1. Chapter 10
Preparing, part 2
Understanding and Strategizing
Part 1 : foundational before the church planting
team arrive on the ministry
Part 2 : foundational after the team is on location.
It is about understanding and strategizing.

2. 1. Understanding

Understanding language and culture
− Supervised Ministry experience
− Reading about history and culture

Research the Demographic, Social, Religious,
and Cultural Context
− Study the focus people
− Approach to study focus people

3. Cultural Distance as Barrier to the spread of the Gospel
Figure 10.1 page 189
E0 E
1
E2
E3
Church
Same
culture
Different
culture
Very
different
culture
Source : Winter, et al. 1999

4. Three Lenses of Understanding
Figure 10.2 page 191
Lived Experience Demographic
research
Participant
observation

Experiencing
Gospel
Contextualization
(“see the gospel
through their eyes”)

Living to
understand and
appreciate them
(“experiencing their
lifestyle, social
involvement”)
1.Data
Collection
2.Data
analysis
3. Application
To Strategy
4.Evaluation
The process: 
A discipline used in
ethnographic
study; it requires
training

To gain a deeper
insight of the
behaviors, values,
worldview of the
people from an
insider's view

Using observation
and interviews

5. Demographic Information Helpful to
Church Planters

Population growth/decline (birth/death, people's movement
leaving or entering the community, future development plans)

Family (percentage of various groups, size of family,
single/married/divorced)

Economic (income per household, standard of living, commercial,
industrial, agricultural activity, form of employment, tourism,
transportation, etc)

Education (educational level, literacy rate, educational
institutions, libraries, tutoring, continuing education, etc

Social/Political (ethnic, language, subculture, immigrants, political
parties & affiliation, social service, medical care/hospital, clinics,
etc)

Religious (Religious affiliation, active practice of religion, beliefs,
churches/mosques/temples, etc)

6. 2. Strategy

Determining the Evangelistic and Church
Planting Strategy
− Setting up the profile of the people group
(respondent profile): Felt needs, Life aspiration,
Decision Making patterns, Responsive segments

Build Relationships in the Community

Deciding team roles and strengthening team
preparation

Drafting a Church planting Proposal

7. Summary

Evangelizing needs understanding of the focus
people group

Understanding of the people group needs to be
actualized/strategized into action

Concrete steps :
− Read and interact with the people about the culture
(in the neighborhood, the marketplace, other
venues)
− Ask honest questions
− Discuss your observations with sympathetic cultural
insiders