HOW CTCAP IS USING INCUBATORS TO DEEPEN LEARNING IN ASIA
ANAND MAHADEVAN
JULY 2025
Anand Mahadevan, Training Director CTCAP
Shares a comprehensive overview of what an incubator is, why it’s essential, and the significant impact it has.
Over the past few years, City to City Asia Pacific has been quietly but intentionally deepening the way it trains church planters across the region.
At the heart of this richer training experience is the incubator—a new model of training that’s set to a slower rhythm with lots of time and space for deep Gospel community, real-time ministry application, and learning from one another.
The story begins with the Asia Intensive, a two-week flagship training program that brings together church planters from all over Asia.
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Participants dive into 35–40 gospel-centered modules on church planting, all delivered in a rich, multicultural setting. While deeply impactful, the Intensive often leaves participants longing for more time—more time to process, reflect, and apply.
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That’s where the incubator comes in.
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Unlike the fast-paced structure of the Intensive, incubators offer a slow and steady rhythm of learning in a deep Gospel community.
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Incubator modules are loosely structured into three components:
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Gospel community, where planters gather around Scripture and prayer in a safe space of vulnerability, repentance, faith and renewal.
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Focused training, which unpacks one core module in depth
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Ministry Application Project, where planters reflect on how to apply what they’ve learned—and return the next month to share experiences.
Because incubators are based in one city, all participants live and minister in the same cultural and social landscape. This makes for highly contextualized learning and deeply relevant conversation. With just 8–12 participants per group, incubators also create safe spaces—where church planters can be honest, vulnerable, and encouraged in the gospel.
Incubators also meet two other key needs:
First, it helps develop local trainers—especially in non-English languages. As City to City expands into languages like Nepali, Khmer, Mongolian, and Russian, launching a full two-week intensive from scratch in a new language often proves overwhelming. Incubators give new trainers a chance to grow in fluency, while also serving as pilot grounds for translated content.
Second, incubators are scalable and sustainable. With leader guides for each module and a replicable structure, they’re already running in cities like Colombo, Singapore, Manila, Kathmandu, Phnom Penh, Ulaanbaatar, and across Central Asia.
Looking ahead, the team has big hopes for the second half of the year. Top of the list: finalizing two years’ worth of leader guides, refining content post-Intensive, and encouraging more cross-city conversations among trainers. New incubators are set to launch in at least two more cities and by early next year, all incubator training will likely be fully led by local trainers—a milestone City to City is actively working toward.