WHAT WE DO

CHURCH PLANTING

The very fundamental and foundational thing a missionary is to do is to preach the gospel. All other things a missionary is tasked with doing flow from this one foundational step. Our job is simply to be faithful to preach the Word of God, but it is God that does the converting of the sinner. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ” (Romans 10:17 ESV). Ultimately it is God who will call and save His elect, and establish His church among the nations.

If we stopped our efforts after evangelism and once converts had been made, then we would fall drastically short of what God has commanded in the Great Commission. We are also to teach them to observe all of God’s counsel and will.

And yet, if we left these new believers without a healthy and biblical church they would be like sheep without a shepherd. Believers are required to gather together in order to strengthen and encourage their faith by the preaching of the Word and the partaking of the sacraments. Therefore, it is our goal to establish healthy, biblical, and indigenous-led churches in order to equip the saints for every good work.

How is it done?

Our goal of establishing healthy, biblical, and indigenous-led churches is dependent on the proper teaching of the Word of God.

  • First, we recognize that it is the power of God to save and it is Him alone who is able to save sinners. It is our duty to be faithful to preach the Word of God and it is God’s duty to effectually call His elect.

  • We believe the sacraments given to us by Christ are signs and seals of the covenant of grace. We believe baptism to be the sign that should proceed admission into the visible church. The Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of Christ’s sacrifice of Himself on the cross.

  • We believe prayer is an offering up of our desires to God in the name of Christ by the help of His Spirit; with confession of our sins and thankful acknowledgment of His mercies. Corporate prayer is an integral part of the Lord’s Day worship service and we view it with high priority.

  • We believe in the necessity to adapt certain circumstances to the cultures are ministering to, but we also believe that God has specifically outlined how He wants to be worshipped in Scripture. Therefore, we confess that the elements of worship, the Word of God, prayer, and sacraments, cannot be altered or changed.

  • We recognize that there may be existing churches in or around a strategic area of influence. It is not our desire to work in competition to the existing churches, but in conjunction with them. However, with the rise of the prosperity gospel and other false doctrine plaguing churches across the world, we think it is necessary in the immediate and beneficial in the long term to endeavor upon planting our own churches.

  • Perhaps one of the greatest challenges in any cross cultural church planting endeavor is the decision of when to transition complete leadership to local believers. The transition is not done overnight and the local believers are given responsibilities from the very beginning. In the beginning stages of a church plant we view the need to maintain doctrinal integrity as most pressing for a new church and therefore retain complete and immediate oversight in most matters.

    The first step to a church being fully indigenous-led is the appointment of church leadership; elders and deacons. There is no formula, specific timeline, or requirements of when is the appropriate time to transition completely, but the decision is made from the care and supervision of the church planting team, with the help of the advisory council and through prayer and the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

Want more information on our strategic plan of establishing churches?