 | Vision |  |
|
| ||
|
| ||
| | |
There are about seven or eight evangelical denominations in the country. Most of them have less than 3000 members. SEND works with at least three of these groups including the largest group, which has over 8000 members.
One of the most pressing needs is to help train believers in the churches to do the work of the ministry. Denominational leaders see the need for training men for pastoral ministry, but little is done to prepare lay believers in evangelism, discipleship, leading small groups and other significant ministries.
SEND cooperates with the Alliance for Saturation Church Planting. Two cycles of training are almost completed. Interest in this training is growing among denominational leaders and they are starting to plan church planting in every part of the country. If you have gifts in evangelism, discipleship, leadership training or teaching, you could have a major part in saturating this country with evangelical churches.
>> top of page
SEND has partnered with the Brethren and the Baptists in recent years to establish reproducing churches and train national church leaders. One aspect of this has involved sending missionaries to work with existing churches to do evangelism and, in other cases, to establish church planting teams consisting of SEND personnel and national workers. SEND is also helping spread this vision through involvement with the Alliance for Saturation Church Planting. The Alliance brings together over 60 mission agencies with one focus. The goal is to mobilize and equip national churches to see Biblical congregations of believers within practical distance of every person, penetrating every neighborhood with the transforming love, truth and power of Jesus Christ.
Is it possible to penetrate such a resistant society with the gospel? We believe it is! We are beginning to see cracks in the atheistic, agnostic and self-sufficient Czech armor. There are only four families with SEND in the Czech Republic right now, and two are still in language study. However, one family has already had a successful ministry with a young church, and is moving into a new ministry in a district of Ostrava, the third largest city in the Czech Republic. They will help start a new church in a district of 90,000 people with no evangelical witness. They want someone to join them in this exciting challenge!
If you are being called by God to do evangelism and church planting, there's a spot on a team here for you. Imagine being a part of proclaiming the gospel in the very place where the seeds of reformation first began, but where the power of darkness is rampant. If you are gifted in teaching and leadership, you could join SEND's team as a trainer/facilitator for the Alliance of Saturation Church planting. Lastly, if you're trained in TESL, you could partner with church planters to build contacts and open doors to reach these people with the gospel.
>> top of page
-
PRAY that the gospel message will penetrate thousands of resistant hearts in this land where the Protestant Reformation really began. By the time of Martin Luther (100 years after John Huss) there were 200,000 believers in the Czech lands of Bohemia and Moravia. By the early 1600’s, 90% of the Czechs were Protestant, and most of them were strong believers.
-
PRAY that the leaders of the evangelical denominations will catch the vision to train all believers to reach their country for Christ and to saturate Czech with gospel-preaching churches.
-
PRAY that missionaries with SEND and other agencies will be able to provide training and assistance to accomplish this task.
-
PRAY that the Lord of the harvest will raise up and thrust out the workers needed to accomplish His work in the Czech Republic, both Czech and outside missionaries. PRAY that God will show you how He wants you to be a part of His work.
-
PRAY that the Czechs will one day follow in the footsteps of their forefathers, the early Moravian missionaries, who carried the gospel to many countries around the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment