Rwanda

A few weeks ago we went to Kigali, Rwanda for week-long conference on church planting movements.  There were over 100 people there from 17 countries and they sections in both English and French.  The teacher was David Watson, who has done mission work all over the world.  

The conference was great.  Before we came to Tanzania, our team had spent some time learning about discovery bible studies, or 3-column studies, from John King, the preacher at our home church.  The method is, in short, this: In the first column, you copy word for word the section of scripture you are studying.  In the second column, you re-write the passage in your own words, and in the third column, you write what you feel prompted to do from your study of the passage and prayer.  We call these "I will" statements.  The first column makes you slow down and really look at the passage.  The second column ensures that you really have an understanding of what it means.  This is great for study--I think we often skip over things b/c "we know" what they mean, and then when it comes time to explain it, we lose our knowing.  The third column is great for obedience and is really the key of this style of study.  So often we read something and think, "oh, that's great, " but we don't really do anything about it.  The I will statements have you actually acting out what the Bible teaches.  These studies are typically done in groups, and thus you are also accountable to do what you said you are going to do.  

CPM also puts more emphasis on God and the Bible as the real teachers, rather than the missionary.  If the learners have questions, instead of just answering the question, we show them where in the Bible to read, and they learn to look for answers from God themselves.  Also, while we will still be attending the group studies, we quit leading them after just 2 or 3 weeks.  We train a member of the group to lead the study (even though they are usually not yet believers), and meet with him some time the week before to go over things. This creates more ownership in a church and allows for less dependence on the missionary.  Another key is multiplication.  Group members are instructed to share what they learned that week with at least one other person.  After a group has been meeting a couple of weeks, no one else is allowed to join the group.  Instead, when someone comes and says, "My friends wants to study too." We tell them to start another group which they can lead.  So that person continues in the group they are in and is leading another group.  

So, that is CPM in brief.  Trying to fit a week-long conference in two paragraphs is difficult, but you get the gist.  The picture at the top is of Brett with the members of his small group at the conference.  I think the guy on the right decided to try to start growing a beard to compete with Brett...

In addition to learning a lot of neat things, I also got to see several friends from college, most of whom I had no idea would be there.  So that was a nice bonus.  Plus, Kigali has a great pizza restaurant.