Church planting - Dave Lawton

3 Dangers For Simple Church

My Good friend Peter Roennfeldt writes on the dangers of Simple Church….

 Simple church is firmly on the agenda of church life in the western context. It is seen in the revivals of history – and again in the planting movements of Asia and Africa today. It is not synonymous with house church, although many are! Simple churches also gather in cafés, restaurants, book shops, gardens, offices or work places etc. They can exist in any place where believers want to share faith with their friends. It is not the same as small groups, although some of the principles are the same! Simple churches are church – they are not some ‘preliminary form’! They will not grow to be ‘real churches’! They reflect Paul’s New Testament gatherings – on the path of life, reproducible, evangelistic, multiplying, and intentional. Three dangers threaten them – 

(1) they remain an idea that is not practiced by those promoting them, 

(2) they become complex when denominations get hold of them, or 

(3) they become insular and isolated – like some small groups and house churches.

My reply to Dharshi

Very exciting story Dharshi.

In leaving the gospel in their hands we have to trust the Holy Spirit to complete the work. That's his role. To teach and train them. That's why Jesus said I won't leave you as orphans, but he and the Father will come and make their home with us through the Holy Spirit. Read John 14 as an encouragement in this regard.

However the role of the apostle (as opposed to the pastor) needs to be highlighted here. The apostle is one who plants, and then oversees the churches. Helping them, often from a distance, to stay on track. You can play this role in part. Through letters, encouragement etc. There also might be others there who would be open to visit them and encourage them in their fairh and toward multiplication. Is there someone there who could do this? To visit and disciple them? 

They seem to be able to read (?) so this is a great help... They can have the bible to help nourish their faith. This can never be underestimated. 

So in short Dharsh, trust the Holy Spirit, stay connected through letters and communication (do they have a phone? I know now in India the poorest people seem to have a mobile). Find someone who has movement DNA to follow through there in the local. And finally let the Bible esp. The new testament, do its work.

Again ... a great work of God Dharsh, amongst the poorest of the poor. Amen. God is good. 

Dave

Dharshi in the Philippines

 

Dharshi sent an email from the slums of the Philippines….

this might get long...would so appreciate you sticking with it as i would really appreciate your input.

I'll try to get straight to the point :) The ministry we were going to partner with yesterday cancelled on us a few days ago. We talked and decided as a team to try and go to one of the massive garbage dumps in the city- where lots of people live and try and get their livelihood (poorest of the poor areas). All I knew was a general area to go to- God totally led us there miraculously (so many stories just in that!). We get there and start walking around.. eventually ended up in this open hut thing where about 10-15 adults/kids are sitting around. 

One of the ladies (Gina) asked me in Tagalog what we were doing there...just shared that we're here from overseas, taking in/experiencing life here, and sharing about Jesus' love. I asked her if there was anything we could pray for. And she said that her husband (who was lying in the corner of the room) has been severely ill for the past month. She asked if we could pray for him (Jose). This man was skin and bones. Sweat all over. Heaps of flies all over him. Smelled like a toilet (he's been lying in the same spot for a few weeks!!!!). And can barely speak...mostly nodding and shaking head to communicate. 

So we laid hands on him and started praying. YIKES! IN the middle, I asked him if he believed that Jesus ("the great healer") could heal him. He said yes..so prayed according to his faith (a few of us were crying at this point...moved by his faith). As I was praying for full healing..Jesus gave me a picture of how there will no suffering for this man in heaven..and for his family (they didn't have anything to eat that night...so their neighbour had given them some plain rice to eat). Full healing for them would be in the presence of Jesus. And I just knew they needed to hear the gospel...their ultimate hope. So we finished praying, and his wife is fully weeping. Just totally moved. The Holy Spirit was obviously ministering to them.

I started sharing the basic gospel with her and her husband. And then realised that everyone else was listening in and paying attention..so started raising my voice a bit so everyone could hear. Miraculously, I asked them if they had a Tagalog bible and they had been just given one a few weeks back!! Long story short!.. they both received Christ with tears in her eyes (Gina) and her husband (Jose). She said she couldn't believe that it was that easy to have a relationship with Jesus. We were able to take her with us and buy some much needed medicine for her husband... I was amazed at her heart. She never asked once for financial help...you could tell the Holy Spirit was there and WORKING.

I asked her if she knew of a church in the area or any other Jesus follwers. She knows none. I just shared some basics..."where 2 or 3 gather there am I with them"... told her to just start reading Luke with her friends. and to follow what Jesus did. 

This is where I need some input... I'll plan to go back two times probably in my last week..this place is about 2.5 hrs from where i'll be (my beach trip is happily cancelled with this happening!!!) and just do some basic bible stuff with them and encourage them to start sharing their simple faith. Can you pls give me input if I should connect them with a believer/ a church/ or a group of people who could follow up? It's hard knowing that in a week they'll be on their own- though just praying this morning and Jesus said they are His chidren and He'll care for them. They obviously need to be released to do church in their context (and not encouraged to merge into an established church that would at least be 30 mins away for them)...but not sure how shaky things will be in a week...

look forward to hearing back as soon as you're able to respond :)

in Jesus,

dharsh

ps this was also an incredible day for the team..we were so worn and drained but just AMAZED at how good God is!!! 

We Went West!

 

Last weekend a team of about 20 went to Western Sydney. We spent the time in prayer and fasting, praying for the Western Suburbs. This area represents the neediest part of the largest city in the land. Most Christians travel out of the area to go to Church. Church planters are discouraged and often don't make the distance. The social needs are huge, and the nations are represented with people from every continent. Many many nations are represented. In 43 C heat (Very noble :-) we walked the Fibro housing commission areas where buses refused to go because of violence, the red-light districts, the areas dominated by Islam and the hubs of multiculturalism. 

There were so many stories, as we connected with the people. People were warm and open, many times our team were connecting with people, praying and sharing the gospel. Our team kept saying 'people are so open!' We cried out to God, felt his heart and were excited by the possibilities. Our long term goal is to see a team planting what we call a 'multiplying hub'.

The question now is who will go?

An Intense Day

On Saturday we got intense at an intensive. Over 60 people turned up and we went for it for 4 hours! Teams from different Churches workshopped how they could start making disciples in the harvest. We didn't have time to get bored! It was fun. I will be posting some videos that we put together from the training time. Watch for these three snapshots of church planting in Melbourne.  

I think we are going to change the world! No really...

 

One of my great joys is to journey with the gang at Alabaster house. I really love these guys!

Starting with 5 young radicals I remember going to pray in parks at night with them as they started to dream of reaching broken kids with the gospel. Passion was high. So was their faith. There was no resource, no big budget, just big hearts. A few years later we stand in awe of all that God has done. Many kids and young adults have encountered a loving Jesus community, come to faith, been baptised. I am always hearing stories of broken people discovering Jesus. It's messy, edgy and fun. As a community of 60 to 70 they are now beginning to multiply new churches. They dream big and work on reaching one person at a time.

What have I learnt from them? Lots. Here are just a few reflections...

It all started when Mike Grechko grabbed a bunch of them and began to pour his life into them. He gave them vision and challenged their thinking. Go Mike! This is when I began to catch up with them. The power of life on life mentoring and encouragement is vital.

They are thicker than thieves. They have built a friendship that obviously goes deep. They birth things in prayer and faith. Deep friendship and passionate spirituality is a strong part of their DNA.

I firmly believe in the 20 somethings. We have to hand the Church to them and watch what God does. They dare to believe, they are not encrusted with traditions, they have passion and energy. As Vicky said to me last week...

'I believe we are going to change the world... no really!'

I reckon they just might...

It's that simple!

Church planting is not complicated.... it is simple and easily caught. Especially when we redefine Church planting as making disciples in the harvest and gathering them together where ever you are. Jesus simply said go, or as you go, make disciples. It is the calling of every disciple to obey Jesus in this way. Once people have caught it the explosive dynamics are going to take many by surprise. Here is a note from my friend Gabi, Who responded to a recent post on the blog. Gabi has caught it.

Thank You Dave!

It is so exiting we do not need to do much.   I just felt on the weekend that I should start something in my workplace which is a residential house . I have already asked the residents and they happy and open to have something on 2 weekly basis  maybe on Sundays or Saturdays like some worship and bible reading and of course eating  ... I was so encouraged again during the conference. I think we must making disciples where ever we are and I find people really open for the "good news" and fellowship, we must take advantage of that.

gabi

Church planting with no Mission?

USA today reports on the decline of Christianity in America saying 'So many Americans claim no religion at all (15%, up from 8% in 1990), that this category now outranks every other major U.S. religious group except Catholics and Baptists. In a nation that has long been mostly Christian, "the challenge to Christianity … does not come from other religions but from a rejection of all forms of organized religion," the report concludes.' 

{check out the report above...it has a very cool interactive graph }

Maybe this explains something I have been perplexed about. When I meet and hear some of the best and fairest of Church planting guru's from the US I hear a lot about leadership and Church planting. Don't get me wrong, I love and respect many of the great leaders the US has produced. Even so, I hear very little about engaging a lost culture with the 'good news' and scant about how to make disciples out of the lost. I am left with a gnawing hunger for more, an unsettled sense that we are missing something big.

It is perhaps because Church planting in the US has, by and large, engaged in a culture that does not seem to be lost and far away from God [Note to self - Perceptions are often deceptive, especially for those within the picture]. I for one thank God for the Church in the USA and it's global leadership of the last 100 years. But maybe because it has had such strong Church that the primary question of mission {Preaching the gospel, making disciples} has slipped off the radar. Church planting becomes about the better leader running the better program and drawing as many as possible to their venue.

Multiplying Churches can soon sound like Church planting with no mission. The question soon becomes 'Could you lead a Church of 60 or 100?'... Not 'could you reach the lost?' While leadership is good and important our teachers from the US usually are creating a very high bar, allowing little time for the empowerment of every believer to reach the lost. The focus is all wrong.

However Church planting movements formed in the crucible of the hardest and most unreached peoples share a completely different story. The first question is not about leadership or the Church, but the Gospel of Jesus. How do we preach the Gospel to these people? How do we deal with a totally different world view? Then it is a question of making followers, disciples. How do we create obedient followers of Jesus who will in turn preach the gospel and make more disciples? The explosive Church of the third world has arisen out of the Gospel penetrating such difficult situations that their story starts to look like the book of Acts all over again. Ordinary believers are empowered by the Spirit of Jesus, the Gospel spreads virally and organically, the Church is on fire and simple.

The rapid and cataclysmic decline of Christianity in Australia has caused us to realise what we are doing is not working. Even with the advent of Mega Church and 'emerging' Church. We need to learn afresh. Church paradigms need to be challenged. Maybe with the startling report of the decline of the Church, our friends in the the land of General Motors and Lehman brothers will soon have to join us Aussies as learners once more. That together we will take our hats off in humility ask the true leaders of global Christianity where the Church is exploding ...

'how do we reach the lost?'

Ex-Catholic Dylan Rossi, 21, a philosophy student at the University of Massachusetts in Boston meditates. "I don't know anyone religious and hardly anyone 'spiritual,'" he says.

Photo and comment from USA today

Mark and Dharshi #2

Mark and Dharshi write...

 

"Have you ever heard the muslim call to prayer, or the melodic reciting of the Qur'an in Arabic? We were treated to an interesting adaptation of this recently while catching up with our Iraqi friend for dinner. In his past, he used to teach others how to recite the Qur'an in Arabic, singing the words loudly in musical sentences, much like the call to prayer from the minaret. However on this occasion, he volunteered to sing us the Biblical Lord's prayer. It was incredible. Spine-tingling. The hairs on our necks stood out as he sang out the Lord's prayer passionately in beautiful melodious Arabic, while we sat in wide-eyed silence at the table. To know that it was the Bible he was reciting was especially moving. It was only topped later as we read part of the first chapter of Luke together, he in Arabic and us in English. Thank you for your prayers for "M".

 

Churchplanting can be the most fulfilling, on the edge and fun place to be. These kind 'God moments' you can only get when you are making disciples in the harvest. You wouldn't want to miss this for the world!

Mark and Dharshi

Mark and Dharshi are living the dream of what it means to follow Jesus in Dandenong. They are part of a new move of apostolic teams daring to take risks to see a movement of simple Church in our nation. Their heart beats for a multiplying movement of disciples in the harvest. They are currently sharing the gospel and praying with numbers of people from the many nations represented in Dandenong. People from Zambia, Malawi, Burundi, Iraq and Sri Lanka. And there is only two of them!

Mark and Dharshi inspire me and refresh my passion for Jesus.

Here is their vision summed up in their latest prayer letter.

Here is our latest update in Dandenong.

Recapping our aim:

 

Our aim is to make disciples in the harvest, and see them also make disciples. The result being that, through prayer, building relationships and sharing the gospel, small communities will be established and continue to multiply. The main ways we are doing this are the methods Jesus described in Matthew 10 and Luke 10, meeting persons of peace in their own homes, leading to the gospel reaching their relational connections or oikoi (oikos).

 

I reckon that pretty well sums it up!