Editor’s note: Over the last couple years, the BILD apostolic team has invited an emerging leader from our third generation (recognized as those born between 1990 and 2015) to join Michael Vos on an international trip. This has been a beneficial experience for these young leaders to see and share in the ministry contexts of our global partners. This has had a profound impact on their own development and given them a better understanding of the stewardship they have in the ADMCC network and around the world.
Recently, Michael returned to the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica to meet with partner apostolic teams for assessment and further equipping of their roles and stewardship. Accompanying Michael was Isaac Allen who shares his experience here:
These are some of the reflections that I, Isaac Allen (aka Nelson), had. I am a 19 year old from the Ames-Des Moines Network who has grown up in the way of Christ and His Apostles (TWCA), and am now taking my development and role seriously. I was part of Michael Vos and Jeff Reed’s initiative to capture the third generation and am now leading a church of young adults.
I was given the opportunity to go with Michael to Latin America to visit Felix Abreu's Network in the Dominican Republic and Julio Lugo's Network in Costa Rica specifically for equipping networks up the second curve*. These networks and the leaders we visited represent many fields – cities and countries across Central and South America and even diaspora groups in the United States. I was deeply moved by this trip and have gained perspective that has helped me realize the significance of many of the principles that I have grown up with.
I went into the trip excited to learn from Michael, watching him as he influences and equips global leaders, and being challenged and spurred on by conversations with him. I wanted to gain the perspective of interacting with other cultures and seeing how churches in the paradigm differ in another part of the world, such as the problems they face and their strengths. I also was excited to see the work at hand, understanding our network’s stewardship from a firsthand perspective, and seeing the work that has been set out before me right now and the stewardship that my generation will have in the future.
I have sometimes felt that I am alone in the work. I have felt dismayed and hopeless at times, feeling that we have no real partners. This past feeling became clearer to me as it started to fade by being with Felix and leaders. The leaders are strong and passionate, growing fast and rooting the paradigm in their situation. Seeing this made me deeply emotional; I left the Dominican Republic feeling torn from my family and understanding that I will be working with those leaders for the rest of my life. I realized the significance of the church as a family and the global church working as one.
I had a lot of conversations with Michael, learning and refining my grasp of key principles, talking about the leaders and their situations, and gaining practice in my listening, influencing, and equipping skills through orientation, reflection, and real practice.
Michael is able to make a large impact in such a short period of time because he has honed his skills and is attentive to situations, able to pick up the smallest details to get a clear picture. We went to one of their house churches and Michael was able to assess the whole situation in just a few hours, shocking the leaders and bringing light to needs in the network. He constantly works to influence well, using key principles to move leaders significantly. He brought one disheartened leader to tears by drawing out the situation then speaking directly to it, while other leaders spoke from their own experience and to no effect.
Seeing the impact associated with a mastery of these skills has convicted me on the importance of taking my own mastery seriously. I need to work on the skills, honing them so that I can be effective in the fields I work in.
Throughout the trip, I was encouraged that I was able to make an impact on the leaders, encouraging them as an example of a young adult taking their maturity seriously. While I was in the DR, I met with the third generation, a gathering of about 25. I was excited to learn about their situation and try to influence and encourage them. The work with the third generation is tangible, and I had confidence that I could influence and equip them. It instills a strange feeling of purpose and responsibility. The third generation from our network has been equipped for this role, and now we must contribute to our part of the ADMCC Network's stewardship
There were a few times that I was discouraged and disappointed with where the leaders or the churches were. I would talk with Michael about it, and he often shared the same frustrations but had a different outlook. He helped me to reorient and not give up on them in my thinking. He always treats each trip as his last time with the leaders, bringing an urgency, and you truly fight for their growth aggressively. We are sent there to move the leaders from where they are to where they can be. That mentality is what shifts entire networks, yet it still takes time.
The leaders each have different strengths and weaknesses, yet you have to respect and seek to understand the field and stewardship that God has given them. Our role is to move the leaders that God has entrusted fields to. It is also important to view the apostolic team as a whole and realize that the gaps of each individual leader may be filled by the larger team.
These two weeks have been the most impactful days of my life. I have felt the significance of principles that I have understood for years. I have seen the work set out for my generation, meeting leaders that I will work alongside for the rest of my life. I have been filled with conviction to mature and a passion to contend for the paradigm.
*Second curve is a paradigm adaptation curve that references the multiplication of churches and building networks of churches by mapping out strategies for gospel expansion through the church gathering and leadership development over a period of time.
Read more about Michael’s June trip to Central and South America here:
Trip recap: BILD team returns from Central, South America
Read more about our third-generation leaders’ trips here:
India: Equipping young church leaders
India: Sharing in the global work from a local church family
Dominican Republic: Rooting our lives in 'the way of Christ and His Apostles'