Seven years ago, my church sent me to help another church teach and preach for one year as that church didn’t have any full-time Bible teachers. I ended up serving in that church for six years. During that time, I started reading good resources on the topic of the church. These books revolutionized my thoughts. I desired our church to be healthy but soon realized that the existing leadership wasn’t interested in any reforms. The leadership opposed reformed doctrines and expository preaching. I realized that I couldn’t be a part of that leadership structure and still be able to serve the church. I heard about an internship program hosted by my previous church, and I decided to be a part of that program.
Upon my return, I was excited to see many new faces, a solid leadership, and a discipleship structure. Even though I didn’t know what I’d be doing after a year, I enrolled in the internship program. I systematically read the Bible and other books on church leadership, discipleship, and administration. I was also teaching systematic theology to the other interns.
There is a dearth of biblical churches in our land, so the church has been praying for new church plants in many parts of our city. As an answer to the church’s prayers, many people throughout the city joined the church meetings during the pandemic. After a few months, the elders proposed that I be an elder, and the church voted for me. I was appointed to be an elder. Since there were a few brethren attending the church from a different part of the city, the other elders asked me to move to plant a church there. As that was my desire to see more healthy churches in our land, my wife and I agreed to move to another part of the city.
In 2022, the church commissioned me to plant another church. One dear and trusted brother was willing to move with us to plant the new church, and a few families from the other parts of the city too joined us. The Lord provided us with a meeting place to rent for a minimum amount.
For several weeks, I taught on the foundations of the Christian faith. Beginning with the biblical gospel, we spoke about the Trinity, the Deity and the Humanity of Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Authority of the Scriptures. The brothers also taught church membership and the responsibility of a church member. Finally, on March 13th, we covenanted together as a church. I started to teach from the book of James every Sunday and the book of Ephesians on Wednesday evenings. A few more families and young men were added and are going through the membership classes.
Evangelism in the month of April
We have been encouraging the church to preach the gospel regularly whenever they have an opportunity. In April, we decided to do outreach and conduct a gospel meeting. We decided on a few specific locations to go to and share the gospel. Ten members volunteered for this with much apprehension and fear of persecution. We divided into three groups and headed to different areas and distributed gospel tracts, and were able to share the gospel with a few people. There wasn’t much response. The following day we organized a gospel meeting and encouraged the church to invite friends, family, relatives, and colleagues. Only a few unbelievers turned to the gospel meeting. I preached the gospel to them. But after a poor response from both the gospel outreach and the gospel meeting, the church was discouraged. We then encouraged the church to be persistent in preaching the gospel. We are praying and hoping to do more evangelistic work.
Appointment of Another Elder
We are praying for more qualified elders in our church. The brother who moved with me has shown to have this call on his life. I’ve known him for a very long time. Many years earlier, we used to go out together to preach the gospel. He is passionate about the gospel and taking the gospel to the lost. I was happy when he agreed to move along with us to plant this new church. And a few weeks ago, I proposed to the church that he become an elder. After a few weeks, if the church elects him, we would be appointing him as an elder. Please pray for God’s wisdom and guidance.
Eager Disciples
We have in God’s provision a few brothers and sisters eager to know and study the Bible systematically. God willing, we will be starting a course on Biblical hermeneutics and teaching them how to study different genres of the Bible. Please continue to pray for us and for me to live and work faithfully for God’s glory.
