Each year when our American and international partners meet in Ames for BILD’s Annual Global Summit, it is a time of learning and growing in the biblical principles that are foundational to building strong, established churches and networks worldwide that will be sustainable for generations to come.
During this year’s Summit, Michael Vos and Jeff Reed focused on the next 10 years and the commitment needed from our partners to build sustainable church networks that will, in turn, strengthen the whole of the global network. Michael said the strength of the global network comes from each local situation. Over the next 10 years, BILD is focused on giving partners the schematic framework and principles to build processes and practices in their situations to train leaders, plant churches, and establish all believers.
To accomplish this, Michael and Jeff presented the Global Center for MasterCraftsmen, a system of pathways designed for church leadership development, including building leadership and benefactor teams aligned with “the Way of Christ and His Apostles.” Components of the MasterCraftsmen system focus on individual believers to top church network leadership, and include partner pathways that provide flexibility to meet specific needs in specific local contexts, apprenticeships, and portfolios that hold a body of work for each individual. The Pathway resources include but aren’t limited to The First Principles Series, The Story, Life Development resources, and Mastering the Scriptures Series.
Everyone can be a Master Craftsman. “Regardless of the pathway, you have to be serious about your own development and having ownership over your work,” Jeff said.
“We can get there, and you can get there,” Michael said. “It takes years and years of discipline, but you can master [the Apostle] Paul’s body of work and build your own body of work.”
The level of commitment is great, but God was preparing hearts even before the Summit began, which manifested in a renewed spirit from Brian Anderson, a church network leader in India. During his time at the Summit, he recognized the significance of establishing and expanding his network, equipping leaders, and fostering apostolic growth using BILD’s framework. Brian is fully committed to the next 10 years after understanding Michael’s and Jeff’s approach to implementing “the way of Christ and His Apostles” in his network. “I look forward to engaging in this process working alongside the team and contributing to the long-term vision of building and strengthening the TWCA network,” Brian said in a letter he wrote at the Summit’s conclusion.
The second week of the Summit was spent with Jeff presenting Teaching Mastering the Scriptures, a resource to help network and church leaders understand the Apostle Paul’s traditioning process for developing leaders and establishing churches. The book helps identify and address issues within churches as leaders increasingly come to understand Paul’s letters. The Comprehensive Assessment of Complex Apostolic Networks & Glossary contains assessment sheets designed to be used by leaders to assess their churches and networks. This resource is an important tool that will be used when our partners implement the MasterCraftsmen pathways within their networks.
The presentations brought clarity to many leaders, especially as they look ahead to the next 10 years and the strategies they will implement to develop and strengthen their networks and churches.
Javier Velasquez, along with Julio Lugo and Felix Abreu, leads the training of church leaders and church planters across Latin America. From Javier’s understanding of “the Way of Christ and His Apostles” paradigm for the last 18 years, the Mastering the Scriptures presentations were key in understanding the importance of Paul’s framework for establishing churches. “Using the Master’s tool will be critical, especially at the stage we are in as a team,” he said. “We are not only working with a second key leadership sphere, but we are aiming to prepare the next generation of emerging leaders to carry the lead.”
Fisnik Citaku attended his first BILD Summit this year. His network of churches in Kosovo has been connected with networks in Albania for 20 years. From his time at the Summit, he found a deeper engagement with his cohort and saw the importance of developing lasting cooperation and partnerships with other leaders.
“It was the first time I saw such a vast network of networks,” Fisnik said, “and it felt like our network in Kosovo is not alone, but we are part of a larger group of leaders and networks around the world. I recognized the need for our churches to be part of the establishment and expansion of the gospel beyond our own city and country.”
Fisnik said networking with other leaders and networks to reach Albanians in the diaspora has become very important. “The goal is to establish a complex apostolic network in the diaspora, with a key aspect being that mature churches will be involved in the global gospel efforts of Christ’s Church, especially in Germany.”
To do this, Fisnik said it would include training all believers and establishing them in “the Way of Christ and His Apostles” using BILD curriculum. “These leaders will work and serve with one another to learn, design, and implement effective strategies to advance the gospel everywhere,” he said. “Developing and establishing them in the foundational principles is of utmost importance because strong families lead to strong churches. The family of families will be a bride made ready in their cities, regions, nations, and beyond. I recommitted myself to investing in all the brethren according to this paradigm.”
An element of moving forward with this 10-year commitment will be continued conversations and coaching with the BILD team. Online workshops will be held in July and November to help leaders progress in their pathways and dedicate time to developing their faith. The workshops will be bookended with updates on the global network and paradigm insights from Michael and Jeff.
The workshops will be held specifically for the countries or civilizations of each leader. There will be some teaching of BILD resources and discussion, as well as time for leaders to work on their projects and make progress in their pathways. “Working workshops are an opportunity to make progress to have dedicated time in growing in your faith and making progress in uploading work into the BILD Cloud, and to overall grow and focus on the patterns of Christ and His apostles,” Michael said. “All of us can grow and build His Kingdom according to His strategy.”
These workshops coincide with civilization celebrations planned for this summer and fall to recognize the achievements of our partners.
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