The Church Planting Process, What and Why

Acts 14:23 And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

We go to spread the gospel of Christ to all the nations. We don't go to build orphanages or hospitals or any other charitable types of work. Those things are all good things, and if it is necessary to build a hospital in order to spread the gospel of Christ somewhere, we will do so. However, it is important to keep in focus that "making disciples of all nations" (Matt 28:19-20) is the goal. In the context of scripture, of course, "nations" has in mind the individuals in the various ethnic groups of the world ("nations" come from the Greek word ethnos which is the root of our word for "ethnic"). The mechanism for support, encouragement, and growth of believers in Christ is through the local church. Thus, we go to win people to Christ, and then help them begin their own local churches. The end goal is that the churches we plant among the various people groups of the world will be able to sustain themselves in preaching, teaching, and fellowship without permanent missionary presence. That does not mean we abandon them, of course, but only that after a strong vibrant church is planted, the tribal people run their own church, and do not require the missionary's constant input.

The time it takes from initial contact to establishing of strong vibrant churches could be anywhere from about 8 years to much much longer. There have been tribes where the church was established and grew strong in a very short period, even as soon as 8 years. Most take longer than that. Often there are many barriers to overcome. Not only are these people coming straight out of animistic thinking, in many places there is strong persecution of new Christians. Looking at the chart on the previous page, you can get a basic idea, although it is very simplified. When we get to another country, we will initially spend 6 months to 2 years learning the trade language of that country. This is for our own survival and functioning in the host country. Fluency in a trade language can usually be accomplished rather quickly because we have trained teachers and an established program.

After mastering the trade language, we will go to a tribe. Once in a tribe, we spend time learning their culture and their language, which go hand in hand. Unwritten tribal languages often take much longer to learn, because the missionary has to figure out the grammar and vocabulary by himself. In learning the culture, it is imperative to determine why they do things, why they are thinking a certain way. All animists live in absolute fear of the spirit world, which most westerners consider to be essentially non-existent. The most important thing, however, is to build relationships with the people. When they see the love of Christ in our lives, coupled with the fact that we do not live in fear of the spirit world, this is where credibility is established. When we have mastered the language and culture, we begin to teach the scriptures chronologically, in the same manner as God has revealed them to us. This is what makes the biggest difference in their lives. As we teach chronologically, they are able to understand the truth of "God's Talk," which is very liberating to them. Following foundational teaching, the gospel is presented, certain ones believe, and the church is established. That is a very simple overview of tribal church planting.

Some have asked if we change their culture. The short answer is, yes we do. I make no apologies for this. I mean, we don't change everything. They don't automatically become westerners wearing blue jeans and listening to country music. However, they do stop worshipping idols and praying to dead ancestors. They begin praying to God, the one true God, the one they now believe in.

For most of us in America and Canada, Christianity came to our ancestors 1500 to 2000 years ago by very early missionaries. Most of us do not remember the pagan darkness our ancestors were in, and with what joy they embraced the message of eternal life in Christ. This is probably why so many in North America have turned away from Christianity, sometimes even trying to go back to the old ways of darkness, in the guise of New Age thinking or Eastern Mysticism. Furthermore, many branches of Christianity have corrupted the true gospel, so that the gospel they preach lacks the power of the true gospel, resulting in disillusioned participants, who tend to fall away and pursue life's pleasures. Is it any wonder that there are so many around us who claim to believe in God, yet are so full of doubts?

I would encourage any of you who may have doubts about God and Christ, examine the source of those doubts. You may have doubts and questions. I did for years, even after I put my faith in Christ alone for salvation. The problem is not the doubts themselves, but the decisions you make based on those doubts. The scripture says that people are "willingly ignorant" (2Peter 3:5) and "became vain in their imaginations" (Romans 1:21). In effect, those who do not believe have willingly chosen not to believe, for one reason or another. There is something in man that wants to say, "I am good enough, a good person; I am not a sinner." If this is you, examine yourself in light of the scripture. God's standard is absolute holiness and perfection (1Peter 1:16). You may think you are good, but are you absolutely holy and perfect? I know that I am NOT holy and perfect – so I thankfully place my faith in Christ alone for salvation. Because it is written in Romans 3:28, "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."

New Addresses

Our new address over the next year will be:

May 22 – Aug. 18, 2003: 501 E. 14^th St Belton, TX 76513

Aug. 18, 2003 – June ? 2004 3100 H. St. Baker City, OR 97814