Simplify to multiply

Are your plans simple and easy to multiply?**

Maybe, like you, learning to keep things simple isn’t easy for me. The sports movement had steadily created resources over a 40-year period. Imagine the number of documents!

The challenge was how to simplify everything to enable disciple-making to really multiply.

It took several years as everyone had a different view of sports ministry. We first reshaped the ‘heart’ of the movement to ensure everyone was very clear on the Gospel and the Biblical foundation. However, the question remained: How do we bring all the diverse and sometimes conflicting sports strategies together?

A suggestion to use a well-known sports term immediately resonated.

Amazingly, these three simple globally recognized words made everything work by simply describing the vision of disciple-making, the equipping needed to make disciples, and then going and making disciples for Jesus using any number of sports strategies.

The process wasn’t easy, but it was worth it because of the unity and ownership it brought. Over three years of global gatherings, which involved more than 500 people from 120 countries, we created a simplified kit. The kit was translated into 15 languages in less than three months.

Local sports people now have simple resources in their heart language. They are short, concise, and easily translatable. These resources don’t have to be printed as they can be passed on via mobile phones.

They are Biblical and adaptable to different cultural contexts. They are open-source and free for the user. They are being used everywhere – cities, slums, jungles, villages, online, schools, and sports fields.

Scripture to ponder – Luke 9:2-4a (MSG)

He commissioned them to preach the news of God’s kingdom and heal the sick. He said, “Don’t load yourself up with equipment. Keep it simple; you are the equipment …”

Key Lesson: There are many reasons why an idea goes far. One of the most important reasons is that the idea is simple – easy to take hold of and implement.