Why I’m Planting
The first reason I am planting a new church is because I was called to plant churches. When I was called to the ministry, right at the beginning when I was a seminarian, I was challenged by my pastor at the time to plant a new church in a city close to my hometown in 1999. This work still exists today. My first church plant was a revitalization/planting work for 3 years and in my last church, where I spent almost 15 years, we planted a new church in a city 700 km away and I went to that new work every month for 3 years. I went there 29 times! So, I believed that I was also called to plant churches.
The second reason for planting churches is because it is God's will for all the churches that exist in the world. In the great commission at the end of Matthew 28, it is clear in Jesus's order that we as a church must preach the gospel, baptize new disciples and found new churches for these new churches teach new believers to keep all the things that Jesus taught us. In addition to this we have the example of the apostles, especially the apostle Paul in the book of acts, he made four missionary journeys and wherever he passed he planted new churches so that those regions could be evangelized. That is why I understand that every church was called to plant a new church and consequently every pastor must at least support the planting of new churches.
The third reason for us to plant new churches is because the need is so great. The fields remain white for harvesting and true workers remain few. We have many "churches", but few that preach and live the true gospel. Only the true gospel can save man, free him from the slavery of sin and reconcile him with his Creator. The world needs more gospel-centered churches and so the need is great and urgent. The world is in constant transformation and falling into a very great moral degeneration, needing the light of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to illuminate the darkness that this world finds itself in, which is why we need more new healthy churches as lights for the world.
The church plant challenge is very big. There is a need for spiritual, physical and material support for a new plant. It takes a lot of perseverance to see the fruits begin to emerge, it takes time, effort, a lot of prayer, tears and sweat. But it is a great privilege to be able to be used by God in His work of saving lives through planting new churches. May God help us fulfill the calling for each one of us who has been called to plant new churches.