Rural 311, strategic plan to multiply the outreach to rural communities

RURAL 311

Rural 311 implements a strategy for launching 10,000 rural pastors to strengthen the outreach possibilities. The Strategic Plan divides the decade into four sections.

Each three-year goal would partner with pastors to multiply “three people” for “one mission” and “empowered by one Spirit.”

1. One for succession or apprenticeship;
2. One for multiplication in another community, to planting or pastoring a church; and
3. One sent to Bible College to multiply the church for the future.

The first-year strategic plan activates 30 rural leaders to become the like “David’s 30 Mighty Men.” Once gathered, these 30 rural leaders each train and mobilize ten people to become involved in the 311 strategy for ministry expansion. Each man or women who joins this “30 Mighty Multipliers,” (30MM,) will inspire ten pastors to join them to develop three leaders to develop the first 300 rural pastors to participate in Rural 311.

• 30 will inspire and actively lead 10 others for 311 strategic multiplication
• These 30 will collaborate and contribute to essential resources for Rural 311 quarterly meetings

The next three years (year two through four) each of the 30 and 300 would participate in the Rural 311 strategy.

• Each rural leader will raise three people for ministry utilizing Rural 311 strategy,
• If all 330 participate the total new ministry leaders added for a goal to raise approximately 1000.

The next three-years (year five through seven) each of these could multiply with the same Rural 311 strategy to increase from over 1000 to over 3,000. If the original 330 plus 990 participate the total could be as much as 3,960 added to ministry.

The last three-year (eight through ten) could launch to over 10,000 if each person continues to participate. If all these 3,960 joining with the first year 1,320 could have 5,280 participate in the Rural 311 plan for 15,840 new people in ministry.

Each step of the multiplying movement necessitates increasing rural ministry preparation possibilities.

Will you become part of a great multiplication movement? If every pastor joined this movement sometime within the next 10 years, an army of people could launch for ministry by 2030.

Will you become part of the powerful movement of God’s calling and sending from the rural churches? While most of the time 100% involvement does not happen let’s dream about the possibilities. Click the button below to receive more information!

Encouragement

Why do we need so many pastors?

A growing number live in rural communities, almost 60 million living in 3.8 million square miles. This number increases as Rural Revitalization expands the rural communities in America. Today, 25,188 rural communities have high schools; however, the Assemblies of God only has 5,607 churches in rural communities in 2019. Terry Yancy, Kansas District Superintendent, has suggested that every community with a high school needs to have a Pentecostal church. Further, the world needs ministers sent from the rural church to share the gospel message to those hurting and far from God.

We need many to become involved in multiplying the church—do not let the next generation come without an army of those taking the gospel to the rural communities.

Leaders and educators of multiplying movements give further insights. Former Assembly of God World Missions (AGWM) director and missiologist, Melvin Hodges (2009, 5) stated, “We are training workers for invasion. We do not want merely to hold our own. We want to train far more workers than we have churches. In this way, new churches will come into existence.” Director of Addis Ababa Bible College and Graduate Studies, Doug Lowenberg (2012, 12), urged the church leaders to review the quality of curriculum guided by the missio Dei, “Our primary missional activity, apostolic function, brings the good news of the kingdom to peoples yet unreached in order to establish churches that will become self-leading, self-supporting, self-evangelizing (among their own people and language group, self-sending (to people groups different from themselves), self-theologizing (making the gospel, worship and expression of faith culturally relevant while biblically consistent), and self-assisting (believing communities sharing with the poor and needy among them with priority on believers).”

The indigenous missionary principles applied to the rural communities accelerate growth. Jerry Spain (2020) former AGWM Africa Area Director East Africa and Indian Ocean and liaison for Africa Theological Training Services, (now Africa’s Hope), added that healthy keys developing a multiplying movement include local training with a missio Dei focus, Spirit empowerment, indigenous principles such as self-supporting through tithing and self-propagating through church planting and sending missionaries. Likewise, Central Africa Area Director, Patrick Hurst (2019) noted the strategic importance of keeping training as close to the context as possible with a democratized Pneumatic missiology: experience-based education that incorporated informal training.

How can this be accomplished?

1. Pray for the Lord of the harvest to send labors to the harvest.

2. Become involved in the lives of those called to ministry to encourage them towards that call.

3. Actively become part of the 311 strategy.

a. Preach about the call.

b. Engage others in Holy Spirit and lead ICNU (I see in you) conversations that prophetically inspire obedience to the call.

c. Provide open doors and resources for the “3” to pursue the call.

Have a question? Want to be a part? Click here for more information!