The Power of Multiplication
/Every ministry has to decide if they want to use addition or multiplication thinking. What do we mean? Well, if a ministry chooses addition, then the impact of that ministry will be measured by how many people are directly affected by the ones who lead the ministry. If it chooses multiplication, the impact will be measured by how many people are affected over multiple generations, beginning with those who are directly affected by a ministry’s leaders.
To illustrate, imagine taking a penny as your starting point and adding another penny each day for thirty days, that is one penny on day one added to two pennies on day two, three on day three, etc. if you do this, you will end up with $4.65. Now imagine taking a penny and doubling it every day for thirty days, that is one penny on day one, two on day two, four on day three, eight on day four, etc. If you do this, you will end up with $5.4 million, give or take a few pennies. That’s the power of multiplication!
Over the years, we have been asked so many times how many people we have trained. On its face, it’s a pretty simple question to answer if you’re thinking in terms of addition. But, if you’re thinking in terms of multiplication, it gets a little harder. How many have we trained? I’m guessing we’ve directly trained about a thousand students over our twenty-five trips. That’s awesome, and we’re delighted to have done this. But, we don’t think this tells the whole story.
Our Zambian director and dear friend, Percy Muleba, puts it like this: “We have trained more than ten thousand over the years. And I’m just being polite!” That is, we have trained more than ten thousand if you think in terms of multiplication, not addition. Our students have become trainers of students who’ve become trainers of even more students who’ve become…Well, you get the idea.
We thought of this when a young pastor in our Mumbwa class named Given, Jr. told us about his dream for the future of his ministry. Given, Jr. is currently planting a new church about thirty-five miles into the bush outside Mumbwa. His wife, Veronica, and he ride a motorcycle two hours each way every Sunday to lead worship and disciple what is now a fifty member church. It all started two years ago when a friend from the village called asking for help on behalf of her friend, a head woman in the village, who had a very sick ten year old daughter. The head woman had been taking the girl to the witch doctor and she had grown progressively and alarmingly worse. Given, Jr. and Veronica were willing, so this woman brought her daughter and left her with them in Mumbwa. Her parting words were, “If she dies, at least I know she will die in God.”
But, she didn’t die. Given, Jr. and Veronica prayed for her and cared for her, and she became healthy again. When they returned her to her mother, this head woman and her daughter were now open to the Gospel. Over about six months, Given, Jr. and Veronica led them to Jesus and discipled them. And a church was born. It’s been difficult, Given told us, because of the widespread witchcraft and polygamy in the village, but steady life transformation is happening!
Now, back to Given’s dream, in his words: “I want to raise a generation of people who deeply know God and are grounded in his Word!” We believe his dream is possible if he continues on the path he has chosen for ministry. After all, he’s already up to fifty disciples and he’s only twenty-nine years old. Now that’s multiplication thinking!
As always, thank you for your love, prayers, and support. We couldn’t do this without you, and it is our joy. And, remember, where we go, you go!