Seeing Makes
the Vision Come Alive
By Chuck Kelley
 |
Lutherans, Apostolic and Baptists have strategically
planted churches near the magnificent town
square of Banska Bystrica. |
"One time to see is better than 100 times to hear." Partners Executive Director, Almers Ludviks, expressed this thought after a very special eight-day period in Central Europe.
Our group had completed a packed April 2002 itinerary which included the Hope 21 European leadership conference and visits to church planting ministries in Romania and Slovakia. The participants came from Baptist, Pentecostal, Reformed, and Lutheran churches in Latvia. Some are leaders of strategic institutions-Riga Bible Institute, Tilza Evangelistic Training Center, Latvian Baptist Theological Seminary, and Latvian Christian Mission.
All long to see Latvia filled with growing evangelical churches. Seeing the church planting work of other Eastern Europeans opened up new horizons for them.
Thanks to planning by Don Crane of The Alliance for Saturation Church Planting, we enjoyed an insightful three-day field trip. Half of the group, led by Jay Weaver (ASCP), visited Romania. The other half, led by Glenn Livingston and assisted by Bernie Miller (both also ASCP), visited Slovakia.
CHURCH PLANTING THROUGH CHURCH RENEWAL
In Slovakia, we saw a different way to establish church plants-building new congregations in existing churches. This strategy focuses on nominal Lutherans, which 6% of Slovakians claim to be.
The Lutheran church in Kosice multiplied itself by organizing family and marriage-oriented events and inviting nominal Lutherans. Attendees were then invited into small groups and eventually into churches.
Almers was intrigued by this strategy. "Now we understand that church renewal is the same as church planting. In Latvia, we have many churches that need renewal."
BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS TO EDUCATE CHURCH LEADERS
The Theological Seminary in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, began about the same time as the Baptist Seminary in Riga. It faced similar obstacles, but with different results.
 |
Almers examines a church-planting plan proposed
by Macedonian-Slokavian pastor. |
The main reason is that evangelical denominations in Slovakia, knowing they were too small to create individual seminaries, worked together. With this spirit of cooperation, they approached the state university and were invited to become a department of the Pedagogical Faculty. As such, they have facilities, libraries, six salaried faculty, and offer Biblical studies to theological students enrolled in degree programs.
Martins Balodis, a Baptist pastor in Liepaja and also an instructor and board member of the Latvian Baptist Seminary, commented, "The seminary model in Slovakia is very interesting. The state supports the education and pays the salaries. The students and professors need recommendations from their churches. This gives me something to think about. If I am interested in church planting and if I am responsible for theological education, I need to put these things much closer together."
THE IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH
Doug Stoner of ASCP presented results of his exhaustive research of current and needed church placement in Slovakia. He pointed out the relationship between research, theological education, and strategic church planting.
Martins is interested in this topic as well. "Research is important. We can motivate people to pray for church planting when we have good data showing where the needs are."
Maris Dupurs, a Reformed pastor in Riga added, "Research is very expensive. One congregation can't do it. It is necessary to do it together."
Lutheran pastor Erberts Bikse was impressed with the Romanians' vision to reach their nation and their commitment to research. Pastor Martins Irbe remarked on the strategic importance of research, saying it should be a key focus of the Latvian Evangelical Alliance.
To Gary Ramey (IMB), the renewal success that the Romanian Lutheran church is experiencing underscores the need for research. Because the Romanians spent time understanding the populations they hoped to reach, they increased their chance of success.
WORKING TOGETHER
The Romanians are committed to teamwork. They recognize that church planting is difficult and not to be done alone. One of their cornerstone principles is to send teams instead. The Latvians took note, realizing that a significant percentage of church planting efforts have failed because the church planter was overworked, lonely, and isolated.
In Slovakia, a key leader in the Slovakian Evangelical Alliance showed us a diagram showing how an alliance can bring comprehensive meaning and synergy to smaller movements. This metaphor of individual streams converging to form a strong river struck a chord with our group and will help us communicate the purpose of an evangelical alliance in Latvia.
 |
Debriefing in Budapest.
|
DOING MUCH WITH LITTLE
The group was struck by the poverty in Romania. Yet, by teaching and practicing stewardship, the church in Cluj raised enough funds to build a nice facility. The Latvians listened carefully when the Romanian told how their missionary trip to India revealed how MUCH they were to be grateful for. The Latvians realize that they are better off economically than the Romanians.
BBI's Mike Parker was impressed by the missionary heart of the Romanians. "They have a strategy to reach their nation and neighboring Moldova and Serbia. They are preparing to send missionaries to Turkey. Last year, six pastors went to to India."
Likewise, in Slovakia, church leaders are developing a vision for sending Slovaks to India and Muslim countries.
PRACTICAL STEPS
I end where I started. At the final debriefing meeting, Almers shared, "This trip made a difference in how we view church planting. One time to see is better than 100 times to hear. Something is changing in our minds. Now we should come to some practical steps."
Almers is right. The next step is to take more practical steps. May God give us strength, wisdom, vision, and courage.
|
