A Fresh Perspective of Paul's Missionary Strategies: The Mentoring for Multiplication Model
by Neil Cole

Jesus identified what is missing to see a great harvest of souls. He said, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few (Matt. 9:37)." A great need in the church today is a way to multiply workers for a greater harvest. By increasing the number of workers, the scope and depth of the harvest can be increased as well. There is much talk today of the need for mentors. Mentoring leaders is indeed a critical need. Multiplying mentors is needed even more.

This article will examine the apostle Paul as a biblical example of mentoring for multiplication. Many have written on the missionary strategies of Paul in the New Testament. Typically, these studies make a broad stroke examination of Paul's ministry calling out specific behavior and values with the assumption that they were characteristic of all Paul's ministry. Rarely are there any comparisons of the journeys looking for differences in strategic approaches.

We usually think of Paul as a teacher, but consider him as a learner and God as his teacher, while we reexamine the Acts of Paul. What we will attempt to show is that Paul was a learner throughout life (Philippians 3:12-16) and that the Lord sovereignly led Paul in each of his journeys to discover values and principles that could saturate an entire empire with the word of God. This article will examine Paul's missionary methods, and demonstrate that he improved upon their effectiveness and fruitfulness with each journey as he focused more concerted energy in mentoring and multiplying leadership. We will gain a better understanding of Paul's maturing in ministry...

Read the rest of this article in a PDF download HERE

©1998 Neil Cole
Neil tweets @Neil_Cole
Used with permission.

Similar concepts in a shorter article are found in Leadership That Lasts: Journeys to Significance
See also the video: Journeys of Paul by Neil Cole Video

Related Articles:

How Many Churches did the Apostle Paul Start? by Neil Cole

Born To A Destiny -- Journeys Excerpt (PDF)

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