Sweet Victory
One of the church planters rocked slightly back and forth at the front of the room as he remembered the road that brought him to a place of leadership.
April 6, 2016
One of the church planters rocked slightly back and forth at the front of the room as he remembered the road that brought him to a place of leadership.
The Bible is full of stories of God using Missional Girls and Women to serve as prophets, political leaders, and business owners to bring justice, peace, love, truth, and freedom in a broken world.
My wife and I were a part of a church plant for 8 years and I know how valuable the prayer support was for the building of his church. Simply put, the church would have not been planted without prayer.
“This is the Church. This is the steeple. Open the doors and here are the people.” I was taught this little jingle in Sunday School over 45 years ago in the basement of the church my folks attended.
Missions is ultimately about the journey of fulfilling the Great Commission – making disciples of every nation so that those disciples will participate in the realization of God’s Kingdom on earth. But what does this look like?
God’s mission and heart for the city includes the transformation of the least of these. This transformation will happen in a way that the last become first.
World Impact’s mission is to facilitate church planting movements among America’s unchurched urban poor. In my 14 years in ministry as a preacher, planter, and pastor I can testify that church planting in impoverished neighborhoods is one of the most challenging yet rewarding calls in my life.
By 2021, World Impact has a desire to plant or partner with 300 new urban churches. We will accomplish this through facilitating church-planting movements by evangelizing, equipping and empowering the unchurched urban poor. That is an aggressive goal and challenges us with a much needed sense of urgency.
The year 2015 was the most fruitful church planting year in World Impact’s history. As I thought about the year, a picture of an art museum came to mind. Imagine a gallery with three hundred spaces for pictures to hang, each space corresponding with World Impact’s vision to see 300 new church plants launched by 2021.
Numbers don’t tell the whole story, but they can help provide perspective on how the Kingdom of God is advancing through the local church across America’s inner cities. Here are a few numbers that stand out from our Focus Area of Planting Healthy Urban Churches in 2015.
The first Evangel Dean School was held last week. All of us at the training felt the power of the Holy Spirit at work in our midst. His power and presence was evident in bringing unity, clarity, and vision to the five teams assembled from cities across the United States.
On Saturday I attended Barbara Allen’s graduation from The Urban Ministry Institute of Los Angeles (TUMI-LA). Afterwards I met the leaders of the church plant she attends.