ARE WE A PEOPLE AT HALF TIME? - Leadership Network

impacting the culture for the Kingdom
Impacting the culture for the Kingdom.
“We have a real hurting culture,” says Art Ay r i s .
“When the results of sin have permeated people’s
l i v e s ,what you end up with is a lot of hurting
p e o p l e .We’ve made a focused and concerted
e f fort to meet needs and, while meeting those
n e e d s ,share Christ.”
Le e s b u rg is not a huge city—there are less than
25,000 residents—but that doesn’t mean its
people don’t have serious needs. For example, A r t
s a y s ,“We have a rescue mission that has a drug
and rehabilitation center with 30 beds. We also
h ave a real problem with homeless women and
c h i l d r e n ,so we have a women’s shel t e r. We have a
pregnancy crisis center, and we have opened a
c o u n s eling center. R e c e n t l y, the local hospital came
to us to offer their help in meeting the medical
needs we encounter, and together we’re building a
medical clinic. And FBC hasn’t confined itsel ft o
the city limits. In Romania, t h e y’ve built housing
for orphans and, c u r r e n t l , ythe church has groups
Planting new churches and
training church leaders.
About a year ago, D avid Nicholas had a great idea.
As senior pastor of Spanish River Presbyterian
Church in Boca Raton, F l o r i d a ,h e’d been activel y
involved in planting churches for years. But he
wanted to do even more and share with others
the church-planting strategies that had worked
so well for his congrega t i o n .So he started the
Acts 29 Network, a gathering of churches from
all denominations that have come together for
one purpose—“to start church-planting churches
throughout the world to the glory of Go d.”
The strategy of the Acts 29 Network is simple. “We
t a ke 10 percent of our general offerings and put it
into church planting,” says Dav i d.“We support some
other missionaries and missions,but the bulk of w h a t
Con.NEXT.ion
Embrace Omaha –
w w w. c h r i s t c o m m g . o r
Trinity Church –
w w w. t r i n i t y o m a h ga . o r
Mission Houston –
w w w. m i s s i o n h o u s t go n . o r
going to Brazil and Romania to build shelters
for street kids.”
Art adds that all these ministries have created a
powerful openness to the message of Christ in
their community.“God clothed his message in Jesus
C h r i s ,not t in a neon sign.What we’re doing puts
flesh on the gospel ,and people in the community
s a y,‘ H e y,this is what the church should be doing.’ ”
J o el Ve s t a l ,founder of Se rv L i e fInternational in
H o u s t o n shares , a similar commitment.In the eight
years since his orga n i zation bega n ,his teams have
circled the globe over 16 times,bringing practical hel p
to people in need, all in the name of C h r i s .The t ke y
to impacting the culture,he says,is to enlarge the
vision of your role as Christ’s follower in the worl d.
“Our calling and need for community must exist in a
global context to fully understand the Kingdom of
Go d.Our missional drive should be fueled out of
our relationship to Him as opposed to pursuing
some cause.”
we do goes to church planting.Since its founding over
30 years ago,Spanish River Church has planted wel l
over 60 new churches—in Illinois,Te x a s ,M e x i c o ,
I n d i a ,B razil and Haiti. All of these churches hav e
e m b raced the goal of becoming “planting” churches
t h e m s el v e Leith s . Anderson,another church-planting
leader who pastors Wooddale Church in Eden
P ra i r i e ,M i n n e s o t a says , he frequently receives
requests from church leaders who want to know
the “s e c r e t” of e f fective church planting. In the end,
it may be something that can’t be easily understood
without going and seeing it for yoursel f. “ F i n d
churches that have a Kingdom mentality and are
growing and ministering,” says Le i t h .“ Learn
about them, but especially go and see them.
O f t e n ,the tra n s formation takes place on the
ride home when church leaders are discussing
their experience together.”
S e rvLife International –
w w w. s e rv l i f e g. o r
Spanish River Pre s b y t e r i a nC h ch u r–
w w w. s p a n i s h r i v e r. c o m
Acts 29 Network –
w w w. a c t s 2 9 n e t w o r k . c o m
Wooddale Church –
w w w. w o o d d a l e g. o r
FBC, Leesburg –
Michael Wa rden is a freelance writer in Littleton, CO.
w w w. f b c l e e s b u rg g . o r
He can be contacted at eaglesong@email.com
p lanting new churche s – training leaders
Strategies for other
c h u r c h e sthat want to
begin to reach their city.
Mobilize intercession for
the city immediately.
God always sends his intercessors first.
S t a rt building re l a t i o n s h i p s .
Go after the “franchise holders” in the
city—the ones who have a vision for
the community and are confident
enough in their position to be open
to seeing what God might want to do
outside the walls of their church.
Pray for disc e rnment fro m
the Lord as to who should
champion the movement—
realizing it might not be you.
Look for one who has a “horizontal”
apostolic gift—one who is a leader
of leaders.
Don’t let programs get
ahead of G o d ’s timing.
D o n’t let programs drive it at all.
Instead, follow what God is doing
through relationships,and then
allow programs to evolve natura l l y.
S O U R C E: Eric Be n t s
E m race Omaha