with drying up the resources for the Lord's work and His representatives. This reminder of the spiritual nature of the battle to stop His children always seems to be helpful in getting them to see the big picture, when they are tempted to think they can't give because of their own difficulties.
We also try to show how tithing is a normal thing that the Lord asks of all Christians, and not just them. Sometimes our heavier givers feel they are the only ones who help, and when they see we are training everyone to give and we are not just relying on them, they are quite relieved! It really encourages them to see that we urge everyone across the board to tithe, regardless of his or her income.
We have seen how some religious groups tune in to who makes how much, and we feel it is very important that we show impartiality and that in general, the Lord blesses giving, regardless of the quantity. It's a constant struggle to keep this vision prominent. The story of the widow's mite is usually a real hit in helping them to see who is the biggest giver in the Lord's eyes.
It is also very good to be familiar with the Word on the subject, as the Family has many tremendous classes some may not be aware of. For example, in addition to the class mentioned above, there is the article in Treasure Hunt (TH) No. 8, Jesus First (page 359 in Treasures), and TH No. 27, Paul's Financial Plan—Good Counsel for Christians Today! Giving in the Word Basics [now reprinted as Discovering Truth: Bible Basics] is fantastic. Also, the BEST has a very good class on economics, which covers everything on finances from A to Z.
Having a clear idea of how the Lord sees finances overall helps our friends see how tithing fits in. For example, the BEST covers attitudes toward money and possessions, giving to God and to people, financial matters and personal relationships, property ownership, work and our attitude toward it, business principles, etc. Although we don't like to get too much onto the subject of money with our friends, we owe it to them to give them Biblical principles in new and different ways, especially as the economic crunch gets heavier.
Developing the habit of setting aside their tithe is a discipline we have had to emphasize again and again. Most people nowadays have the terrible habit of buying everything on credit, overspending with their credit cards, writing postdated checks that often bounce later—and our discipleship group is no exception. Years of System brainwashing that going into debt is good business affects people in every way, and they need prayer and counsel to get delivered from these deeply rooted bad habits in the handling of their finances. Both they and we end up paying for it. They end up pressured into working more and enjoying it less, and then sometimes put the tithe at the bottom of their list of priorities.
Many of our friends were experiencing such financial pressures that sometimes they would almost get physically sick over it! Since we started paying more attention to their need for counsel and prayer, we developed Word classes specifically designed to answer these questions and help them lead a more simple life as Dad has taught us (more on this later in this mag). This could be simply translated as: Don't spend what you don't have! We ask them to please set aside their tithe as the finances come in, and not wait until later, because there usually isn't any later!
In our discipleship course we have been very open with them on this subject and this helps them feel more accountable, as they have all publicly agreed to try harder to discipline themselves in this way. We often point out that all parts of our life—not just reading the Word and memorizing—need to be disciplined by God's standards if we truly wish to be disciples! And believe it or not, when we back up our sermons with the Word and our own testimonies of how we also tithe even though it is difficult, and how the Lord blesses it, they actually like it and take it!
We've also learned not to carry a worried spirit when discussing these matters, as most of them experience the financial squeeze and if they see us worrying about our finances, it doesn't help things, as they're already pretty worried themselves. It's helped us not to worry when we see how the Lord often blesses us in other ways when normal tithes are down, as He always supplies somehow. Sometimes we even feel when funds are low that He is just checking on us to see if we'll settle down and start a church, by depending too much on our sources of support, or if we will stay on the revolutionary track, trusting Him for our finances.
Financial stability should never become a crutch where we count on the same income and look to that instead of to the Lord, but rather it should be a blessing to free us to do the job of feeding the sheep!
Building Strong Support Within the Group
We've learned from our experience with Bible groups and discipleship that friendship, commitment, and spiritual growth all go hand in hand. In the past, Bible study would often mean a Word study where the teacher did most of the talking and the students tried to get as much as they could out of it. However, with this method often the class would go on too long and our friends would start looking at their watches, thinking about having to get up early the next day to go to work. They would have very little opportunity to get to know one another and make friendships under those conditions.
Since we have seen the need these people have for friendship and fellowship as well as Word, things have been literally exploding! During class we now try not to get too deeply involved in details, as the introduction to Word Basics suggests, but we make the classes short and simple, and leave lots of room for the people to comment and apply the Word and get to know one another. They just love it!
Many of them work all day and have little or no social life. They have a simple need to feel part of a group—not just as a student, but as a member! We have found that once they adopt a group, or become adopted, they are much more likely to give us a priority in their busy life, and they rarely miss a class. Recognizing their need to fellowship and relax, rather than to have a lot of information crammed in during class, has borne good fruit, and we have seen them grow a lot more as they absorb a moderate serving of spiritual food. In this way, they seem to learn more about applying it to their daily lives. They have more faith the Lord can change things.
This also takes the pressure off the Bible teacher, as he sees himself more as a moderator, encouraging people to share their hearts and give prayer requests. He doesn't need to be a Bible whiz or know-it-all—which is good, because that can often make people feel like they could never learn as much as they need to, anyway!
One of the first classes we often give to a new class is called Resolving Conflicts. It is short and sweet, encouraging people to bring their personal problems to the Lord, and then ask forgiveness of those they have offended. We usually have a short but solid Word study, a specific homework assignment related to forgiving someone, then good prayer asking the Lord to help them turn over a new leaf in their lives and learn to truly forgive from the heart! This is quite a challenge for them, as they need to act on what they learned in class, and come back to the next class with the results.
In other words, we try to get them to apply the Word immediately in their lives, so they personally witness the power of the Word, and how the Lord's love, along with humility and prayer, can solve all their problems. It seems like a little Word practically applied, which in turn gets real results, is more effective than long-winded Bible knowledge input—at least with beginners.
The key is to show them how Jesus can change their lives for the better today! And it is amazing to see how these people become close friends as they share their changes and victories, etc. They often end up going out for a pizza together after class, doing business together, inviting one another over for dinner, going to one another's parties, etc.
We have found it best that the atmosphere of Bible studies in small groups be informal. People need to feel at ease with one another. We usually sit in a circle so everyone can see everyone and feel free to share hearts. As we all know, our most meaningful heart-sharing times happen in informal surroundings.
The leader of the Bible study needs to realize that the goal is to get everyone to participate. As Dad did during his classes, it is important to get people involved in the study, and encourage everyone to answer when called on. The point is not to show off how much you, the teacher, know about the Bible. It is also important at the end of discussion and pow-wow on any given subject to avoid ending with an opinion, but rather with the Word says
Organizing Events Side by Side with the Live-outs
If there's one thing we've seen, it's that our friends love the idea that our God is a happy God and He likes us to be happy! Brazilians love parties and social gatherings, and we've felt led to let them run their own social committee, with just a little bit of our guidance and counsel in planning events. They are all professionals in the area of parties and social life, and we, as their shepherds, find that they grow closer to us and to one another if we let them enjoy life and one another. They even use these occasions to witness to other friends and relatives.
Actually, the parties, dinners, video nights, etc., we have had with our main discipleship group have served to win many of their friends and relatives to new Bible studies. We know the effectiveness of using the referral system to get out the tools. In the same way, referrals have been the heart and soul of winning new people for the formation of new study groups. People tend to trust the judgment of a relative or a close friend when invited to a Bible study or party where there are people who are new to them.
Meaningful Meetings and Other Witnessing Opportunities
One of the events that most united and strengthened our first discipleship group was their participation in a dinner we organized in a nice, centrally located restaurant. The goal of the evening was to witness to friends and relatives of the discipleship group in a non-religious atmosphere.
With six weeks of planning, we all worked together as a team for the Lord. Our artist organized and directed the skit and designed the invitations on computer. Our interior decorator live-out member made beautiful flower arrangements for all the tables, which gave the restaurant's VIP room a beautiful, homey atmosphere.
It was essentially a Meaningful Meeting for the older crowd (most of our live-outs are in their 40s), with a Day in the Life skit emphasizing the salvation message, and closing with a heart-touching version of He Was There All the Time sung by Joanie. The skit was acted out by the live-outs themselves. It was the story of a typical big city executive, how he didn't have time for his family or for the Lord, and how he was on an express train to self-destruction. Jesus appears in his life, and though He tries various ways to get his attention, only serious financial difficulties succeed in doing so. Although none of the group had acting experience, they embraced the challenge and the skit was a success. It brought several of the guests to tears and to decisions to receive the Lord and even to accept the challenge of joining a Bible study group!
This presentation had been the dream of many of our old-time friends, and to see their loved ones finally understand their decision to be live-out Family members was especially satisfying.
It might be interesting to point out here that many of our live-outs have known us for years and have suffered a bit of persecution from relatives and friends, especially during the bad publicity in 1993 during the Argentina crisis. Although our live-outs never made a radical decision to drop out and be full-time disciples, the fact that they were one of us caused some concern among their friends and relatives. Now, as guests in this nice restaurant, these same people who had been biased against us were captivated by the Lord's Spirit!—A real turnaround! Of the 70 people who attended (each of the 12 disciples invited an average of around six people), over 10 accepted the challenge to join a Bible study group, and three new groups were formed as a result!
Here are a few points about how the Lord showed us to organize the evening, which helped it be a success:
*We helped choose the right restaurant, drawing on the what we've learned over the years in organizing Family benefits, etc.
*We had a specific goal: Invite the guests to join Bible study groups (a group with people they already knew), and not just try to bring them to a public decision to receive Jesus.
*The Bible study groups we offered at the benefit had a definite duration of six to eight weeks, so the people didn't feel they were entering into a never-ending commitment they'd later regret. (Most of them, however, did end up renewing their Bible Study Contract after the first six-week study ended!)
*We charged a low price for the invitation ($25), making it easy for everyone to come. Although we didn't make any money from the dinner, we later received much more in donations and tithes from the new people won. Actually, one of the men won that night later helped get us a new car!
*We thoroughly planned the program from beginning to end, so everyone felt secure. We invested quite a bit of time in planning, practicing, etc., as we knew how nervous several of our actors were, as well as those who were to give their personal testimonies. We knew how important it was for them that their first mission as live-out disciples be a success. So did the Lord, and He really anointed the whole evening! It was a witnessing experience none of them felt capable of, and their success gave them confidence the Lord could use them to lead others to the Lord—something they previously thought was a job only for the missionaries!
Coaching Live-outs to Give Their Testimony in Public
One major victory for some at this dinner was their presentation of their personal testimony. We held a class beforehand on how to deliver your personal testimony, using the example of Paul in Acts 26. We helped them break their testimony down into three periods of their lives: (1) how they thought and lived before they met the Lord, (2) how they accepted Jesus and met the Family, and (3) how they see their lives now. We encouraged them to actually write out their testimonies, in order to help them to stick to a five-minute time frame.
Each of the four who were to give their personal testimonies at the dinner then did a dress rehearsal at the discipleship class and got critiqued. Although this may seem very simple and obvious, it helped them very much to have us coach them. Though they were a bit shy at first and weren't used to receiving suggestions and correction, they really learned a lot from our pow-wowing their delivery.
Each of them was a powerful witness that night before a crowd of 70! This was a real breakthrough for them, and was the icing on the cake of an unforgettable evening. There is nothing like the personal testimony of a live-out to really get through to local people, who often look at us foreign missionaries as invaders from outer space.
In fact, we can say that much of the success of our growth has been because we have let our live-outs do the witnessing. Many of our new people have told us that the crucial moment for them in deciding whether or not to associate with us was when they called aside their friend who had invited them and asked, OK, this is all great, but what's the catch? Who are these people? What's their real intention? People nowadays are so suspicious. Many times they have chilling stories to explain why they have become skeptical of new acquaintances, so that now they will only accept the recommendation of a close friend in whom they trust.
An added benefit of this coached witnessing experience was that it gave them faith to continue to tell their testimonies in public when needed—something very few of them had done before. Many in the discipleship group had missed witnessing opportunities in the past simply because they didn't know what to say! After this they came back to us with testimonies about how much their public speaking experience had even been helping them professionally. Many professionals pay thousands of dollars to get training in public speaking, and we do it for free—as long as they tell'm about Jesus! Ha!
Organizing Meetings for the Children of Our Live-outs: Teens and Preteens!
As we became more involved in the personal lives of those we were ministering to, we also started ministering to their children. One single mother who had quickly accepted the challenge of opening her home for Bible studies had three teen children. She asked us if we'd like to have a night to minister to all the teens of the neighborhood, as her house was one of the teen hangouts. Although we weren't sure if the teens themselves would be interested—because the meeting was their parents' idea—we decided to go ahead by faith and heed the cry of our sheep. She was a mom to several of the teens in the neighborhood, and wanted them to find Jesus, so how could we deny her?
This turned out to be quite an explosion, as this dear woman's house became a hot spot for teens. Many received Jesus into their hearts and got turned on to the new bottle Mountain Streams like Mountain Men, Don Quixote, etc. We also picked a few of the heavier songs from the FTT tapes (They've Got the Money and Hollywood Woman) and transcribed and translated them. Then we would pass out photocopies of the words, play the songs, and discuss them. This turned out to be a very interesting way to get their attention and have them open up.
We worked with the teens in our Home putting together skits, and this project really helped us to work side by side with our own teens. Up until these teen meetings we were mainly ministering to just the over-40 generation, and our teens didn't seem to fit into the ministry, but it was a big breakthrough to work together with them like this.
This also gave our friends a chance to see our own teens in action, after seeing just us older folks teach classes. Although the neighborhood teens' enthusiasm waned over the months, the experience was very positive and provided us with an interesting break from just teaching the older folks. Over 20 teens received Jesus and now know what we represent. We also had good personal times with some of these teens after the meetings started. Youth nowadays seem to have so little to live for and a very brief attention span (the MTV generation), so we learned a lot together, and feel much more prepared to work with youth in the future as a result of this experience. The parents, our live-outs and friends were very inspired that we tried to help in their kids.
Once again, the key to an endeavor like this, as well as other aspects of the live-out discipleship explosion, seems to be tuning in to the specific needs of the people we are ministering to; being flexible in our Home life so we can meet those needs; and using our teens tapes, all our tools (in this case) to fill the need as well.
Another couple, Renato and Marisete, have a daughter who was 14 at that time. Close friends for years, they had been asking for a long time if we could have a Bible course for preteens in their house on Saturday afternoons, as that was when their daughter had friends over. We agreed to at least help get the ball rolling, but in this case we made it clear to them that we felt that once we set up the curriculum, they would have to keep it going. We shared that we were out every night of the week giving Bible studies, and we had committed ourselves to being with our own families on the weekend, as well as taking some desperately needed W&R time ourselves. (We tried to schedule our W&Rs for Saturday and parent day on Sunday, so usually didn't give classes on those days.)
With that in mind we started to watch the movie Jesus of Nazareth in segments with five of the preteens in their neighborhood. This really inspired both the parents and their children, and showed the parents how easy it was to do it themselves. They later organized these preteens together with our two then-OCs (Virginia and Dawn) into a show group that did shows and skits for orphanages, and at the year-end area benefit dinner! So this was a tremendous victory.
We also trained Marisete to use the Kiddie Viddie curriculum in her work at an orphanage where she and Renato decided to help out. We have so many tools that make it easy for our friends and live-outs to become part-time missionaries themselves. We are so few, and so busy with our own children that we need to train our friends to use the tools both for their own children and for others.
Daily Bread 4 and the Vision For Training Leadership
As I mentioned earlier, during the first few months of our Discipleship Course the Lord kept showing us how similar this explosion was to the early days of our Family. The classic Letters like For God's Sake, Follow God! really applied. Much like Dad said he felt, we too didn't really know what to do or where to go, but we simply tried to follow the Lord the best we could. We got a lot of leading and inspiration from Daily Bread 4-the little black book—as it dealt with many of the difficulties and needs we were facing. It covered training leadership to be able to accommodate our growing numbers, striving for quality and not quantity, sticking to small groups rather than falling into forming big, impersonal groups, etc.
We ourselves became so turned on by our intense study of the little black book that the Lord showed us to ask for 12 copies, to give one to each member of that first discipleship group. To say the least, they flipped out! Even though most of them are in their 40s, they really appreciated reading about how things were at the birth of the Family, how Dad administered during that period of growth, the beautiful early classics like Stop!—Look!—Listen! Faith, Prayer for Love and Mercy, as well as all the invaluable leadership training. (See DB 4: ML #74, pg.267; ML #73, pg.263; ML #75, pg.278.)
It was our hope that many of them could also become fruitful witnessers, teachers, and shepherds, and they felt this when we entrusted them with their own DB4. The Lord showed us that since most of them had already read a lot of the GP and DFO material, Treasures, Daily Might, etc., it was time to give them a little more meat of the Word.
However, we would like to caution anyone thinking of doing the same to really take a good look at this book and remind themselves how radical our approach to several subjects was in those days! Although we gave the disciples their own copies, they were nearly all veterans who knew all about Dad and could understand the early Letters in their context. Dad's style in the early days isn't quite as smooth as the language in Treasures! Ha!
We did notice, though, that they really grew spiritually as they read more MO! Also, there is a wealth of leadership training in the black book, which was very appropriate for our state of growth at that time. The early Letters reveal how dependent Dad was on the Lord right from the beginning. This is something that really impressed our precious live-out disciples and gave them greater confidence in the Worder.
Keeping Strong Bonds Of Friendship Among the Live-outs
City people are some of the most needy when it comes to real friendship, and meeting this need has definitely been one of the keys to the growth of our live-out movement. Not only do we become friends with them, but we encourage them to make friends among the other people in the groups.
Good friends are definitely hard to come by, especially those who love you enough to give you the things every new convert needs: prayer, love, the Word, Jesus and fellowship. We have a Church of Love every Sunday (which is also our Family day) from 6-8 p.m. We visit them for their birthdays, to see their newborns, on wedding anniversaries, and during the hard times such as for funerals of loved ones, etc. We basically try to be there for them as much as we possibly can. It's like the story of the soldier who risked his life to jump out of the trench and run over to his mortally wounded brother on the battlefront, saying, He expected it of me!
This often requires quite a bit of sacrifice in our own personal lifestyles, as sometimes we aren't able to see our weekend movies or have picture-perfect family days. The whole Home and family need to get behind the vision. And thank the Lord, they usually do, because once you get out there face-to-face with the sheep, everyone sees it is well worth the sacrifice!
Most of our live-outs have gone beyond just being sociable to each other and are now very good friends. Their intense spiritual growth has caused them to grow closer, and their seeing one another regularly (at least twice a week, usually 3 or 4) tends to make them become almost like relatives—definitely members of our own extended Family. They see one another at the Discipleship class every Wednesday night, then at Church of Love on Sunday, and many also participate in the Inner Healing course on another weeknight. They also go out together often to have lunch, work on skits for the next retreat, some work on the recording of the Daily Might into the local language, others on the inspiration committee planning songs for upcoming events, etc. We also hold monthly Action Committee Meetings on the first Saturday morning of every month, in order to keep business out of the Discipleship night when we focus on the Word.
It is actually amazing how these previously stressed workaholics have learned to put the Lord and His work first in their lives. It seems the healthy personal relationships that we encourage have a lot to do with this! We really become their family and first friendship level in the social sense.
Training Live-outs to Drop Out Of the Rat Race and Lead a Simple Life
In the beginning of the course, many of the live-outs were a bit worried about our intentions. Did we Family members expect them to drop out, too, like we had done? Since much of the Word we were reading was more meaty and directed toward CM disciples, some thought our eventual goal was to turn them into live-ins. Since most of them are older and have myriad responsibilities, we obviously didn't have that in mind, and we made sure to repeat this to them often, to ease their fears! Ha!
However, we've had a lot of experience with Family friends not going much further in terms of real spiritual growth because their reading and fellowship time with the Lord and us gets snuffed out by the affairs of this world. We would almost feel bad about asking them to do Word assignments as homework, because they were already overworked and felt guilty about spending so little time with their families and loved ones, etc.
We live-ins can often guarantee our Word time with morning devotions or another slot scheduled for Word during the day. As a matter of fact, we have to have it, in order to be a CM Home as stipulated in the Charter. But our live-outs with secular jobs have to struggle to have just a minute in the Word. This is the reason why many of them never grew much! However, with the discipleship program and clear-cut Word and memory goals, we needed to help them organize their time and lives a bit, to ensure they would get quality Word and prayer time. They also needed to learn to slow down in their daily lives enough to notice the cries of the hungry sheep that the Lord sent their way to witness to.
We turned this process of learning to drop out spiritually, without physically dropping out of the System into a course called The Simple Life! If the lives of our live-outs were too complicated with debts, the emotional blackmail of ex-wives/husbands, or other pressures making them unavailable to assume any further commitments such as discipleship, they needed to count the cost to see if they would be willing to lead a simple life!
What is a simple life? In order to help them grasp the importance of this concept, we gave it a definition: the simple life—an uncomplicated, slow-paced life, leaving you with enough time and flexibility to enjoy life and help others find Jesus.
The verses we used to back up this principle or philosophy were from Matthew 6:24-34, majoring on Matthew 6:33! There are two main reasons why we felt the Lord wanted us to put such an emphasis on the simple life in discipleship:
1. Without a clear decision to lead a simple life, it would be very difficult for our live-outs to take regular Word time, do their homework, take part in Family activities, witness, etc.
2. If we don't learn to simplify our lives, then it is senseless to accept any further commitments for God (or anyone else, for that matter). For someone who is overloaded and overstressed, adding one more activity like discipleship could be the straw that breaks the camel's back!
When we throw out the challenge of leading a simple life, we use a questionnaire to help them understand the need for a simpler lifestyle, by having them look at their own lives in relation to what they are able to do for the Lord and others. The questionnaire has the following questions:
*Am I willing to avoid responsibilities and expenses that aren't really necessary at this point in my life, as I dedicate myself and my time more to the Discipleship Course (specifically) and to seeking first the Kingdom of God (Word and prayer time, witnessing, and fellowship)?
*Do I keep my eyes on Jesus and not so much on circumstances and conditions (financial and other pressures)?
*Do I trust the Lord that all things, even the difficulties, work together for good to them that love the Lord?
*Do I truly have a simple lifestyle, so that I have time for the Lord to invest in the people that the Lord puts in my path?
We have found it very fruitful to get them to take a good look at their lifestyles and check out how their day-to-day lives really run. We also did a whole weekend retreat one year on this subject, called Simplify Your Life, which was a real hit. We offered a lot of concrete steps toward simplifying things in your life, like de-junking (and giving the good junk to the missionaries!); learning to do bulk buying just as we do and thus cut lots of little trips to the neighborhood store; establishing routines in shopping, get-out, housecleaning and clothes-washing. We also shared little timesaving tips like taking off your shoes in the house to prevent dirtying up the floor so fast.
On lifestyle, we encourage them to move to a smaller house or apartment if they really don't need a big one; buy a secondhand car if they can't afford a new one; sell their extravagant items (boats, etc.); get rid of extra clothes they don't use; avoid blowing money by spending so much at expensive restaurants; reduce TV-watching; cancel unnecessary magazine and newspaper subscriptions; sell their cellular phone unless it is a genuine necessity; simplify gift-buying; travel inexpensively; spend their vacation at home occasionally and turn it into a special Word and prayer time, etc. As you can see, our preaching turned to meddling! But that is what discipleship is all about.
Our live-outs actually love all these tips. Several have often confessed they felt left out or not trusted when we didn't really expect their lives to change and we didn't share all these little tips that we have learned or that Dad and Mama have taught us over the years. We also touch on simplifying their finances: pay off debts, tithe to the Lord's work, try to live on half of what they earn and save the other half, change extravagant buying habits, drop the purchase of unnecessary goods and services, drop excess credit cards, keep better track of checks, discipline themselves not to write postdated checks, train their children to be accountable for their finances, etc.
Regarding their work life, we have encouraged them not to be slaves to their agendas, to live close to their work or even work at home if possible, to change careers if they feel they are dry and broke, to work less and enjoy it more, to include their family in their professional life.
In health matters, we encourage them to simplify their eating habits; to split big plates with their wife/friend when eating in restaurants; to drink lots of water and juice; to eat lusties only once in a while, so then they'll be special and they can enjoy them; to eat a packed lunch so they consume less junk food, which will be cheaper and more of what they really need; to forget about expensive clubs and personal trainers; to go to bed and get up earlier for better health and Word time (even going to bed at 9 PM once a week, if needed to catch up on sleep!); to throw away unnecessary medicine; and to learn to laugh, pray, and enjoy life! Go slow, we tell them. You'll get there quicker!
Regarding their personal lives: We encourage them to do a few light purges of unfruitful personal relationships; don't try to change everything all at once (try one-month campaigns); trust the Lord; stop trying to change others (especially your spouse!); take a weekend off in the country regularly with your family; go to Family-run spiritual retreats; keep a diary; take time to watch the sunset; learn to delegate and say no when necessary; leave any unfruitful organizations you may be a member of; learn to accept the past; change your expectations according to new realities (especially in the area of finances!); and review your lifestyle regularly to see if you're getting any simpler! Ha!
Although the list looks a bit long, we have learned that people actually love to hear the details on how to break longtime bad habits. When some of them have deep-rooted problems with bad habits, of course, we take time to pray with them. But we also try to help them see that they need to put forth the effort of a believing will to change in these areas. Many of the things we try to pass on to them are things Dad lived and taught us, much of which is in the Life with Grandpa , but which we translate into live-out terms.
They love the idea of simplifying their lives!—And the good fruits have been amazing! Our discipleship group has learned that they can live a truly revolutionary new life without necessarily dropping out. It is incredible to see how most of them have received acclaim from friends and relatives for the changes they have made, and these loved ones know it is only the Lord, as they were very aware of all their bad habits and problems! The discipline many of them have learned from us in financial matters in the credit card world has truly revolutionized their lives, and they have the happy, healthy spirits to prove it.
Recently we drew up a Discipleship Code based on the opening section of the Charter which makes some of these suggestions a bit more like the responsibilities of a live-out. We felt that an official standard was becoming more and more needed, with new people joining and the live-out discipleship movement in Brazil spreading.
From Tommy and Spanish Juan, Brazil
Over the last five or six years, we have worked at finding labor leaders and training them. This experience has helped us to get the vision of how many of our friends and live-outs can actually maintain a higher level of commitment, that of real discipleship. Our Home is virtually supported by the live-out work, making it possible for us to concentrate on feeding them, organizing events to win others, etc. The CROs here, together with Johnny B. and his video team, have done an excellent job presenting the whole live-out disciple movement in a three-part video series entitled The Wave. (Editor's note: Please contact your CRO office if you would like to view The Wave, to learn more about this ministry with friends and live-out disciples in Brazil.)
Following are some components of the follow-up vision as it has developed here in Brazil so far. These aspects aren't all necessary for a successful follow-up program, but rather this is an attempt to categorize the various processes the Lord has led us to use here.
1. Discipleship Groups
As explained in Part One (FSM362), this is how the whole vision started—when we challenged our most potential live-out labor leaders to come up to a new standard beyond mere friendship, that of assuming full-fledged live-out discipleship. In fulfillment of Dad's vision for us to teach others to teach others, and quietly and privately train leaders, we as CMers needed to accept full responsibility for the shepherding of this discipleship group, as well as supplying the reading material indispensable to their spiritual growth. They needed to meet the basic requirements and form the habits of a disciple as described in the Charter on page 1:
Maintain a close connection with God through personal communion with Jesus, personal and united prayer and praise, personal and united reading of His Word (both the Bible and the Letters), Scripture memorization, and the minimizing and resisting of ungodly and unedifying influences in their lives; thus exhibiting the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are: Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance (Galatians 5:22,23).
Once live-outs accept this challenge, then they officially start on the road of discipleship and serving the Lord as best they can as live-outs.
This is a genuine leadership training program where they are encouraged to turn their lives over to the Lord, discover and develop their talents and gifts of the Spirit for the Lord's work, and learn how to care for others as shepherds and as the Lord's servants. They are also directly challenged to engage in evangelism the same as live-ins, but without time quota stipulations (The Love Charter, 1.G, p.7).
In the Discipleship Course they also learn to take on responsibilities, like helping with the organizing of events, etc. They are also encouraged to tithe, though in light of what Dad says in the Letter Members we do not place a high priority on this issue, in the early stages (ML #1068, Vol.9).
The main goal of discipleship for our live-outs could be expressed like this: They need to learn to love and obey Jesus, build a personal relationship with Him, and develop the spiritual habits of a disciple without necessarily forsaking all. This group should be able to stand persecution and be fully aware of the basic Family beliefs as presented in our Statements.
2. Bible Studies in Groups, for Friends and New Converts
By friends we mean anyone you are ministering to who is not involved in discipleship or leadership courses. By new converts we mean people reached through personal references, street witnessing or mail ministry. All of your friends and live-outs should participate in a regular (weekly or bi-weekly) Bible study, either in your Home or in one of theirs, schedule permitting. You can organize these groups according to growth (beginner, intermediate, or advanced) or by affinity (couples, parents, singles, youth, professionals, older folks, etc.). The main thing is to try to get everyone into the Word and growing together.
Another advantage of getting people into groups is that it is very economical in terms of ministering to many sheep at the same time, and not getting too much into ministering to one or two at the expense of the whole group. One-on-one personal time can be quite limiting, although it is often vitally important in the beginning when making the original contact.
Other advantages are more participation (if the meeting is in one of their houses, for example), more training (as to how they should eventually hold Word studies and deal with the questions and difficulties of others), more use of people's gifts and talents, greater spiritual growth (more opportunities for doing and not just listening), deeper fellowship with others, more witnessing possibilities (the sheep need to hear about each other's witnessing experiences on a regular basis to get up the courage to do it themselves), deeper friendship, more shepherding, discovery of new leaders, more help for your Home to help in the planning and executing of events as people don't get lost in a big crowd but are called on more, retreats, etc., and more practical application of the Word (everyone in a small group benefits when one has a question and the teacher answers from the Word).
In these groups you will witness people's lives changing. This is where real spiritual growth often happens, and where people learn to witness, get united prayer, help others in practical terms, and learn the basics about the Lord and the Family.
3. Special Needs (Inner Healing, Deliverance, etc.)
Many people today have suffered one type of serious trauma or another (separation, violent robbery, unemployment, etc.) and are operating only at half capacity because of their bitterness, resentment, fears, or paranoia. As a result they can be severely handicapped emotionally and spiritually, and in need of special attention or deliverance. Hence, the need for inner healing support groups where people can get special Word diets and united prayer. The concept of inner healing—or, in our terms, deliverance from NWOs or deep-rooted problems related to bitterness—is very well explained in the Christian Digest article by John Wimbur on Bitterness or Forgiveness, page 10. (A thorough reading of this article is helpful to understand why we chose this term.)
Once again, a candidate for this type of group would need to admit their need for deliverance before getting into the course. If the Lord indicates the need and the person accepts the challenge to change and get delivered, it usually takes a bit of time for full healing and recuperation. This is obviously a special service that is not for everyone, but from our experience with live-outs, if anyone is seriously thinking of serving the Lord and going into discipleship, even in a live-out capacity, they need to come clean, as Dad warned years ago in Who To?! (ML #334A, Vol.3).
Although we are not a hospital, we have found that many potential people in their 40s and 50s have a serious need for some cleaning up before they can have a real change or accept any responsibility, at least to be counted on in our work. We have had some wonderful results from investing in these precious ones' inner healing, many of whom are now some of our best personal witnesses. They can say with full conviction to new sheep they meet, I've been where you're standing, and I know Jesus can change everything if you'll just give Him a chance. Often, those who make it and have a genuine deliverance become leaders in some capacity, as they have personally been touched and healed and can now serve others with genuine sacrificial and unconditional love. (Editor's note: Material on this course is being prepared for your use in helping live-outs experience inner healing and get victories over traumas or deeply rooted problems that are holding them back from giving their all to the Lord.)
4. Ministry Teams
All the Home's live-out members, especially those in Discipleship Courses, should be encouraged to discover their gifts and talents and find their calling in the Lord's work, whether it is in organizing events, encouraging others to give, or exercising the gift of helps! As individuals, we get very little done for the Lord, but through the common-potting of everyone's gifts and talent, the Lord can do a lot more with us.
As people start witnessing and falling in love with Jesus, they want to know how they can do more and where they can fit in and be part of a ministry. It can be CTP (going and helping with the local favela [slum] project, etc.), playing guitar at inspiration or simply helping arrange the decorations at the next benefit dinner. When people feel they are part of a team, they are willing to take on more responsibility and they learn precious lessons about teamwork and working with others. This is also a way to develop new leadership, as often people who may not see themselves as leaders of a Bible study may be more than willing to help lead in another capacity where they feel more comfortable (CTP events, fund-raising, provisioning, skit teams, music ministry, etc.).
5. Church of Love/Retreats
The Church of Love is where those from any type of group, discipleship candidates as well as brand-new converts off the street, can get together to praise the Lord in song, share their testimonies from the week, pray for their needs, and let the Lord break through to them as a group, much as Dad said in the Church of Love (ML #617, Vol.5), the Fellowship Revolution (ML #1001, Vol.9), etc. It's an excellent opportunity for everyone to pour their hearts out before the Lord in prayer and have fun fellowship together as well.
How you choose to do this in your Home or area depends on whether or not you have a good location for it, musicians, CC helpers, a PA system, etc. Or it can just be a simple weekly meeting of all your friends if there are just a few participating. (See Mama's class: The Next Step: The COL in The Word Witnessing Revolution series, FSMs 62-68).
6. Local Mixed Teamwork
To head up the live-out work, much of which is run by the live-outs themselves, we advise having a teamwork of three to six people, composed of members of the actual live-in Home teamwork together with three or four veteran live-outs, the main pillars of the live-out work of your Home. You need bellwethers from both sides of the fence to help support you both financially and in every other way, if you are to get the job done with so much to do and so few to do it.
For example, if a Home has a live-out discipleship group of 10 to 20 people, it is important to meet with the main live-out veterans for prayer and planning in a small group atmosphere, without getting into distracting opinions that are commonly expressed in large group settings. The live-out disciples on this mixed teamwork need to be clear about their role in supporting the CM teamwork members in the executing of goals and shepherding of people. They are junior members of the teamwork, who need to clearly understand that they are learners, especially when it comes to the spiritual shepherding of others. Their function is more along the line of being deacons, helping with the physical administration of events, etc. They do this with the vision of eventually participating on a more spiritual level, giving classes, counseling, using their gift of prophecy as a help not just for themselves but in getting prophecies for others, etc.
The live-out teamworkers also need to be aware of all of the Home's goals and needs (children, homeschooling, teens, finances, Home standard, etc.), not just the witnessing and outreach side. This way they won't pull the CMs so much toward their live-out needs that the CM neglects the home front and his own family, thus weakening his very base from which to build on.
Once you have three or four live-outs who are just as concerned about your Home and your family as they are about what the live-outs are doing, then they can help remind the rest of the live-out disciples about the Home's limitations and needs. Those live-outs who become a part of your intimate fellowship should have already been through the Discipleship Course and have read the basic Letters, Treasures, etc. They don't need to be perfect, but should obviously be making an effort to be exemplary bellwethers to the flock.
This three-to-six-man mixed teamwork should meet periodically for pow-wows, planning, and hearing from the Lord, as well as mutual support.
7. Shepherding the Shepherds
At one point, Pedro CRO and Jeremias VS held a mini-retreat in Rio for all of the main Family members involved in the follow-up ministry here. We were able to get some precious time with the Lord and our shepherds, vital to keep us high risk follow-up people on track. With the job of constantly pouring out and helping others, Family members dedicated to follow-up and all of its responsibilities tend to get overworked and overburdened—and thus need to get shepherded themselves!
Also it is a ministry which can really minister to our pride, as our sheep often attribute the changes in their lives to our shepherding, friendship, charisma, etc. We can end up pretty independent, thus negatively affecting our ability to reflect the Lord in our ministering to others. These are realities which could be chalked up to common tendencies inherent to the ministry, risks of the trade, as Dad often warned about when addressing showy, results-oriented ministries.
In addition to taking advantage of shepherding, one way to combat these problems would be for those who work in the follow-up ministry—especially those who do a lot of hands-on shepherding themselves—to get together regularly for prayer, prophecy, and mutual support. This provides encouragement as well as a means to safeguard each other, much as is expected in city council meetings in the Charter where chairing is done on a rotating basis.
Keeping the whole Home in the know with testimonies and reports of follow-up progress, is imperative. This way, everyone in the Home feels a part of the work, even if their part is behind the scenes. This brings them in and encourages them to give their support to the ministry.
In my opinion, all of the above components—from the shepherding of shepherds to the training of ministry teams—are necessary to consider if you are sincerely thinking of getting into the follow-up ministry. But there's obviously room for all kinds of innovation and invention, and there's no one set way to go about it. What I've included here are aspects to consider, needs or factors that you will probably encounter along the way. (Editor's note: Each Home can ask the Lord for His tailor-made approach and direction for their care of the friends He has brought their way. It's essential when handling the hearts of your sheep to find out from the Lord what will help them the most to grow closer to Him and into the role that He has for them. He can give you His vision and instruction for each one, as well as overall plans for the follow-up in your Home, which will be a real encouragement to you. He knows not only what your Home can do, but what each sheep needs, so His personal words can give you just the guidance you need for this important ministry.)
It's a challenge to try to implement all of this.—It's quite a list. But at the same time I think we have learned a lot through our successes as well as our boo-boos. We pray that our experience can benefit those who are seriously interested in going into the follow-up business, and making dedicated and strong disciples out of friends and live-outs.
Love, Tommy and Juan
Others may not feel they have the know-how, experience, or even the confidence to get up before groups and teach Bible studies, or advise on personal problems, or lead the sheep in this way. If they feel that way, all they have to do is ask Me for My guidance as to how to feed the sheep, what to teach, where to do it, who to invite, and how much to be involved with each sheep, and I will lead and guide them.
Each one of your sheep, your friends, your outside members, and your live-outs are very important to Me—just as each of you are important to Me. As you are their link to Me, at least while they are little babies in spirit, I will tell you how to take care of them. I will lead and guide in each situation specifically, and I will help you know just what they need and how to minister to them. And as you dedicate yourself and your love and your time to them, great fruit will be borne in the form of protection, finances, help, and also souls and more disciples as these live-outs and friends turn around and win more to Me.
So fear not to proceed, even if you feel incapable, or especially if you feel incapable, for I love that—when you are willing to obey Me in spite of your weaknesses and limitations. That makes a great vacuum for My Spirit to come in and lead and guide and fill you up, and I will be the One to bring forth fruit that will be wonderful and beautiful in My eyes.