We’ve Been Approved!

A few days ago I received word from the North American Mission Board that we had been approved as church planters. That’s one step closer to becoming a church planter in East Alton, Illinois. But we are not there yet. There are still a few steps that must be taken before we can actually begin planting a church. We must find a supporting church, jobs, a place to live, pack, and move. It seems like a lot that needs to happen, but we’re trusting the Lord to open the doors, and He can make it happen “in a flash.”

A lot of church planters go to plant a church. We are actually going to East Alton to plant multiple churches. How many? Well, that’s in the Lord’s hands, too. We are planning to plant house churches, sometimes called organic or relational churches. This is not a new idea. You will find house churches in the New Testament.

Basically, a house church is made up of six to twenty people who regularly meet in someone’s home. Once a week they come together for a fellowship meal followed by worship and Bible study. These church meetings often last between one and a half and three hours. It is usually inter-generational and is usually not led by a full time pastor.

The desired outcome is that those attending will grow in their relationship to the Lord; grow in community with each other; share the love of Christ where they live, work, and play; and that they will reproduce other such communities of believers. We believe God has called us to raise up a network of these small churches. Our hope and prayer is that many people will come to know Christ and grow in a relationship with Him and with others.

We need help. Here’s how you can help right now.

1. Pray for a supporting church. We need a church in the area who will agree to support us by receiving our house church as members and by assisting us in our financial accounting needs. 
2. Pray that my wife and I can find jobs. We are too young to retire and most employers would consider us too old to hire. So, this is definitely going to need to be a “God thing.”
3. Pray for others to join us in this process. If two or three Christian couples join us we can multiply much more quickly and reach more people for Christ. 

We believe in the power of prayer. Thanks for praying for us.