Leadership Development - Director Claude's Thoughts Regarding the Leadership Development Process - 3

 

This is Chuck Rapp with Multiply, a podcast to provide a word of encouragement for village church planters and leaders.

Our topic for 2026 is Leadership Development. In my previous two podcasts, I shared VCP Director Claude's thoughts about the process of leadership development. Today I want to continue with his insights from that morning.

At this point in the conversation, I asked him a very important question. How do you discern when someone is ready for promotion?

His first response is that he wants to know if someone has an interest in the work. A passion for the work. A sense of God's calling for it. We do not want to promote someone who is only looking for a job.

His next point about readiness is an assessment if they have mastered the key tasks required. In one of my earlier podcasts, I talked about someone's "track record" or their history. This is what Director Claude had in mind with this statement.

At this point, Director Claude also spoke about an assessment that he makes of their leadership ability. You may recall my teaching last year from Matthew 25:21 (and 23). "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things..." When someone is being considered for promotion, it is important to know if they have successfully demonstrated effective leadership in the past.

Director Claude next described the importance of an intentional and keen observation of someone's spiritual and emotional maturity over time. Are they growing in their discipleship? Do they treat others well? Do you know how to interact with people in a healthy way?

There is also a very, very important spiritual component to the discernment process involved with knowing when someone is ready for promotion. Director Claude spoke about how someone's name may come to his mind frequently when he is praying. This is firstly a prompting from the Holy Spirit to pray for that individual, and secondly it may indicate that the Lord has something new for this person.

To round out his answer to the question, Director Claude once again returned to his theme of observation. He described to me how it is very important to observe, or assess, someone's capacity. When I asked him to describe "capacity," he spoke about one's spiritual and physical energy level. Will they be able to keep up with the pace of leadership? He also spoke of educational capacity; have they attained a level of formal education that will bring about respect from Church leaders?

I very much appreciate Director Claude's leadership and his willingness to share these thoughts with us.

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters and leaders.

A Church in Every African Village

     Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis, and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

Every Village Church Planter knows the VCP vision, “A church in every African village by 2050.” This vision, based on the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ provides overall guidance and focus for all we do as we work together to multiply disciples, leaders, and churches.

Village Church Planters, like God, are not willing that any should perish. We want everyone to come to repentance. We know that God is no respecter of persons. He loves all people everywhere. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). We want to live godly lives, so we too choose to love people everywhere all over the world.

And yet when it comes to preaching the Good News, villages are often neglected. People in cities have many opportunities to hear the Gospel. In towns and along highways we see many churches. But historically, it takes a long time for the Gospel to arrive in villages. The founders of the Village Church Planting ministry knew this. That is why they prioritized the planting of churches in African villages without churches.

And now, you are a part of this great movement guided by the simple phrase, “A church in every African village by 2050.” Every VCP church planter, every VCP student, each trainer and coordinator, every Supervisor and Director and Church Multiplication Facilitator has a part to play in making this vision a reality.

First, we must pray. We must ask God that his kingdom would come and his will be done in every African village. We must ask for a church in every African village by 2050. Then we must put feet to our prayers, That is, we must act, as co-laborers with Christ, to see the vision fulfilled. 

Each church planter who is serious about this vision must know which villages near his or her training center have churches and which villages do not. If you and your fellow church plantes don’t know which villages within 10 or 20 kilometers of your training center still lack churches, find out. Go to each village within a day’s walk of your training center and find out if there is a church there or not.  Share this information with your trainer and your fellow students. If possible, record it on a map. Then focus your prayer on these nearby villages without churches. Each VCP student must take responsibility for planting churches in specific villages without churches. Prayer walk through these villages. Ask God to show you persons of peace, men and women who are hungry to know God and receptive to hear the Good News. Share your testimony, pray for people, tell them Bible stories, share the Jesus film with a few people or with the whole village. Trust God to use you and your fellow students to start healthy church in villages that have never had a church.

You may think your efforts won’t change Africa. But as you join thousands of other village church planters, they will. God will use you as a part of his great mission to bring abundant life in Christ to every place. For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). Count on it!

This has been “Multiply,” and I’m Dean Davis asking, who will you share this encouraging word with today?

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters

Your Seed Sowing Action Plan Leads to Multiplication

 

    Hello, my brother; hello, my sister, my name is Dean Davis, and this is a word of encouragement for village church planters.

As you have been learning through training and experience, the four Seed Sower Tools are a great help to church planters as they work to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

These tools provide ready answers when the devil tempts us to be passive and not share the Gospel or make disciples. If the devil tempts us by asking, “Who do you think you are to go around telling people about Jesus?” we have an answer from the first tool: “I am a new creation in Christ. Jesus has named me his ambassador to the world.” If the devil tempts us by saying, “You don’t 

even know who to talk to about Jesus,” we say. “Be silent, devil, I have a relationship map, I know exactly who I can talk to about King Jesus.” If the devil tempts us by asking, “Who do you think you are? You can’t speak, you don’t know what to say, you will just confuse people if you try to talk about Jesus,” we have a powerful answer. “I have a clear, truthful, powerful 15-second testimony of how Jesus changed my life. And I have the Three Circles 

Gospel Presentation that tells how Jesus defeated you by shedding his blood and rising from the dead. I will use my four Seed Sowing Tools to share the Good News, and you will be silent.”

If the devil tempts us by saying, “Those people you are going to talk to won’t change their lives, you are just wasting your time,” we say, “Jesus will restore them to God, and we will teach them to obey the seven basic commands of Christ. I have a plan to walk with them and help them grow strong as disciples of Christ, and you will not stop me. I am a co-laborer with Christ. Be gone, 

Satan.” This is the walk of faith that the Four Seed Sower Tools facilitate. And you have these tools in your hands. 

The fourth tool is the Action plan. If you make a good action plan and then do what it says, you will multiply fruit in God’s Kingdom. If you define when you will pray for people on your relationship map and when you will share the Gospel with them, you will bear fruit. If you use your Action Plan to define whom you will teach the Seed Sower Tools and whom you will teach the 7 Basic Commands of Christ, and if you define when you will teach them, you will multiply your fruitfulness. 

If you train others to spread the Good News, they too will bear fruit. We call this multiplication. When you teach others to use the four Seed Sower Tools and when you teach others to obey the seven basic commands of Christ, you will multiply disciples. 

The Four Seed Sower Tools are described in the Train and Multiply booklet called “Sow the Good Seed.” If you would like to see this booklet, but don’t know where to find it, ask the person who shared this message with you to show you the booklet. It is a part of Train and Multiply for Village Church Planters, Term 1.

God is giving you tools so you can work powerfully to advance His Kingdom. Let’s give him thanks for his wonderful gift!

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

#EncouragementforVillageChurchPlanters #SeedSowerTools #ActionPlan

The Three Circles- Restored to God

 

   Hello, my brother; hello, my sister, my name is Dean Davis, and this is a word of encouragement for village church planters.

Very shortly after I understood the Good News of Jesus, repented of my sins, and put my trust in Christ, I was challenged to memorize a verse from the Bible.  The very first verse I ever memorized as a new believer was the words of Jesus recorded in John 10:10: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Even though I was young, I wanted an abundant life.  I wasn’t sure what all Jesus meant when he offered an abundant life, but I understood him to mean that if we let him be the King of our lives, he would lead us into a life of peace, joy, and purpose.

The Three Circles Gospel Presentation tells us that the world we live in is broken. The thief, Satan, has killed, stolen, and destroyed lives.  The second circle tells us that life in our world hasn’t always been broken.  The third circle tells us that if we crown Jesus as the king of our lives, we can be restored to God and live according to his original design.

But what does it mean to be restored to God? To be restored to God means to live in peace with God. It means to live as a child of God.  To be restored to God means we know God as a good and kind Father. To be restored to God means we know that He will never leave us or forsake us. To be restored to God means we can live an abundant life in this world and live eternally with God in the world to come. To be restored to God means to walk in his presence from here to eternity. People who are restored to God walk with him and learn to obey him. As we walk with him, God in his goodness transforms our way of thinking and our way of living so we reflect his goodness in a broken world.

As a village church planter you have the glorious privilege of helping people be restored to God.  The word of God is powerful and that power to redeem and restore people to God is in your hands. You have the wonderful privilege of helping people stop rebelling against God and start living the abundant life Jesus promised. So as you go to minister to people who are suffering and without hope, go out full of hope.  Though the world is broken, you know the way to restore people to God.

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

#EncouragementforVillageChurchPlanters #John1010 #ThreeCircles

www.vcpencouragement.org

The Three Circles Crowning Jesus as King

 

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis, and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

When I was first trying to understand the Good News of Jesus, I kept hearing preachers and teachers say that we “must believe in Jesus.” I could tell from their enthusiasm and their repetition of this phrase that it must be really important to “believe in Jesus.” But I didn’t know what they meant when they said it.  Did they mean we must believe that a man named Jesus lived 2,000 years ago? I believed that and really liked the things that he did and the things that he taught. Did they mean that we must believe that Jesus rose from the dead? I struggled to believe that. Did they mean when they said we must believe in Jesus that we must follow his teachings?  I liked his teachings, but I wasn’t ready to follow all of them.

So, I was perplexed. My teachers were telling me I should believe in Jesus. And they were telling him that I must make him the Lord of my life. I knew that what they were telling me was important. But I didn’t know what to do.

Then one day, through prayer and reading the New Testament, I realized that Jesus did rise from the dead. I realized that I could trust Him. I could trust and obey Jesus because he is good, he is full of love, and he is alive. So, I prayed a prayer like this:

“Dear Jesus, I am sorry for the way I have been living my life. Please forgive me. Make me a new person. I receive you as my Lord and Savior. Amen.”  My prayer was simple, but it changed everything. Now I knew that I believed in Jesus. I not only believed that he lived and died and rose again, I also trusted him. I was born again!

When we share the Three Circles Gospel Presentation, we invite people to “turn from their rebellion and crown Jesus as the King of their lives.” Of course, Jesus is already King. On the day of Pentecost, Peter said, “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens; but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies a stool for your feet.’ Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Jesus is Lord; Jesus is King! But his people are in rebellion. When we ask people to crown Jesus as King of their lives, we are asking them to stop rebelling against God and instead trust and obey Jesus.

Would you take a moment right now to tell Jesus that he is your king? Would you tell him again that you love him, you trust him, and you want to follow Him?  Allow the Holy Spirit to minister to you as you do so.

Then, with great love and much joy, invite others to crown Jesus as King of their lives.

This has been “Multiply,” and I’m Dean Davis asking, who will you share this encouraging word with today?

 

 

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #CrownJesusKing #TrustAndObey

Leadership Development - Director Claude's Thoughts Regarding the Leadership Development Process - 2

 

   This is Chuck Rapp with Multiply, a podcast to provide a word of encouragement for village church planters and leaders.

Our topic for 2026 is Leadership Development. In my previous podcast, I shared VCP Director Claude's thoughts about the process of leadership development. Today I want to continue with his insights.

I asked Director Claude how he helps new leaders grow as spiritual men. It was not surprising to me that he began with how he observes their personalities and their behaviors. This helps him by providing insight into how to pray for each one. Now, in order to observe someone, we must be in proximity to them; we must be near them. We must spend time with them. While it is most effective to be physically together, when this is not possible, technology can help us.

My next question of Director Claude was how he deals with situations when corrective feedback is needed.

Perhaps someone is showing a character flaw in their behavior. Maybe he observed that a task was not completed well. Here is his response.

Claude likes to share feedback informally. Perhaps it will be over a meal. He doesn't like to have these conversations when he is seated across from someone at a big desk. He said that he prefers to do this with both positive and corrective feedback.

I then asked about the timing of sharing corrective feedback, and he told me that when someone does something wrong, most often rather than immediately addressing it, he prefers to wait until there is a natural opportunity. He told me "If you are too strong, they will have fear and hide. The most important thing is that they continue to be open to you." This is great wisdom. "The most important thing is that they continue to be open to you." If someone closes themselves off from us as leaders, then we are no longer able to help them in their development.

Proverbs 27:6 instructs us "Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses." When we provide corrective feedback to an emerging leader within the context of relationship or friendship, they realize that while our words may hurt them temporarily, they know that what we are telling them is for their good in the future.

Director Claude continued with his answer by saying that If, however, the mistake is something that can "spoil the work," he addresses it immediately. Two examples that he gave were a poor relationship between a supervisor and a coordinator or the misuse of funds). Most of the time, if it is possible, he addresses the issue in private.

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters and leaders.

The Three Circles and Repentance

 

    Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis, and this is “Multiply,” the podcast

that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

When I first began to understand the Good News of Jesus, I loved hearing

message about “abundant life.” One of the first Bible verses I memorized was

John 10:10. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that

they may have life and have it abundantly.” I wanted an abundant life, a life

full of meaning and hope. But it seemed that all the people who shared the

Gospel with me kept telling me that I needed to turn from my sins and put my

trust in Christ. Then I could experience abundant life. The problem was, I

wanted abundant life without repentance. I remember on several occasions the

preacher was talking about the blessing of being a child of God. Those

messages got my hopes up, but then they he would say that dreaded word,

“Repent.” I was struggling.

Finally, I did repent. I did tell God I was sorry for my selfish way of living. I told

him I would turn away from my sins. I asked Jesus to forgive me. And that is

when my abundant life in Christ began. I had peace with God. I knew I was his

child. When I read the Bible, I understood it. The words that came out of my

mouth changed and so did the way I treated my friends. I was born again.

One of the most beautiful parts of the Three Circles Gospel Presentation is the

arrow that goes from the broken world to the bottom circle that tells the story

of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. That arrow represents repentance. When

we share the Three Circles, we say, ‘If you will turn from your sins and crown

Jesus as King of your life, he will restore you to God.” This means, if you

repent of your rebellion against God and put your trust in Christ, God will

forgive you and give you abundant life.

Many people are amazed that God would receive us back after we rebelled

against him. And that is pretty amazing. But even more amazing is that God

gives us grace and strength so we can repent. Because of God’s love, we can

change. We are not bound to keep living the same fruitless life we lived when

we were in rebellion against God. We can turn away from evil and selfishness

and sin, we can begin to live a righteous, generous, loving life if and when

we put our trust in Christ.

So, when you share the Three Circles Gospel Presentation, draw the arrow to

show an end to rebellion and a turning back to God. Tell people that they can

repent, they can change, they can turn from evil to God. Let them know that

God is delighted to give us the power we need to trust Him and obey Him.

The Christian life of repentance and faith is a beautiful thing. I am so glad I

repented; I pray that hundreds and even thousands of people will repent and

trust Christ as you share the Good News by drawing three circles and telling

God’s big story.

This has been “Multiply,” and I’m Dean Davis asking, who will you share this

Encouraging word for today?