How do you measure progress?

In our Amdu literacy classes we make a big deal about short, nubby pencils.  They represent hard work and determination.  A nubby pencil earns a student a brand new replacement pencil so they can keep plowing ahead and making progress.  We do the same thing when a student fills up that last page in their notebook!  It takes more than a nubby pencil to earn a graduation certificate, though.  Our Ethnos360 training has provided us with a more rigorous rubric for that job.

To earn a graduation certificate and move on to the post literacy class each student has to be able to read at least 55 words per minute and make no more than three mistakes during their reading test.  They must have completed all four primers, readers and home work books and a final written exam.

A nubby pencil is a great sign of progress, but without these more detailed definitions for success we can’t be confident about our students progress.  Instead, with our rubric in place before we even begin teaching we know exactly where we are going and what it has to look like when we get there!  Literacy progress and success is measurable and therefore gives us direction.

The same principle is true in making disciples.  Our Ethnos360 training has provided us with a rubric for disciple making also.  It is the result of many years of cross cultural experience and a long hard look into the Word of God.  Just like with the Amdu Literacy Program, we know exactly where we are going with discipleship, and we know what it needs to look like when we get there.

Our rubric for disciple making is called the Mature Church Model.  In short, the MCM is a detailed picture of maturity that has been drawn from the epistles of the New Testament; this is the objective.  Working back from this objective, specific goals like establishing literacy have been drafted up, laying out a clear map for missionaries to follow from day one.  Without these detailed definitions we can’t be sure of our disciples’ maturity!  Progress in the life of a disciple is measurable and therefore supplies us with direction.

Lest you get the opinion that we are leaning purely on a “game plan” for success in Amdu, hear us when we say we are convinced that nothing can happen there without the Holy Spirit’s doing it.  From the very first day in Amdu we have felt ourselves being stretched beyond our means.  We see the gap between our own abilities and the objectives of the MCM and cry out to the Father to enable us on a regular basis.  He has never failed to supply all that we need.

Some of the most exciting days of ministry in Amdu are ahead of us.  If you haven’t already subscribed to our Master List please do it so we can share in what God is doing together.  We need you on our team.  The future Amdu church needs you.  In the right column of this webpage is a subscription form.  It’s simple.  Just add your name and your email address and you’ll hear from us regularly!

Thanks for partnering with us!