Just this week, I received word that Outreach Magazine, a leading evangelical magazine with a readership of 80,000 people, had selected the Let’s Start Talking Sycamore Series as the #1 small-group curricula for 2009 (See www.outreachmagazine.com .) Since most people do not know about Sycamore yet, I thought I’d use this opportunity to share with you enough to tempt you to investigate more. I believe it has the potential of being a game-changer –but then I am totally biased—so I’ll let you decide.
For 30 years, LST workers have been trained to “let the Word be the Teacher, and you be the illustration,” also, that faith begins with the story of Jesus (“These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God—John 20:30,31). Working this strategy creates a very non-threatening, natural relationship between two people in which a Christian can easily find natural words for sharing faith with another. About five years ago, returning LST workers began asking for materials to use here in the States with their family and friends. All LST materials prior to Sycamore used a person’s desire to improve their English as the starting point for the relationship; what our workers wanted was something they could use with anyone.
As we sat down to work on this project, we set the following goals for this new material:
- It would continue to be Word-centered, starting with the story of Jesus in the Gospels.
- It would assume no faith on the part of Readers (LST jargon for a Christian’s conversation partner).
- It would be for a post-modern culture, which meant that it would not be linear sequential, i.e, logically building upon biblical truths in order to reach a rational conclusion.
- It would nurture authentic relationships.
We currently have three workbooks published, titled The Life, Encounters, and Stories, but have six more in progress. In addition, we produced a valuable training DVD with a training guide that is essential in order to use Sycamore most effectively.
Finally, let me say as a father how proud I am of our daughter Emily, the author of the series, who bears with my ideas and intrusions and whose love for Jesus and sensitivity to those who seek is found on every page. And she is great on the DVD too!
If you would like to know more about the Sycamore Series, go to www.sycamoreseries.org .
Mark's Blog 
Good point, David. There seems to be a natural “fit” for Sycamore with church planting ministries.
Mark,
I wonder if ministries like “Kairos” and “Mission Alive” are aware of the Sycamore Series. It would be a great tool for them. I am sure Scott Lambert probably already knows about the series. Congrats on being featured in Outreach. I am very familiar with that magazine.
David