Church Planting Movements are a God-initiated phenomenon. They are not a strategy that man has invented. There have been over 40 of these movements throughout the world and in various cultures. As they have been researched by missiologists, it has been discovered that these movements have common characteristics and elements. When certain key elements are in place, it provides an atmosphere in which God can work. The six key elements that relate to local churches in the U.S. becoming engaged in these movements are:
Extraordinary Prayer – people around the world praying by name for the people groups. It involves 24/7/365 prayer – praying for those working among the people – praying against the gatekeepers who keep the Gospel out of the culture.
Scriptures in the heart language – most unreached people groups do not have the written or audio Scriptures in their heart language – engagement for the local church requires the translation in cooperation with nationals - first it is Bible stories – then books of the New Testament – then the New Testament and lastly, the Old Testament.
Strategy – this is often called End Visioning – what will the end look like when the movement has reached the people group – and then work backwards to develop the strategy – in some cases the strategy is to plant a house church in every village.
Evangelism for Intentional Church Planting – targeted evangelism which is for the purpose of planting a house church – it normally does include mass distribution or broadcasting – it does include the building of relationships - finding the “man of peace” in a village.
Training for the church as a whole – this is discipling the church member, the leader… those who are illiterate and those who are… children and youth who are believers - using the tools of audio recordings, the written Word of God, flannelgraph, Bible stories, etc. to see growth among those who have accepted Christ.
Resourcing – this is people, prayer, funds, networking, tools… and the synergy that is created when churches work together to make it happen. The West must obviously play the role of funding since the wealth of the world is here. But the role of church in the West is much more than funding.
