Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matt. 9:37,38) He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles … These twelve Jesus sent out …(Matt. 10:1,2,5) 35 - Training & sending (1)

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons … (Matt. 10:5-8) “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20) 35 - Training & sending (2)

Discussion & dialogue Discuss why training in Christian character has to precede performing evangelistic ministry Discuss the advantages of a ministerial ‘practicum phase’ both in the sense of the senior performing while the juniors watch, and in the sense of short-term mono-cultural evangelism as exercise for long-term cross-cultural missions What happens when the work for the Lord becomes more important than the relationship with Him? How does theme seven feature in the outreach-assignment Jesus gives His disciples? 35 - Training & sending (3)