Planting Churches among the City's Poor - Volume 1

48 • P LANTING C HURCHES AMONG THE C ITY ’ S P OOR : V OLUME 1

Team formation and training follow the screening and selection process. A church-planting team should come together for a period of interaction and adjustment to develop group cohesion. This group-forming process often involves intensive cross-cultural training. Dayton and Fraser, in their book on planning mission strategy, acknowledge, The missions community recognizes that cross cultural training in communicating the gospel and planting the church is essential. . . . The task of on-site training of missionaries needs to be viewed as the highest missionary calling, not an interruption of the real task. 74 Veteran missionaries advocate training through hands-on practical experience in cross-cultural ministry. Many believe a team formation training period is essential to establish effective church-planting teams. Kevin Dyer says, Training became the indispensable key to success for building and developing our teams. Since we began a six-month intensive training program, our casualty rate on the field has plummeted to four percent. . . . we have found that six months is about the optimum time. Most prospective missionaries can put on a spiritual front for about six weeks, but after that the cracks begin to appear under intense pressure. At about the four month stage, another crucial time is faced. The reality of what is ahead has clearly been faced and the team has or has not jelled. 75 Once the team has been screened, selected, trained and formed into a cohesive unit, they are then commissioned and sent out with the support, prayers and direction of the mission. Commissioning is important to assure that the Holy Spirit is recognized as the author of the church-planting effort. Shenk and Stutzman affirm that, One’s personal sense of call must be confirmed by the church. Otherwise, two serious problems may arise. First, it might be that the aspiring church planter has ulterior motives. Perhaps the idea to plant a church is of one’s own making and not from the Lord. If the church planting ministry is not God’s appointment, the church planter may become quickly discouraged and the effort will not bear

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74 Edward R. Dayton and David A. Fraser, Planning Strategies for World Evangelization , (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), p. 155

75 Kevin Dyer, “Crucial Factors in Building Good Teams”, Helping Missionaries Grow , p. 127