Monday, 25 October 2010 21:33
Last Updated on Monday, 25 October 2010 21:37
I’ve been reading the book “Church planting is for wimps” by Mike McKinley and in one chapter he bemoans the fact that most church planters are not honest about how things are REALLY going in their church plant. Most church planters overemphasize whatever good is happening and hardly mention the difficulties. Mike’s book was a refreshing change as he honestly recounts the damaging effects that church planting had on his marriage (and thus warns others not to make the same mistake.)
The following is an extract from a prayer letter from one of my missionary colleagues and I’m grateful for his honesty as I can truly relate to his sentiments.
“Dear Friends & Family,
“How is church planting going?” I don?t particularly enjoy answering this question but I wish I did. With only about 3 months to go until our home assignment in the U.S., it is time to look back at our first full missionary term in Thailand and ask, “What has been accomplished? What do we have to show for ourselves as we head back home and meet with supporters?”
I wish I could tell you that new churches (or at least one new church) has been planted. Or maybe that a small group Bible study of some sort has started that we hope will grow into a church. Or at the very least, we?d like to report about some promising new believers who have come to faith while we?ve been here. We know that in Thailand people are coming to faith, new small groups are starting, and churches are being planted. The statistics that came out for 2009 said that the number of Christians in Thailand is growing seven times faster than the biological growth rate of the country. That is great news. I just wish that we were seeing some of it in our neck of the woods.
We?ve tried a lot of different things but nothing seems to have taken off.... [he goes on to list all the things he has tried]
With all the failures, one might be tempted to throw in the towel and go home. But the funny thing is, leaving the mission field has never crossed our mind. “And why not?” you may ask. Because the ultimate success of church planting in Thailand does not depend upon our efforts but the promise of God. Christ said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Mt 16:18). If Christ has said it will succeed, who are we to say it won?t?”