The Encounter with God Model is rooted deep in the ministry of the Apostle Paul. The book of Acts, as well as Paul’s own epistles, testifies to the missionary nature of his work. Paul’s focus was to plant seeds for the gospel in major urban centers of the Roman world, ultimately moving toward the city of cities—Rome itself. One has only to study the geography of Paul’s missionary journeys to realize that Paul focused his ministry on centers of influence.
“If the goal is to ‘make disciples of all nations,'” writes historical sociologist Rodney Stark, “missionaries need to go where there are many potential converts, which is precisely what Paul did. His missionary journeys took him to major cities such as Antioch, Corinth, and Athens, with only occasional visits to smaller communities such as Iconium and Laodicea. No mention is made of him preaching in the countryside.” (Stark, Rodney. Cities of God: The Real Story of How Christianity Became an Urban Movement and Conquered Rome. San Francisco, Harper Collins, pp. 25-26, 2006.)
Having planted the seeds, Paul left the task of spreading the Good News to the churches he established.