CHURCH - PLANTING
The simple point is that when we have more life-giving new churches, more people have the opportunity to be reached, trained, empowered, and released to make a difference! This sets off a dynamic spiritual chain reaction of multiplication!
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Everywhere Paul went, he left a community of believers in his apostolic wake! He would nurture, care, mentor, and empower those believers to function as local churches. The ongoing life of the believer needed someone with whom they could connect to learn, commune, and pray (Acts 2:42). Apart from the life that flowed from the community of believers, converts and disciples would wither and die. On the other hand, having a connection to a powerful spirit-filled community making an impact in their locality provided a powerful incubator for discipleship and growth. Paul's example of early missional ministry definitely teaches that missions need to happen to the end of the formation of new communities of new believers. Not that this is only work of missions, but this was certainly was the pulse of Paul's strategy and heart. These new communities become the building block for the Kingdom of God to be established in powerful ways within different spheres of society as well in different geographical areas.
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The importance of church planting cannot be overstated. One major mistake that anyone can make is to simply see evangelism as the fulfillment of the Matthew 28:18-20 vision. People need to be connected to local bodies. One can easily make a case that just because that someone is connected to a local body does not mean they are being discipled and this is equally true. It is important as we look towards church planting efforts that plant life-giving churches that create space for the development of disciples. Church Planting is known for being one of the most effective evangelistic strategies under heaven. When new churches are planted there is great effort made for evangelism for the establishment of that church; of course, the community there is immediately preparing to disciple and nurture.
Around the year 2000, Brian helped plant and pastor The Lord's Dwelling Place Church. It was here that God solidified the belief and understanding of building a solid theology of church planting. He also assisted and help plant other churches in other rural areas. As Brian and Janine go forward, a key component of what they will be doing is to plant, partner with planters, and training church planters to establish life-giving, Gospel preaching, Spirit-empowering, missionally engaging, and disciple-making churches that will reproduce.
From 2010-2013, Brian ran the Church Multiplication Center in Virginia Beach with emphasis on planning city-focused church plants. Brian worked with several different church planters as part of New Life Ministries International. He served as Pastor of Network Development.
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Brian has trained leaders in Mtwara, Tanzania in Church planting methodology through the Bible College that they founded: Antioch Missionary Bible College. The large focus there was to reach and train leaders to plant amongst the unreached Islamic people groups. Much work needs to done in this southern region of Tanzania yet. Please pray for the pastors that have been trained and that God would continue to bring more church planters to be sent out. Brian also still partners together with Habib Kuya the pastor of His Dwelling Place to continue to help the church planting vision develop in the northern part of the country. We desire to see a movement of churches multiplying rapidly because with each church comes a great opportunity to influence people, the community, society, and culture.
