Recently, I was blessed with the opportunity to fellowship alongside Send Missouri in St. Louis. For those unaware, Send Missouri is in close partnership with the MBC to help churches plant churches in Missouri, and it’s funded by your generous Cooperative Program support. Jason Zellmer leads Send Missouri, and in the short amount of time we’ve spent together, I’ve already been blessed by his enthusiasm for serving the local church. The gathering in St. Louis was well attended, with nearly 200 participants coming together for prayer, encouragement, and to learn more about the need for healthy church plants in Missouri.
My experience with church planting is limited, and being completely transparent, what experience I do have is what most would categorize as less than successful. As a pastor, I led our church to support a church plant among Native Americans in Arizona. The plan was to send one of our faithful associate pastors to live among, evangelize, disciple, and pastor Natives. We wanted to reach the lost in a difficult place where darkness dominates and few seem interested or willing to go.
To provide a bit of context, we didn’t simply throw a dart at a map and choose Arizona, we developed a long-term relationship with a NAMB missionary serving among the Native Americans. Every year our church served alongside Eric and Brittany Gibbs to provide a unique camp experience for Native students. It was a costly mission for our church, but through the years, as we witnessed professions of faith and changed lives, we knew it wasn’t really an expense – it was an investment. We genuinely loved these students, cared for their needs, and shared the gospel regularly. So, when the opportunity to plant a church was considered, it seemed like a great idea!
One Sunday I stood before our church and explained how one of our associate pastors felt called to plant a church among the Natives in Arizona. I further explained our need to support this faithful and courageous brother. On that very day we took a special offering and received over $100,000 in support! I was overwhelmed and excited, my associate pastor was overwhelmed and excited – now, all we had to do was go plant a church. The difficult part was behind us, right?
We learned quickly that planting a church isn’t as easy as it sounds. Even with the necessary funds, it was incredibly challenging. The work was slow, frustrating and exhausting. Finding a home for the church to meet in was difficult, convincing people to attend was difficult and developing local leadership and ownership was difficult. Basically, everything was difficult.
In addition to the “normal” challenges, the church I pastored was 1,500 miles away! Yes, as we later reflected on the entirety of the situation, we realized that trying to plant a church in a different state, among a different people group, 1,500 miles away, might not have been the best plan. But we felt we were obedient to the Lord’s calling, we learned a lot, and I believe we did indeed make a difference.
In the end, the church plant never fully materialized, but our associate pastor was called to lead an existing local church in Arizona where he enjoyed a fruitful ministry. As we all know, our plans are not always the same as the Lord’s plans.
What does any of this have to do with Send Missouri? As I sat in the back of the room that day in St. Louis, worshipping with nearly 200 people interested in church planting, I thought of our experience in Arizona. Those who will be sending, as well as those who will be planting, need our support and prayers. For most who plant a church, the journey will be difficult, at times lonely, oftentimes frustrating, and regularly exhausting. But be encouraged that your fellow Missouri Baptist brothers and sisters in Christ are supporting you, praying for you, and absolutely inspired by your courage and faithfulness. May God bless your efforts to reach the lost all across the beautiful state of Missouri!