More Talk About Church Planting

By now you have hopefully been able to reflect a little on New Life’s projected timeline for the next five years. That timeline is printed on our “Looking to the Future” piece, which we have been talking about the last two Sundays, and which are available for you to pick up in the foyer. This campaign is our denomination’s way of encouraging all of its local congregations to be involved in planting churches in some way. Here at New Life, we want to be actively involved in the starting of new Gospel-centered congregations in central Indiana. But that’s not the end of it — not only do we hope to continue planting churches, but we want to plant churches who are also committed to planting churches themselves.

I have heard different words used to describe the timeline. Some are saying it is “quick” and “aggressive,” while others have said it is “conservative” and “too long.” This suggests there might be some questions about the details of this timeline, and about church planting more specifically. If you are wondering why our timeline seems to project the starting of our first daughter church so far out in the future (start budgeting in 2013, core group gathered in 2014), the answer is that we want to proceed carefully to make sure that our church’s first experience in this mission is a positive one. Church planting is challenging work, fraught with many potential pitfalls. Our goal is not just to start churches, but to start healthy, vibrant, grace-centered, outwardly-focused churches.

Recently I was in Chicago for a two-day seminar with PCA church planters from the Midwest. Attending were church planters from Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota and Kentucky. It was exciting to hear stories from these pastors about God’s faithfulness to them on the field, and to hear from our denominational leaders about how committed the PCA is to the important task of starting new churches. The PCA is among the top five most aggressive denominations in the nation in church planting.

And yet there is so much work to do. We were told at the seminar that while there are more pastors looking for positions than there are vacancies at established churches, there are many more communities asking for new PCA churches than there are church planters to send. Please join us in supporting and praying as we think through and plan all the details necessary for this calling.

My love to you in Christ,
Bob

Testimony of God’s Hand at Work in Monterrey, Mexico

As many of you know, I recently returned from Monterrey, Mexico where I attended the Project Orientation Training (POT) for our annual missions trip. The trip covers many details and aspects of our summer trip and the other PCA churches serving in Monterrey. However, it largely consists of connecting with the church we serve with and making plans for our summer programs together.

This will be the fourth year our church has gone to Monterrey to help a young, small church in the lower economic neighborhoods run their VBS as well as several other ministries. I fell in love with this church five years ago when I served as an intern in Monterrey. I was deeply moved by the church’s passion to share the gospel with their neighbors and community, and their sacrificial love for each other.

It is such a blessing for me to see how our church has connected and developed relationships with people that don’t speak the same language and come from a very different culture. It is also such a blessing to return each year and to see how much the people have grown in their spiritual lives. Just as a child seems to grow by leaps and bounds when you don’t see them every day, it’s the same with this church. Every year we see people gain deeper and closer relationships with Christ.

I want to share with you about Hugo and Mari. Hugo is quiet and serious, but you can tell has a sweet and generous heart. Mari is always laughing, so it is easy to connect with her and instantly love her. Neither one of them grew up in a Christian home and
Bethel Iglesia was the first church they have attended. Mari was invited by her next-door neighbor and she instantly felt like she had gained a family. She began attending regularly with her then 3-year-old son, but it took several months before her older sons, then 10 and 12, joined her. Slowly they became connected in the church and gained an
understanding of the gospel.

In 2007, our first year in Monterrey, when I was there for POT, I was introduced to her husband. There was a lot of excitement in the church because they had been praying for months that he would come, and this was his first Sunday. When we returned in July, he had still been attending regularly and was heavily involved in helping with our ministries for the week.

Last year Hugo, Mari and their sons were baptized, and in addition to being baptized, Hugo and Mari were married in the church as new believers. They had not previously been officially married, but had a civil marriage.

Hugo is in the Mexican military and is on the front lines of the drug war, where his life is always in danger. He spends many months away from his family serving his country. We got to see him briefly last year and assured him we were praying for him. He testified that he knew where his confidence lies and if something were to happen to him, that the Lord would protect his family. He reassured us not to be afraid for him, but to know that God is faithful.

This is just a snapshot of what the Lord is doing in this precious church in the poor suburbs of Monterrey. This is the reason we go each year, in hopes of seeing more families enter the church and discover God’s love and grace through his people and in hopes of deepening our relationship with these brothers and sisters. Thank you for your prayers while I was gone. It is always such a blessing to see how the Lord is at work.