Trying To Plant Churches Like Jesus Did

At least three days a week Meehan and I are going into a township here in Cape Town known as Red Hill. Red Hill began over 15 years ago when some Africans ‘squatted’ on some land and made shack-like homes out of anything they could come up with. Today is consists of about 500 of these. All of the people who live in theses townships are black or “colored”, which is a mix of black and indigenous. All of the people are very poor and have to face alcoholism, trafficking, HIV, and drugs all as major issues. When we go into these places we go in groups we really try to take a Luke 10 approach. We simply stop and talk with anyone who desires to do so. We have learned that God is already in work in these people and we need just to find the ones whom the Lord is preparing. Jesus talked about this in John when he said He only does what He sees the father doing. When we find someone who is open we see if they would want to gather a group of friends or family to study the Bible. These people are also referred to in the Bible as, “persons of peace.” We then set a date with them and come back another day to study with them. When we do meet the group, we do not preach or teach. We don’t want to do anything they feel they can’t do. We have them read a passage from Scripture and then go around and ask what it is saying. Then we go around and talk about how each of us will apply it if we believe it. This is the beginning of what we call a “discovery group.” This is essentially a group we coach from the outside by mentoring a facilitator from the group to direct the group in continuing to read, discuss, and apply God’s word. The whole point of this is so they can do it on their own. This very much depends on the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to teach. If, and when the group comes to certain conclusions of salvation, worship, community, and missions then it has become a simple church that is very reproducible. Believe it or not, this actually can happen within a few months. It’s amazing what happens when we step back and allow God’s Spirit to move and we keep our culture out of it and allow their culture and God’s word form church. Not only is their so much more receptiveness, those that are in these simple churches often are far more dedicated to obeying Scripture than most. Of course we are there alongside in these early stages to keep them from going astray. So far Meehan and I have already met many people and we are excited to watch the Bible and the Holy Spirit do His thing!