80% of the world’s evangelical Christians live in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Over the last 50 years, God’s church has grown exponentially in these areas.

These regions have tremendous mission sending potential to help bring the gospel to unreached peoples, but they currently send only 20% of the world’s cross-cultural missionaries!

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Total Number of Evangelicals

Cultural Bridges to UPGs

Regional Access to UPGs

Religious Freedom

Prosperity

Current Sending Abroad

Mobilization Potential

Custom Mobilization Potential

Number of Evangelicals

Cultural Bridges

Strategic Access

Religious Freedoms

Current Sending

This infographic provides a visual score for seven data points ranked on a 0 to 100 scale. Faded icons show scores for other countries on the mobilization index. See below for actual scores and country-specific insights.

ADDITION

FINANCIAL DEPENDENCY

INACCESSIBLE

LIMITED MISSION FORCE

DISTANT AND FOREIGN MISSION FIELD

THE WORLD IS THE MISSION FIELD

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Milestone 1: Taking a Small Lead by Serving

You don&rsquo;t need to throw students into leadership right away. Start by giving them a small responsibility, and make sure you explain it to them clearly. For example, you can ask a student to bring snacks for the group, set up chairs, or make sure Bibles are available in case someone needs one. This allows them to experience small successes and feel responsible for a part of the Bible study.

Milestone 2: First Leading Experience

Next, ask students to take on tasks that require more involvement. You might ask them to lead an icebreaker, take attendance, make announcements, send text reminders, read a Bible passage, or lead an opening or closing prayer. This milestone is important because it helps them overcome hesitations and increases their sense of responsibility toward the group.

Milestone 3: Shared Responsibility

At this stage, you will share responsibility with the student for leading the content of the Bible study. You can ask them to identify and share key teaching points from the passage, provide a real-life example or personal story that illustrates the biblical truth, or lead the discussion with the group. Be sure to meet with the student beforehand to study the passage and create a plan together, ensuring you're aligned. In this stage, the student will also lead the activities from stages one and two.

One of the most rewarding milestones is when a student gains enough confidence to fully lead the Bible study. They prepare the lesson, welcome everyone, lead the icebreaker, pray, check attendance, and guide the group in learning from the Bible. By now, they are also responsible for praying for group members, reminding them to attend, and keeping in touch throughout the week. Your role then shifts to simply being a resource for them as they lead.&nbsp;

Milestone 5: Multiplying Leadership

Once they are comfortable, you can start a new Bible study and guide another student through the milestones, multiplying your ministry! In our ministry, we use what we call a "Bible Study Backpack" to guide students through these milestones. The backpack includes snacks, icebreaker cards, attendance sheets, Bibles, Bible study guides, and a sign to invite passing students to join in.&nbsp;

In the first milestone, students help carry the bag, offer snacks, and lead the icebreaker. By the second milestone, they take attendance and write down prayer requests. In the third milestone, they co-facilitate the Bible study, and by the fourth milestone, they lead the Bible study on their own. At this time they receive their own Bible study backpack, so they are ready to take the role of Bible study leader.

This process usually takes one semester. Our goal is that by the end of the semester, we can multiply Bible study groups and spread God&rsquo;s Word to students across our campus!&nbsp;
As you invest in training student leaders, remember that your guidance and encouragement are key to their growth. Start by giving them small responsibilities, build their confidence step by step, and walk alongside them as they develop into leaders.&nbsp;
Our role is not simply to teach but to empower&mdash;so let&rsquo;s equip our students well, pray for them, and send them out to lead others in discovering God&rsquo;s Word.

5 Milestones of Training Students to Lead a Bible Study

In This Article

Robert Rueda

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