A few weeks ago, we mentioned an article we had come across regarding disciple-making movements. As several readers pointed out, the article isn’t really a guide. Rather, it’s a bit of a rebuke. We set about to gather input from those who implement disciple-making movement strategies. And we have seriously gathered some great input. (Thanks to all those who have participated!) Today we’ll share just one response. This input comes from the lead trainer at Send International. He said that Send International had previously been recommending Radius International to their new recruits. However, he expressed real concern about whether or not they should continue to do so, based on the kind of thinking that went into this article. So for this week’s “Last Bit,” we are simply asking that you check out Ken Guenther’s response at…
https://brigada.org/response-to-radius
You can also download a PDF of the article at…
https://brigada.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/response_to_radius.pdf
Thank you, Ken, for your sincere and heart-felt response! If you know someone at Radius International, please feel free to let them know about this response.
Thanks Ken for that great response.
For information, the Radius conference and Chad Vegas hit it even harder here.
https://radiusinternational.org/concerns-with-modern-missions-methods-qa/
Thanks, Steve. For sure, hearing it “live” it sounds a bit harder, perhaps. But I still believe most of the issues are along the same lines that Ken is addressing in his response. Hearing Mr. Vegas share these thoughts live drives home even more, however, that a) he made sure to establish that this was not a personal issue against proponents of CPM/DMM. And that’s much appreciated. And b) it also drives home the fact that Mr. Vegas has never actually been a part of any of these approaches. With all due respect to him, he speaks as one who has read books about them. To me, that would be something akin to trying to teach someone about how to swim without ever actually getting in the water and learning the strokes personally. I would love to invite Mr. Vegas to visit and take part in one of these movements before he criticizes them. Ultimately, seeing 1.7 million people to accept Christ, follow the Bible, and begin sharing Jesus’ story with others — it’s a profound event. The challenge for someone like Mr. Vegas is to sit back in his arm chair and throw cold water on any approach that results in 27+ generations of growth. I won’t question why Mr. Vegas would decide to critique that outcome. But nor will I question the reality of those 650+ movements. One tiny thing I would correct: Jerry pronounces his name “Trousdale” [like the first syllable of trousers], not Truesdale. : )