Every year, thousands of Seventh-day Adventists set out to plant a church. We thank God for the thousands of new groups that have been planted and established since Global Mission began in 1990. However, there are still many needs to be met.
Narrator:
When you plant a seed….
You water it, you let it soak up the sunshine
And you let God do His part to make it grow.
So what if we aren’t planting vegetables or flowers? What if we are planting churches?
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VOICE: Every year thousands of Seventh-day Adventists set out to plant a church. Some are pastors, some are laypeople such as Global Mission pioneers. These church
planters go into an area where there is no Seventh-day Adventist church. Some
church planters go out on their own, some are sponsored by their conference or
mission, some, like Global Mission pioneers, are sent out thanks to generous
supporters who believe that we have a mission to Reach the Unreached.
Church planting is not some new method. It goes right back to the early Christian church.
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“He was like a loving father, caring for those churches to make sure that they grew and blossomed and disciples were built.”
VOICE: It was through church planting that the early Christian church multiplied.
Everywhere the apostle Paul went he couldn’t stop talking about a risen Savior. He had a message of hope that he couldn’t keep to himself.
The Adventist Church grew in the same way. They had a unique message to
share with the world, but they only had one local church—in Washington, New
Hampshire. But that quickly changed as Adventists started crisscrossing the
country, starting new groups of believers.
VOICE: The Seventh-day Adventist church has grown tremendously since those early
years. In 2016, a new Adventist church was established every 3.3 hours
somewhere in the world.
Yet despite tremendous growth, many people who still not heard the Adventist
Message, or even the name of Jesus. In fact, two-thirds of the entire population
of this planet don’t know Jesus.
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“People will sometimes say, I go to a church and it’s not even half full. Why don’t we fill that one first? If we did that we would still be in New Hampshire. The Seventh-day Adventist church is all about growing--moving into unreached groups—starting churches where there are none. Because that is what Jesus asked us to do. And then, He said, He’ll be able to return.”
VOICE: The Great Commission is to go into all the world, to all people groups, to make disciples—and discipleship takes place among groups of believers.
We thank God for the literally thousands of new groups that have been planted and established since Global Mission began in 1990. Yet the challenge remains.
Thank you for your prayerful support of sending more church planters into the field.
