What is a Missional Learning Team?

The MLT is Forefront's 8-lesson, experiential training that equips everyday believers in cross-cultural disciple-making. It emphasizes biblical principles, discovery-based learning, and practical application. Everyone who goes through an MLT receives a Team Member Workbook to guide them through the training.

8
Lessons

Each one has three parts: work on your own, time with your team, and something you go and do.

8 to 12
People on a team

Teams can be smaller or bigger than this, but 8 to 12 is the ideal number of people.

Every other week
Team meetings

1 or 1.5 hour meetings, with the off week left open for the Experience.

A group sitting together with open Bibles

Why should you go
through an MLT?

01

To grow in love and obedience to Jesus as you actively learn how to share the gospel and make disciples cross-culturally.

02

To be better equipped to reach your neighborhood, workplace, and community with the gospel.

03

To have a more biblical foundation for the mission of God, and to learn practical ways to make an impact for his Kingdom.

04

To learn alongside others who want to grow in evangelism and disciple-making.

How one lesson works.

Every lesson has the same three parts. The shape stays the same all the way through, so after the first one you always know what is coming.

Pre-Work

20 to 30 minutes, on your own

A short piece of reading and reflection before the meeting. Teams that meet for an hour and a half cover this together instead.

Team Meeting

1 or 1.5 hours, every other week

Half the time is spent in accountability groups, where you discuss how you applied what you learned from the previous meeting. The other half is spent learning a new principle of disciple-making.

Experience

Application, completed between meetings

The most important part of the MLT is applying the principles. We call this the Experience, and each of the 8 lessons has one. This is where personal and community transformation really happen.

The one hour format

You do the Pre-Work on your own beforehand, and the meeting stays tight. Good for teams with full calendars.

The hour and a half format

The Pre-Work happens together in the meeting. Nothing to do between sessions except the Experience.

Someone walking a city street, seen from behind

Community transformation happens when everyday believers take simple steps of obedience.

The rhythm of a team.

You learn, you apply, and you come back and share how it went. Then the rhythm starts again.

Week 1

Team Meeting 1

The team gathers for Lesson 1.

Week 2

Complete the Experience

No meeting. You complete the Lesson 1 Experience in your community.

Week 3

Team Meeting 2

The team gathers to debrief how the Experience went, and to learn a new disciple-making principle.

Week 4

Complete the Experience

No meeting. You complete the Lesson 2 Experience in your community.

Eight lessons at that pace, about four months to complete the MLT

A few of the
lessons.

Here are four of the eight lessons. Each lesson pairs something you learn with something you go and do.

Lesson 1

God's role and our role

The experiencePrayer-walking somewhere in your community.

Lesson 3

Person of peace

The experienceSharing your testimony with someone in your community.

Lesson 5

Multiplication

The experienceBible storytelling.

Lesson 7

Discipleship

The experienceLeading a Discovery Bible Study.

The other four cover an openly spiritual lifestyle, God's vision for the nations, the Holy Spirit, and perseverance.

Who is on a team.

Most teams are 8 to 12 people, though smaller and larger ones work fine. Every team has a facilitator, usually a Forefront staff member or someone who has already been through an MLT themselves.

If someone on the team is stuck getting their own ministry moving, the facilitator will often go out with them and model it rather than explain it again. Teammates do this for each other too.

Team outreaches are optional and make the most sense when people's ministries overlap, a shared workplace, a neighborhood, a people group. They are also just a good way for a team to get to know each other.

How are teams formed?

01 Formed inside a church, often out of a group that already meets.
02 Formed from an existing community, a campus ministry or a network of friends.
03 Formed from scratch, with people who had no connection before the team started.
A mother and daughter being welcomed at a neighborhood clinic

God has brought the nations here. We can help you reach them.

Join a team.

Tell us where you are and we will let you know about MLTs forming near you, or help you start one.