FIND
a person of peace
Overview
**SUMMARY** According to Jesus’ instructions to His disciples, when He sends us to reach a different city, nation, neighborhood or people group, we have ONE primary job: to find the “Person of Peace.” The miracle of DMM and CPM came from re-learning the instructions that Jesus gave to His disciples, particularly concerning the Person of Peace. The Person of Peace Strategy comes from a composite view of Jesus’ teachings in Luke 10, Luke 9, and Matthew 10. Jesus’ Person of Peace approach is an “entry strategy” to new people groups and social networks. In the Great Commission Jesus commanded us to “go.” But what do we do when we get to where we are going? We find the Person of Peace. This is radically different from traditional disciple-making methods. In Matthew 10:11 Jesus said, *“Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave.”* The “worthy person” of Matthew 10:11 is the “Person of Peace” in Luke 10:6. Notice the word, “search.” Jesus had told His disciples to search for the Person of Peace. Again, in the Person of Peace Strategy, you as the disciple-maker have ONE JOB––to find the Person of Peace and to train them to become the disciple-maker for that community. Why? Four reasons: 1) The Person of Peace lives there, you don’t. 2) they know the culture, you don’t. 3) they already have relationships and trust, you don’t. And 4) God has chosen them, and not you, to establish the Gospel and see disciple-making multiply in their community. **HOW DO YOU FIND A PERSON OF PEACE?** First, you PRAY for direction and power. Second, you go where Jesus tells you to go, openly preach the Good News and HEAL with words and miracles. If you will do this in a visible way, the Person of Peace will find you. Third, look for people who are **WOOLY**: **W** = “Welcoming.” Persons of Peace will welcome you. **OO** – “Open Oikos.” Oikos means house or household. Persons of Peace will not only welcome you personally, they will open the door for you to bring the Good News to their family and close friends. **L** = “Listens.” Persons of Peace will not only welcome you, they will welcome the word of God, and obey it. **Y** = nothing. It simply makes the noun, WOOL, an adjective, making it easier to use in a sentence (e.g. she is a WOOLy person). And fourth, ask this question again and again: “Would you like to bring your family and friends together to discover more about God through His Word?” REMEMBER: the Bible says you ‘don’t have because you don’t ask’ – that can apply here too. In order to see multiplication, we must ASK! When you get a “Yes,” this will lead to the next Secret: DISCOVER) **WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?** ***Luke 10:5-6** | Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.* ***Matthew 10:11 (NLT)** | “Whenever you enter a city or village, search for a worthy person and stay in his home until you leave town.* ***Luke 10:7 (NLT)** | Don’t move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay.*
Story
**AN UNEXPECTED INVITATION** A young lady was led by God to go to North Africa. After being there a while, she told a ministry friend how much difficulty she and her team had faced whenever they would share the gospel. The young lady’s friend suggested that instead of trying to preach to everyone, maybe she could search for a Person of Peace by using a short statement in natural conversation to reveal that she was a spiritual person. A few hours later, the young lady excitedly called her friend back to tell her what God had just done. She and her teammate were in a market buying fruit when they saw a woman who had three young children running circles around her. So the young lady commented to the mother, “Children are such a blessing from God!” And the mother stopped and responded, “Wow, no one ever pays attention to me. That is so kind!” And before long she invited the young lady and her teammate to her home. Arriving at the woman’s apartment later that day, the two young missionaries were surprised to find that this mother had invited all the women from her building to meet her new friends, and the apartment was packed! While they were all cooking and talking with the women, their gracious host said to them, “Please do what you came here to do.” The young lady said she didn’t understand what she meant, but the mother told her that she knew she was a spiritual person and wanted to talk to everyone about spiritual things. After thanking her for the opportunity, the young lady shared the story of the woman who was constantly bleeding from Luke 8. When she finished, the entire room was in tears. It was quite evident to the young lady and her teammate that God had led them to the Person of Peace.