This is part 2 of our two part series with Chris Galanos.
People of peace (in a western context)
Chris shares how he came to realise the significance of the person of peace by sharing a powerful story from an access ministry his father was part of in a local US gaol.
Engaging with ‘PIPSY’ people
Chris encourages us to join God where he is already working. Jesus tells us when we help those in need, we help him (Matthew 25:31-46). Chris sums up those in need in this passage in four groups:
- P – Poor (hungry or thirsty)
- I – International (stranger)
- P – Prisoner
- S – Sick
(Some have added Youth as the Y in this ‘PIPSY’ people acronym)
Chris shares how he has found these groups of people are often the most responsive to spiritual conversations. After all, Jesus’ call was to the poor (Luke 4:14-30). And so is ours.
Multiplication moving people away
Chris shares how those in the network started to expand to people from other places. His started to offer his training online. He tells us how only a small percentage of those who do the training go on to become practitioners.
However, fast forward to last August and Chris is now seeing:
- 5000 leaders engaged in the work from around the US.
- 1368 groups are running with several hundred in West Texas.
- Chris says how he started to realise how God’s vision for the 1 million new disciples might be a lot broader than West Texas. He has seen this with 35 states of the US and 33 nations becoming involved.
- Today, Chris celebrates seeing 800 churches birthed around the world. More people are now part of the movement than were originally part of his mega church.
Chris describes how Jesus’ Great Commission vision for all the nations was always meant to multiply out of our control.
Coaching and teams
Chris shares how ongoing coaching is vital. It gives accountability and motivation to get what he calls ‘base hits’ every single week. He often asks those he coaches this question:
Out of the seven elements, which do you think is the most important?
His answer is number 7 – ongoing coaching.
“Without it, we probably won’t do the other 6 elements.”
Chris continues sharing the importance of having what he calls both ‘coaching call’ and local teams.
- The local teams are where people ‘raise the sails’ together.
- The broader teams are groups of likeminded people from around a country or region. This ‘coaching call’ group is an important team for people to belong to as they feel part of a wider vision. Iron sharpens iron in this teams. People learn from each other’s successes and challenges.
What is church?
Chris illustrates how we have added a lot of extra-biblical definitions to what the bible calls ‘ekklesia’. He says how we need to remember two things about church.
- Church is not a building or place, it is a people.
- Church does not need any money.
Chris points to Paul’s words to the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 14). When a church gathers, no one person should dominate the meeting. Instead everyone participates as each person uses their gifts. Chris also refers to the example of the early church in Acts 4. He shows us how instead of leaving a Sunday gathering saying how great one person was during the service, the early church left with boldness.
Word of encouragement – two or three reaching 100,000!
From what those like Justin Long (a researcher from ‘Beyond’) are seeing globally with movements,
“A team (focusing on multiplication) of just two or three can reach 100,000”
Chris finishes this series by speaking directly to us as the listeners,
“Do you have another friend or family member who is on fire? One or two others who want to go ‘all in’ on multiplying disciples? If you do, God can use you. Could you believe for 100,000 people as a team? God can use you as you gather a team and raise the sails together.”
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:05 — 12.9MB)
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