Objective Goals

What if you were suddenly dropped into an environment that had almost no New Testament churches?  What if you were given the task of reaching them! What would you do first to break up the soil? How would you reach 2.3 million lost people with the Gospel? How would you organize to reach those in over 800 villages that are fiercely protected by their priests? What would your strategy include? Would you build a building and just wait for people to come to it?  Would you need to start one big church with one pastor and hope for thousands of members or would you just work to develop a leadership structure that ministers through many small groups?  What will be the greatest challenge in trying to reach 90% of the people in your region that are not the slightest bit interested in changing their religion? How will you get a very legalistic “born again” believer from the local church to use grace and patience when reaching out to the masses that are “extremely religious” people who see nothing wrong with strong drink, cussing, pornography and smoking! This is the why the Galati Plan exists.  We believe this strategy, also known as the National Bible Reading Campaign, will be a very effective in helping us to accomplish this seemingly impossible task.

Scripture is our Primary Guide

We begin by prayer walking the city and divide it into separate parts, much like Joshua did in conquering the Promised Land; Josh 18:3-10 is literally where we came up with the idea! Then we obey that which Jesus taught His servants in Luke 14:15-24; we go out into the city and then out into the country and begin inviting the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind to the great feast.  We then move into the homes and begin using our understanding of  Matthew 10:5-16 where Jesus teaches those from His country to reach people in His country.  Next, we move towards a New Testament “church” that operated out of houses as we know happened from reading Romans 16:5.  We will try to start a church, (by church we do not mean a building) but a group of “Born Again” believers who put Jesus in the center of all that they say and do. This group of baptized believers will follow their King and also become a Kingdom building force. We are not talking about a building made of “ brick and mortar” but the church of the Living God.  Next,  we move into the equipping of those He calls to assist and serve His church called apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers who will provide leadership by serving and bringing the group into  complete unity and maturity (Ephesians 4:4-13).  Finally, we must pass this responsibility on to those who are not new converts but have proven themselves trustworthy and of good reputation (2 Tim 2:2).

The Foundation

We must concentrate our efforts on what we CAN do now… while at the same time waiting expectantly, looking forward to the results that only God CAN do.  We must start with a solid foundation. We obviously can not build a foundation with out first deciding what the roof will look like. When discussing our project it is critical  to distinguish between shingles and footings, roof slopes and anchor bolts; sheet metal roofing and steel reinforcement rods!  Before any construction can begin we must grab the shovel to begin preparing the ground for the foundation which will some day in the future and only with God’s help have a roof.

One Person

It may seem crazy but in order to reach the 2.3 million people in our region why not start with one person and work from there! We have all heard of how someone started an avalanche by one seemingly innocent step.  Let us engage “one person” with “one question” that quickly begins a spiritual conversation and produces an opportunity for further discussion.  With that opportunity we “teach one lesson”  that begins a “chain reaction” leading to more and more lessons .  Our efforts are rewarded when we “form one group” from those who are now our friends in Christ! But keeping our objective in mind we must continue to reach out to others so we choose and “make one leader” from this new group and finally,  after all is said and done we must “repeat the process” all over again until we have gained some momentum and confidence. With the process in place we can keep working toward winning our city to Christ.  This does not leave 2.3 million people stranded without hope. You will be praying for, talking to and disciplining the same people you came to reach.    Remember this is an operational plan! It is made up of six progressive goals that keep you moving towards your “final objective.”

Two Sets of Goals – One Objective

Because we are working where a church has been established and not enjoying that which Paul longed for (Romans 15:20) we must work a two fold strategy.   Our strategy allows us to work directly with lost people in the harvest and also uses a different set of steps for working with the established church.  Much like God used Paul to reach the gentiles and Peter to reach the Jews we also use two distinct approaches to reach the 2.3 million people in our region. Reading and understanding Ephesians 2:11-18 will help clarify and verify why we must move towards one objective from two different angles.

Learning the Plan

Because this plan is an “obedience” based plan, it is best learned by doing what it says to do. Unfortunately it can not be learned so well by lecture where you only hear what needs to be done and not see it.  There is a short lesson for each of the “ten steps” of the Galati Plan.  The Galati Plan is four parts “motivational” and six parts “operational.”  Each of the “motivational” lessons try to help the trainee learn a critical thinking process necessary to channel grace to the lost.  The short lesson plans for the “operational” part will give the trainee some lessons learned from the use of the materials over the past few years.  The Kingdom Doctrinal Track sets up the doctrinal foundation that will help the new convert defend grace and stay alert while watching for the return of Christ.  Just like those who play the game of chess know that “check” is not “check mate” those who are trying to plant churches know that teaching on ‘church planting” is not “church planting.”  The only way to learn the Galati Plan is to experience it.  It is a plan that is caught not taught.

Six Progressive Goals-Paul

The Galati Plan laid out chronologically left to right.  Pre-Conversion, Pre-Church and the different options we have with the “Cell Church” as the final target.  This plan is meant only to be a “skeleton” and not a full blown “fleshed out” strategy.

I.          Find One Person

• Joshua 18:3-10
• Zone
• Prayer Walking / SBC teams

II.        Ask One Question

• Luke 14:15-24
• Street
• Share Jesus Without Fear / SBC teams
• Comparison chart (see attach)

III.       Teach One Lesson

• Matthew 10:5-16
• Apartments/Houses
• National Bible Reading Campaign / SBC teams
• People Who Knew Jesus
• Faith Power
• Christian Discipleship

IV.       Form One Group

• Romans 16:5
• Meeting Place
• I have been Born Again, Now what?
• John-behold the Lamb
• Galatians-Grace to Law
• Romans-Road to Righteousness

V.        Make One Leader

• Ephesians 4:4-13
• Church
• 2^nd Reformation
• Life in the Body
• Kingdom Doctrinal Track

VI.       Repeat One Time

• 2 Tim 2:2
• Harvest
• Go back to step one!

Base Ball Diamond –Batter Up!

This really helps us understand the first four goals of the National Bible Reading Campaign.  We begin by prayer walking the zone hoping to find one person.  We are on first base simply by getting out and prayer walking breaking up the hard soil.  When safely on first base we then move out into the street ready to use our “Share Jesus Without Fear” method where we begin by asking one question. When safely on second base we are now heading for third base trying to get in the apartment or house of a lost person in order to teach one lesson.   When safely on third base we then work towards home plate by finding a meeting place and forming one group.    The game of Base Ball is normally won by a team effort and a steady stream of base hits and does not rely on home runs and grand slams although they sure are exiting when they happen!

Eight Progressive Goals -Peter

This set of eight progressive goals allows us to move into and work with our national brothers and sisters in Christ without pitting our strategy against theirs.  Those that want change and see the great need for more churches will begin to see the need for a different plan and start asking questions. Those won to Christ that  go on to join the local church have a way of energizing it and giving those in the pews some hope.   We must realize that they have certain rules and traditions that are very important to them.  We see ourselves more in the role of a consultant in this capacity and gently try to nudge them in the direction of these eight steps which may require years to accomplish…. if ever!   Each step contains a hazard, the solution to that hazard and the question that must be answered in order to accomplish it.

1.  Vision

• · Hazard- Misunderstanding Destination
• · Discover Vision
• · What is my first step?

2.  Team

• · Hazard-Failing with team Leadership
• · Develop vision & strategy as a team
• · How do I get my people on board?

3.  Reality

• · Hazard-not identifying the starting point
• · Access your current reality
• · Will Cell Groups work in our church?

4.  Prepare People

• · Hazard-Putting old wine into new wine skins
• · Prepare your church through transformation
• · How do we prepare the church for cell group success?

5.  Launch Strong

• · Hazard-Starting to abruptly
• · Launch first groups of Kingdom seekers
• · How do we start first groups?

6.  Generate Momentum

• · Hazard-Viewing cell groups as a program
• · Generate Cell group momentum
• · How do we experience dynamic cell groups?

7.  Critical Mass

• · Hazard-No support systems
• · Establish hidden systems
• · How do I establish cell groups as the base of the church?

8.  Expansion (Change City and Culture)

• · Hazard-Failing to maintain Focus
• · Expand Cell groups to reach the unreached
• · How do we mobilize groups to reach people?

These are eight goals we use for transforming the traditional church.  This is not our primary purpose but will move this direction if the local church asks for our assistance.  If we are asked ….. this is the path we will recommend in assisting  the “local church.” We will use great patience and wisdom when working with the local church. We are not “apostles” who have authority over that local church. A huge part of our team strategy is to show grace and love to our local church members without getting entangled in the system of rules that keeps them from reaching out with grace into the harvest. We can BEST teach that grace by SHOWING that grace!

Progress Tracking Chart (Galati Plan) {See Attached}

A Progress Tracking Chart is used to track the progress of all those who want to become leaders and mentors.  This Progress Tracking Chart is really the “key” to your training progress.  It concentrates on tracking what we can do while at the same time trusting  God for what only He can do. This is the real “secret” in building that foundation…trusting God! Remembering all the while what Jesus told us in  John 5:17  “My Father never stops working so why should I?”  If the chart is not used to train it will be difficult if not impossible to multiply groups of believers and develop our net work of Cell Church’s leaders.

Default Strategy

“So everywhere we go, we tell everyone about Christ. We warn them and teach them with all the wisdom God has given us, for we want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.  I work very hard at this, as I depend on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.” Colossians 1:28-29

Action Steps

F.  Fervent Prayer

• Maintain Prayer Net Work already established
• Maintain blog highlighting SBC work in Galati
• Establish A Prayer Walking Team for every zone in Galati
• Create a Prayer Walking guide and have it translated
• Enlist teams from the United States in prayer walking
• Explore the possibility of establishing prayer for unreached villages in the region (intercessory prayer partners)
• Explore and the possibility of establishing a  prayer coverage network for every pastor in the region.

I. Intentional Church Planting

• Plant a church in Zone 6
• Begin solid work in Zone 9
• Solidify group in Zone 13
• Develop Church Planting Task Force
• Work with Mission Pastor from Holy Trinity

R. Reach New Peoples

• Russian-Try to connect work with Russian Speaking people
• Turkish – try to connect work with Turkish people
• Moldova-Try to reach into southern Moldova
• Try to establish outreach center in mountains-Vrancea
• Bring in Student Volunteers to help develop cross-cultural outreach

S. Spiritual Vitality of Missionaries

• Memorization of Scripture
• Time of Fasting
• Bible Reading Program
• Involved in weekly small groups
• Try to find ways to stretch their faith

T. Training and Development

• Work at transforming old orphanage into an International Training Center    (ILC)  Develop each and every aspect of the building for reaching out
• We will extend our outreach up into the mountains where we now have a ‘base’ building that can hold almost 50 people.
• Get Galati Plan on paper (translated) Ten Steps
• Get National Bible Reading Campaign established in the city of Galati
• Get Kingdom Doctrinal Track on paper (translated)

Materials Used in the Galati Plan

Find One Person:

Prayer that Strengthens and Expands the Church-Glenn Livingston

Praying effectively for the Lost-

Ask One Question:

Share Jesus Without Fear-William Fay

Comparison Chart-Geddes

Teach One Lesson:

People Who Knew Jesus-Ted Lindwall

Faith Power-Ted Lindwall

Christian Discipleship-Ted Lindwall

Form One Group:

I Have Been Born Again, What Next? –Charles Brock

Galatians, Law and Grace-Charles Brock

Romans, Road to Righteousness-Charles Brock

John, Behold the Lamb-Charles Brock

Make One Leader:

Life in His Body-David Finnell

The Second Reformation-William A. Beckham

How Do We Get There from Here?-M. Scott Boren

Kingdom Doctrinal Track-Troy Geddes