Saturday, December 4, 2010

Seven Themes of Fruitfulness

Here is a short article that summarizes the key fruitful practices of kingdom workers who have planted at least one fellowship among Muslims.  From IJFM Summer 2009 Seven Themes of Fruitfulness by Eric Adams, Don Allen, and Bob Fish: 

These seven themes emerged in an inductive study of our data and our participants. We compared the technical statistics from our survey and key themes from the 115 interviews we conducted with fruitful workers (those who established at least one fellowship). We then highlighted those themes (such as orality and social networks) which are crucial for fostering movements, but are sometimes overlooked by western workers. Here, then, are these seven themes.
  1. Fluency - Effective workers are dedicated to be fluent in language and culture.
  2. Storying - Effective workers employ a strong use of storying throughout their ministry. In fact, storying is often tied with language.
  3. Reputation - Effective workers seek to maintain a valued reputation in the community.
  4. Social Networks - Effective workers maintain a focused involvement in existing social networks.
  5. Scripture Use - Effective workers seek to use the Scriptures in a variety of ways for the local context.
  6. Intentional Reproduction - Effective workers take what they learn and apply it to their life and to their community and pass it on to someone else.
  7. Prayer - Effective workers engage in regular disciplined prayer.

Read the whole thing (7 pages).

1 comment:

Unknown said...

If you found this article helpful, you may want to buy Where There Was No Church, which brings these Fruitful Practices to life. Where There Was No Church is a collection of true stories that show what God is doing through his people among Muslims. If you work in the Muslim world or are interested in doing so in the future, you will find this an excellent resource. The principles illustrated through the stories will also be of value to anyone living among other peoples where there is no church. Questions for reflection (excellent for personal and group reflection) are included to help readers further their understanding of the concepts illustrated in each story. Order Where There Was No Church at Learning Together Press.