A True Story

“Sonny, go raise up a church, and then come back and tell us what happened.”

This is the response that my 19-year-old great-great-great-great grandfather, John Adams, received from an Iowa conference president when he wanted to become a pastor.

Now, keep in mind a “pastor” was not a settled pastor like we see today. In the early-1800s, a pastor was a circuit-riding church planter. They were missionary-evangelists.

That is exactly what he did (with his 4 younger siblings eventually following suit).

Fast forward to today.

• • Expander Teams require personal conviction, creative entrepreneur grit, and a love for helping people get ready for Jesus’s soon coming.
  • Expander Teams begin by raising up a Simple Church where you live and then apply for a city-wide Expander Team position. CLICK HERE to get started with your online Simple Church training.

I hope you will find this opportunity a dream-come-true.

Milton Adams
Simple Church Missionary
Director of Simple Church Global Network, Expander Teams, and Maximize My Home for Mission Convention

The Big Picture

EXPANDER TEAMS are pioneering missionaries-evangelists who live on the front edge most of the time. They 1) meet new people on their turf, typically by going door-to-door, 2) plan and execute a variety of city-wide events, 3) raise up simple house churches where life is lived out week-to-week, and 4) facilitate weekly/monthly house church mentoring meetings for new believers as they launch new house churches in their neighborhoods.

SUSTAINER TEAMS are the new believer missionaries who launch new house churches in their homes. They are essential in keeping an ever-expanding movement from imploding. Sustainer strength lies in the day-in-day-out work of coming alongside people for the long haul.

This web page & application is specifically for Expanders.

✅ Expanders have a laser-focused mission to:

Accept God’s invitation to share His end-time prophetic story & invitation with un-churched, de-churched, non-churched people and anyone who has not yet learned about it. They carry an urgency with them and are relentless in their focus.

Build city-wide grass-roots simple house church networks.

Re-empower lay people to do all the work of disciple-making outlined in Jesus’ Gospel Commission.

🎯 Our Mission and Vision:

Our MISSION — based on Jesus’ authority — Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” ~ Mt 28:18–20.

God’s PROMISE — what we do — “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” ~ 1 Corinthians 9:6

Our METHOD — how we do it — Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them Follow Him.

God’s ORDINATION — why we do this — “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” ~ John 15:16, NLT

👀 Keep reading.

Expander Teams Job Description

Expander Teams Harvest Event Training

This Expander Team training is an in-person training workshop.

80% of our time will focus on the art of soul winning in today’s secular cultures — planning, preparing, and presenting city-wide harvest series that anchor people in God’s end-time prophetic story and invitation. You will learn the specific methodology of how we integrate city-wide harvest series with simple house church planting.

You will learn how to effectively share God’s end-time prophetic story and end-time invitation with people. And you will learn how to invite them to be part of God’s end-time story.

• • Methodology – what is the methodology, and why is this methodology important?
  • Big picture planning timeline.
  • Topics to cover and in what order.
  • Budgeting, inviting, advertising & pre-work.
  • Registration table, databases, and other niceties.
  • Presenting the city-wide series.
  • Electronics.
  • Building personal friendships during the series.
  • Leading people to accept Jesus.
  • Harvest event support teams.
  • Follow-up seminar attendees.
  • Dealing with opposition.

10% of our time will focus on:

• • Finding secular & unchurched people (Truth-seekers).
  • Sharing your story in 15 seconds & God’s story in 4 minutes.
  • Disciplining new believers to “go and do likewise.”
  • Anchoring Truth-seekers in God’s prophetic end-time story and end-time invitation.
  • Multiplying & Mentoring new simple house church planters in a city-wide network.

10% of our time will focus on:

• • Training you to conduct Nedley Depression & Anxiety Recovery programs. You will receive certification and online access to all their resources, giving you the ability to conduct Nedley recovery programs as part of your community work.

Frequently Asked Questions

❓  How does this approach catalyze grassroots Kingdom movements?

For the past 2000 years, disciple-making movements have been using decentralized church planting methods to re-empower laypeople to do all the work included in Jesus’ job description.

As a decentralized organic movement, Simple Church Expander Teams utilized city-wide public event (i.e. harvest events, healthy taste events, Depression Recovery classes.) in combination with home gatherings (house church gatherings).

The result, we pray, will be a viral grassroots movement of new believers sharing God’s story and invitation with their secular and unchurched friends.

❓  Why are both city-wide event and home gather needed?

People make different kinds of spiritual decisions in different settings. Public harvest events provide an uninterrupted logical flow where Bible Truths can be presented, seeds of Truth can be planted, and the Holy Spirit can bring conviction, and they are invited to make accept Truth and make life-changing decisions. Relational home churches provide support, accountability, and personal encouragement to follow through with the life-changing decisions that were made in the public environment.

❓  What is a simple house church?

A simple church is a group of truth-followers who are open to God. They meet in a home on Saturday mornings with their friends and family. These groups are led by trained laypeople to disciple un-churched, de-churched, and non-churched people, sharing with them God’s end-time prophetic story & invitation.

In time, these new believers learn how to raise up the next generation of new believers using this unique combination of simple house church planting and city-wide harvest events.

❓  Has this been done before?

Yes. This was the template that birthed the early church. New Testament Christianity was a network of house churches (Rom. 16:5, 1 Cor. 16:19), and public speaking was frequently the means to expansion (Acts 2:14-41, Acts 8:12). However, this approach was abandoned when Emperor Constantine united pagan methods with Christianity. Today’s secular cultures are ripe for a resurgence of primitive Godliness that has not been witnessed since apostolic times.

❓  Why 2 harvest series per year?

Expander teams are not intended to hover over new believers. They will present and anchor people, staying involved long enough to organize new believers into Simple House Churches (Sustainer Teams), then move on to another part of the city.

Hosting 2 harvest series guards against the tendency to stay and “hover” over new believers while simultaneously providing time to connect these individuals with a supportive house church for accountability, encouragement, and shared missionary work.

❓  How will new believers be organized?

New believers will be organized and connected into simple home churches where they can live out their faith and share it with their families and friends.

Once God’s end-time prophetic invitation has been presented at the harvest series, Expander Teams begin training new believers in house church planting during a 4-6 week fast-track training. The training typically takes place on Sunday.

When a new house church finishes their training an launches, the leaders attend a weekly or monthly leader’s meeting where ongoing support, training, problem-solving, and trust are developed. This leader’s meeting is facilitated by the Expander Team.

❓  Why not integrate new believers into existing local churches?

Church attendance trends are declining and will likely continue (except among 1st and 2nd generation immigrants.)

Secular and un-churched people are typically done with conventional churches.

Additionally, millions of local church leaders (Elders, Deacons, Deaconess, children’s ministry teachers, etc.) are leaving their local churches.

Here is the evidence:

1. 1. 1. In 2019, for the first time in US history, a new study that analyzed church data from 34 Protestant denominations and groups found that 4,500 churches closed in 2019, while about 3,000 new congregations were started. The 34 Protestant denominations account for about 60% of U.S.-based Protestant denominations. (Source.) Note that this is a pre-COVID benchmark, projected to become more pronounced in the wake of COVID-19
      2. In 2014, researcher Alan Hirsch discovered that “Of 318 million Americans, 208 million (about 60%) are not interested in walking into the front doors of a conventional church.” In other words, today’s mission field is done with the conventional church. So the new question is, how do we reach the 60% — which has risen and is now closer to 80%? 
      3. In 2015, Josh Packard’s research discovered that “approximately 104 million (33%) have left the church.”

Who are these 104 million? They call them the “doers.” They have given years of service within their local church as elders, deacons, children’s ministry leaders, etc., only to discover they are ineffective in reaching today’s modern mission field.

Packard continues, “Our interviews indicate that the dechurched are among the most dedicated people in any congregation. They often work themselves into positions of leadership in an attempt to fix the things about the church that dissatisfy them before ultimately deciding their energies could be better spent elsewhere. In other words, the dechurched were the “doers” in their congregations.”

❓  How will Expander Teams be trained in this New Testament model?

Simple church has developed a 2-week training workshop to teach you how to clearly and effectively present God’s end-time prophetic story and invitation outlined in Scripture. You will learn the “science of soul winning” in today’s Westernized cultures.

You will learn how to:

➥ ENTER a new city, FIND secular and un-churched Truth seekers, and START a simple house church in their home. (Milton)

➥ SHARE your story in 15 seconds and God’s story in 4 minutes. (Milton)

➥ PLAN, PREPARE, and PRESENT city-wide harvest series. (Roger)

➥ COMBINE a harvest series with simple house church planting. (Milton)

➥ INTEGRATE a “Witness Room” for people seeking mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual healing. (Milton)

➥ FOLLOW UP public harvest series. (Roger)

➥ ANCHOR new believers in God’s end-time story and end-time invitation. (Roger)

➥ TRAIN NEW BELIEVERS (Sustainer Teams) who have accepted God’s end-time story and invitation to start simple churches in their homes. (Milton)

➥ LINK new simple churches with other simple churches in our global network. (Milton)

➥ REPRODUCE this unique combination of harvest series and simple church planting in different parts of the city (Milton)

➥ MENTOR new believers who have started new simple churches. (Milton)

❓  How is this training different from other Bible training schools?

There is no tuition cost. Some meals will be provided. Most meals will be on your own.

You will be trained for a specific 3-6 year Expander Team assignment. (Yes, there are student missionary 12-month assignment.)

You will receive ongoing simple church planting coaching from Milton and your Simple Church coach.

You will receive ongoing harvest coaching from Roger.

You will receive ongoing Nedley coaching from the Nedley team.

As part of an active Expander Team, you can attend the yearly Expander Team training to refine your skills, network, fellowship, and personal & family refreshment.

This unique training is built upon decentralized disciple-making movements where laypeople are trained to do all the work of disciple-making found in Jesus’ Gospel Commission (Matthew 28:18-20).

Meet the Instructors

Milton Adams and Roger Walter have been life-long friends and accountability partners. Over the years, they have dreamed and prayed that God would use their skill sets to re-empower laypeople. This expander teams project became a reality through an amazing set of miracles.

Application Prerequisites

✔ COMPLETE the Simple Church online training before you apply as an Expander. This will take about 2 months if you clip right along.

Your team can be a husband/wife team, two singles, or for example, two married husbands whose wives have other jobs. A married man teaming up with a married woman would not make a good team. A married man teaming up with a single girl would not make a good team. But a married man teaming up with a single guy or a married lady teaming up with a single lady could make a good team.

Our goal is to affirm husband/wife marriages, uphold purity, and avoid evil and the appearance of evil.

✔ COMPLETE these online “tests” and email the results to Roger (info@EvangeLead.org) and Milton (milton@adamsonline.org).

These “tests” are not like school tests. They are not pass/fail or graded. They simply help us better understand the strengths God has gifted you with. We use them to help paint a broad picture of your gifted mix.

• • • Lion, Otter, Beaver, Golden Retriever — https://www.mint-hr.com/smalley-trent.html
    • Myers-Briggs — https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test
    • DiSC Test — https://www.123test.com/disc-personality-test

✔ BUY & READ these books:

• • Church Refugees by Joshua Packard
  • The God Ask by Steve Shadrach (This book is on fundraising)
  • Preparing for the Underground Church
  • Planting the Underground Church
  • Living in the Underground Church
  • Fulfilling God’s End-Time Mission by Mark Finley
  • Persuasion by Mark Finley
  • Gaining Decisions for Christ: A How-To Manual by Louis R. Torres
  • Great Stories for Gaining Decisions by Louis Torres
• ✔ Reference Letters. Please text or email the following people this link (https://forms.gle/hytYEUA9SiBRdCqXA) and ask them to complete a reference letter for you.

1. 1. 1. A Secular or unchurched friend
      2. A Christian friend
      3. Someone who has served as a spiritual mentor in your life.
         

Make a Fair Wage

Each Expader raises their own compensation from family and friends. Sponsors send their monthly pledges to the Simple Church Global Network, earmarked with you name. Simple Church sends you a monthly check. If you don’t need compensation and would like to be part of an Expander Team, choose the full-time volunteer option below.

Remember, no one is compensated to start a simple house church. Simple churches are 100% lay-led and meets in homes. You are compensated as an Expander who uses this unique model that combines simple church planting and harvest events to raise up a city-wide network of simple house churches as described above in the job description.

In time we plan on expanding this project around the world. Initially we will be focusing on the United States and then other Westernized cultures.

＄ Single-Person Full-Time Compensation — A single’s compensation is a minimum of $5,000. per month for the United States (adjusted according to the cost of living index), assuming they are not taking on any other paying jobs.

＄ Husband & Wife Teams Full-Time Compensation — A family’s compensation is a minimum of $7,500 US for North America (adjusted according to the cost of living index).

A family salary provides a ½ compensation for a spouse to work ½ time. Assuming they are not taking on any other paying jobs.

The intent is to recognize the effectiveness of family evangelism and compensate for the time and effort a spouse will invest in their marriage, training their child, hospitality, and this Expander Team family ministry. This helps the home become a powerful evangelistic example.

＄ Full-Time Volunteer — I/we do not need compensation. I have other investments, or retirement means to sustain me/my family while working with a Simple Church Expander Team.

As an Expander, you will be taught how to include parsonage exclusion as part of your U.S. tax return, which provides significant tax savings for your family. And you will be linked with a U.S. seasoned tax preparer who specializes in parsonage exclusion tax returns and who only charges $100 to prepare your taxes. This is the same person who Milton has been using for several years.

Fundraising Your Monthly Compensation.

100% of your fundraising is processed through Simple Church and goes towards your Expander Team monthly compensation. Nothing is skimmed off the top for administrative overhead.

The best of the best in fundraising:

The God Ask by Steve Shadrach.

Some really good resources, forms, etc.

Keep your donors updated and engaged with your front-line Expander Teamwork.

The Epistle portal. There is a very small cost to use this portal.

Fundraising portal for your donors.

Once you have completed the application prerequisites, it is time to build your custom donation page. Use this sample donor page template for content ideas.

Then, send Milton (milton@adamsonline.org) your Expander Team assignment content description and a horizontal picture. I will build your page and email you a custom URL to use for your fundraising.

I’m Ready to Apply

Before you click the blue application button, please make sure you have completed the pre-requisite items listed above.