— There was not much of a road to get to the place for a new church. The people live by subsistence farming in an agricultural setting. A pastor under the direction of our Field Director, Pastor Onesimus, had begun to minister in this area and about ten have received Jesus Christ. But, it is nearly a two hour walk from here to the nearest church in Rukungiri. Our Field Director and his team were showing us the site for the proposed church.
We were exploring the property to see how it might work out for a site to build a shelter that would allow the believers here to have their own church. The man in the dark blue shirt was described to me as being a “Muslim” man who was married to a Christian woman. He wandered the property with us during our visit.
Then he turned to Pastor Robinson, the man bringing the gospel to this place, and asked in his native language — “What is the white man doing here? Why does he look at this place?”
Robinson translated the man’s question and asked me what he should say to him. I replied, “Tell him we want to build a Christian Church here in this place.” I admit, that the Lord laid the burden on my heart right then and there that we would, by faith, plant a new church on this property. What surprised me was the man’s response.
He reached out and grasped me in a hug and, speaking in his native tongue said, “I’ve been praying for you to come.”
Donate to support Starting New Churches (click here)
We are so thrilled when God answers the prayers of someone asking him to bring the gospel to them. You may ask as others have, “Why would a Muslim man want to have a Christian Church?” I was puzzled too and so I asked him. He gave me two answers. First he shared that the Christians he had met were good people and he believed that the Christians would help the people in his community. And, they are in desperate need of help. Secondly, he said that he wanted to know more about Jesus but it is too far for him to walk to the church. He thought if there was a church here, then he would be able to learn about Jesus.
Join us as we seek to help this community. We has provided so that the church now owns this property. I’ve been told that they have already cleared a spot and placed chairs. Pray for us as we provided for the pastor’s salary and guide them through the process of making the best use of the property. Our plan is to assist them to provide not just a place to meet as the church, but also to arrange for a clinic. We will also assist in making a better source for their water.
The current source for water is not so good and some spots are shared by the animals.
See more about how our water project will assist churches to minister to their community by providing safe water.
Like in the book of Acts when God lead his evangelists to take the gospel into the far regions of the world–God is at work today and still opening doors for new churches to bring the gospel to their villages.
The Macedonian Call: And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (Acts 16:6-10 ESV)
Here is an idea of what it might cost to start and establish a new church this region of Uganda (the same cost works in several other countries we serve in too!)
- We will begin the new church with a $500 per month contribution – this allows the pastor to serve full-time with evangelism and ministry outreach and gives the new church a small operating budget to get the needed shelter for their meetings.
- We establish a five year relationship for financial support with the church planter. This allows the income to be managed in a reasonable manner for the fledgling new believers. We are aiming to have a steady consistent growth of the body of believers so that they can establish a self-sustaining church. So, we give the money in small increments consistently every month allowing the church to grow at a reasonable rate.
- We gradually decrease the funds each year helping the new group of believers to become responsible for a small portion of the income needed to establish the church in their community.
- The total expected budget for five years to establish a new church is $18,000. That’s it. About $300 on average per month over the five years.
- We achieve this support by combining the contributions of our partners – some give $50 a month, some give $100 or more. We combine these donations and determine in counsel with our Field Director living right in the country which site has the best potential to accomplish the goal.
There are more pastors prepared, trained, and personally discipled by our current pastors that could be starting new churches full-time if we have the resources to support them. We hope you will prayerfully consider joining us and being a part of God’s answer to the prayers of people asking Him to have a church in their own village.
Call The Accounting Department (760) 846-8610 to establish an automatic withdrawal from your checking or credit card account.
