Our Mission Among the Ashéninka

And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach                   others also. 2 Timothy 2:2

This is the summary of the work of the Ashéninka Team. In times past it has been the work of missionaries to enter new territory, do all the preaching and teaching,                  and even to pastor churches. The end result was national Christians without training. When the missionaries left, the work stopped or died.

The International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention has adopted a more effective strategy of training national Christians to train others. The missionaries              enter an area, cultivate relationships with key Christians, and train them to do the work of the local church: evangelism, discipleship, and leadership training. The men and           women are taught how to take the gospel to other villages and other regions to make new disciples of Christ.

The Ashéninka Team is taking this approach to the Ashéninka people. The Team is involved in training faithful men in Ashéninka communities, who will in turn teach others.          The goal of this work of leadership training is to see a church planting movement among the Ashéninka that is Ashéninka-led. A church planting movement is the on-going          making of new disciples, starting of new churches, and training of new leaders. By training Ashéninka leaders from the start, this work can be completely Ashéninka-led.             When the Team eventually leaves, the work will continue.

Chronological Bible Storying

The tool being used by the Ashéninka Team is called chronological Bible storying. This involves the telling of the many wonderful stories of the Bible in their chronological            order in order to introduce the people of this illiterate society to the reality of a living and loving God involved in the lives of people, His creation. The people come to understand that God is holy, man is sinful and in need of a Saviour. They learn of the Old Testament's prophecies of the coming Messiah, and they ultimately learn of the coming of Jesus     in fulfillment of those prophecies, and how they can receive salvation through Him.

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