Why Don't You Help Plant a Church?

By Larry A. Powell

We are the ecclesia. We are the Church, called out and sent into the world. As you read the Bible, you quickly become aware of a sending pattern. God called and sent Abraham to establish a special people and nation. He called and sent Joseph to Egypt to save and grow a nation. God called and sent Moses to rescue and deliver that nation from bondage. He sent Jonah on a mission to perishing people in Nineveh. Then, in the most amazing event in history, God sent His own son to a lost world of fallen humanity. Equally amazing is the fact that Jesus called and sent His disciples to share this message of hope. He said, “As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” (John 20:21b).

Make no mistake. He is sending you as well.

Home Missions has a pressing need to send missionaries to plant churches and tell others about Jesus. The population of the United States is approximately 345 million. I have read estimates that as many as 259 million people claim no relationship with God and Christ.

Why not send your church to work with a church planter?

I am appealing to pastors and churches to get involved with home missionaries. Help a church planter saturate his community with the gospel by going door to door, through community mailings, by advertising on newspapers, radio, television, or any other method that comes to mind. I am so thankful for church families who send missions teams and volunteers with resources to partner with home missionaries.

Ask our church planters, “How can we help your new church reach your community for Christ?” Refine your plan, pack your van, and hit the road to help. Your church family will be a tremendous encouragement to home missionaries. God will send you if you are willing to go!

I often speak to graduates, technically and vocationally trained young couples, and challenge them to leave their towns and move to a growing southern city, to the mid-Atlantic, or to the Rocky Mountain region. I challenge them to start their own business or find jobs in those communities in order to help a home missionary carve out an exciting, new church in that city.
Wonderful opportunities are waiting across North America. Why not ask God to send you!

About the Writer: Larry A. Powell is director of Home Missions. Learn more about the mission waiting for you at www.homemissions.net.