By Ronnie Davis, Director, Kaleo Missions
“A vigorous and continuous approach to church planting is the only way to guarantee an increase in the number of believers, and is one of the best ways to renew the whole body of Christ.” – Tim Keller
Kaleo is focused on caring for the poor and marginalized people of the urban United States through mobilizing short-term mission teams to serve the city. And we never do this by ourselves, but instead, Kaleo always partners with churches and ministries in each city where we serve. One of the primary areas of partnership that Kaleo currently has in the city is with church-planters. In fact, two of our city directors are pastors, currently planting churches in their communities!
As we talk to pastors and youth pastors around the country about how their teams will be serving on a mission trip, we occasionally get to explain what a church planter is, and why we choose to partner with them. For many people the image of an urban missions experience is serving in the downtown homeless shelter, the addiction recovery program, or the soup kitchen. Often, partnering with pastors who are starting churches in the city is not what first comes to mind.
We thought it would be helpful to talk a little about why church planting is important and why we love partnering with church plants on our Urban Immersion mission trips.
Church planting is simply beginning a new corporate expression of the Gospel in a particular place. It happens when a group of believers are sent out from one church to start a new church.
Kaleo partners with church planters because of:
- The centrality of the Church in God’s redemptive plan: As you read the New Testament, it is very clear that God intends his people to form into churches in local areas where they can live out the Gospel in a particular place at a particular time. John 13:35 says, “By this everyone will know you are my disciples if you love one another.” The local church provides an opportunity for Christians to publically testify to the Gospel by the way they live out their love for one another. But it is more than that, the local church is also where Christians “stir up one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24). From the beginning, it was never good for people to be alone. We need each other. We need the constant fellowship of believers to exhort us to a life of love and holiness.
- Educational opportunities: Mission trips have the longest-lasting impact when they are not only about serving but also about learning. A focus on learning allows the participants to really think and pray through the implications of the Gospel in their own lives and communities. The deep connections that church planters have with their communities and with the people they are serving provide amazing opportunities for teams to learn and grow while they are serving.
- Meet actual/authentic needs in the community: Church planters know their communities better than virtually anyone else. Also, being small and just beginning, they often partner with others serving their community. As a result, they know their communities and they know other people and ministries serving in their communities as well. This provides an opportunity for Kaleo to serve with multiple people in the urban context in authentic ways.
- Alignment with short-term missions: There are certain needs that short-term mission teams might not be best equipped to meet, but there are other needs that mission teams are very well equipped for. For example, mission teams are great at providing lots of hands and feet to accomplish things quickly. Additionally, teams are often very good at being a catalyst for new things. Those two things are often some of the greatest needs of church-planters. Kaleo teams get the opportunity to come alongside church planters and help them engage with their communities in ways that have an impact long after the teams have left.
We invite you to bring your group to serve with us and see first-hand how God is using church planters to transform their communities for the sake of the Gospel.