028 Awo, Money For Planting Your Church

Money for Planting Your Church Kenya Church Growth Bulletin, Oct 01, 1995. Rev. Egba Awo Since the day of Pentecost until today, church planting has been a vital part of Christian ministry. The society needs the church. Remove the church, and the rest of our society will not be anything better than hell. This is one of the motivating factors for the Church Planting Centre working day and night to see the church in Kenya become more healthy. However, church planting as an activity has slowed down a lot in Kenya and in many other African countries as a result of many obstacles, notably finances. Lack of finances has brought confusion and discouragement to the point that some church planters have left the work. It has been hard, no support from anywhere. We begin to feel "I have prayed and waited enough; I'm not sure I can make it; I better look for an alternative job." But before you quit, let us consider the following questions.

Who Initiated the Planting of that Church? We read the promise of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 16 verse 18 saying "I will build my church." The church is not founded by men, it was established by God. Wherever a new church is needed, God will call out a man to start it. The church planter who moved at the initiative of God should respond like Isaiah, "Here am I, send me" (Is. 6:8). It is unlikely for people in the community to be excited about the arrival of a new church. This is because the devil does not want to see new churches planted. You cannot go on your own desire, or imitate what others are doing and expect success. If God does the sending, then He will be responsible for the support as well. The planting of a new church should be a miracle from God. This is a miracle that God would like to perform with you. There are so many examples of men who succeeded because God sent them. Think of John (John 1:6) and Isaiah (Is. 6:8), just to mention a few.

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I consider it a great opportunity to team up with the Holy Spirit and build a church. When you are working with God, you are not limited by resources or circumstances. I strongly believe in what you can achieve through the gift God has deposited in you. Be a faithful partner with a great God and you will plant a great church.

What is Your Target? The businessman does not embark on building a factory without first determining what he is going to produce. The type of products or services expected will determine the plans and approaches of setting up the industry. The same kind of demand is applicable when we are involved in church planting. To the church planter, people become the expected raw materials as well as the product. The reason for starting churches is people. People are basic to church planting. Our financial and leadership needs can only be solved by people. We help people serve the needs of other people. Church planting should have people as top priority before money, buildings, programs or equipment. Whenever the issue of church planting is mentioned, we are quick to point out the problem of finance. I think this is completely wrong. The first consideration should be the conversion of people who in turn will be involved in sharing the responsibility of the ministry. When Peter was worried about money to pay taxes, Jesus asked him to go and catch fish. Out of the belly of the fish God provided enough money. Do not be surprised that within your reach God has prepared a big fish with enough resources for your needs. People won to the Lord should be involved as partners in the ministry. However, this does not mean that the church planter should adopt unrealistic methods to extract money from the people, or only reach out to people who seem to have a lot of money.

Have You Determined Your Financial Needs? I will not take any church planter seriously who goes about complaining about lack of money without concrete evidence that he actually needs that money. Does he really know how much money he will need at a given period of time? Or does he know the specific needs that would cost him money, and if so, how much? In other words, he should be able to demonstrate his need for finance with a written plan or budget indicating how much money is needed and how it will be used. Doing this does not require financial expertise, it requires only clarity of vision and purpose. Many of the initial stages of church

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planting are not all that expensive. Proper steps should be taken to cut down or avoid expenses where necessary. Some Christians believe that so far as it is God's work, all we need to do is to pray and He will provide as the needs arise. But it does not always work out that way. If you do not have plans, your prayers will lack focus and it will be difficult to measure progress. Planning itself is a proof and application of faith. Moreover, people will give only as they are convinced that a need exists. Churches on their own part need to sit down and prayerfully determine the needs before sending out a man to plant a church. If the church is not able to look into the future and decide what results they expect, then I wonder what business they have in church planting.

Have You Identified Your Sources of income? Planting the new church cannot wait until all the money is available in hand. Financial assistance must come in from somewhere to get certain things started. There are many available sources to finance church planting. The duty of the church planter is to discover these sources and use them to the maximum. The initial funding should come from the sponsoring church denomination. Any church that still takes the Lord's Great Commission in Matthew chapter 28 seriously will not fail to provide for church planting in its annual budgets. Such grants should normally take care of the pastor's salary, rent, literature, transport and some other needs. Another source of financial assistance could be the previous local church of the pastor or the local church where the church planter has been called out from. It should not be strange for a local church to identify itself with the financial needs of a man who has been called out from among them to plant a new church. The church at Antioch (Acts 13:2) presents a good example. Whenever God calls a man, He will also call a church to support him. I have seen churches in Nigeria that make donations to their church planters two or three times. In some cases the church handles the issue as the church planter merits it. The third source of finance is the members of the newly planted church. Many church planters, in their bid to gain outside financial support, normally plead that the believers are new in faith and are poor. But remember the story of Elijah and the woman of Zarephat (I

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Kings 17:9-l 6). The prophet made this woman give all she had, which resulted in sufficient supplies for all of them. This principle is still working today. I knew of a teenage girl who sold all the crops in her farm and gave the entire amount to the church for a crusade. She deprived herself of school fees, knowing fully well that nobody was responsible for her school needs. Within a few weeks, God provided someone who took over the expenses of her schooling throughout her secondary education. When people are not encouraged to give, with the excuse that they are poor, they are deprived of the opportunity m receive blessings from God. The best time to teach Christian biblical stewardship is at conversion. Full, faithful Christian living includes the proper use of our resources, no matter how meagre we think they are. A Christian who doss not tithe when he is a new convert will find it difficult to tithe later in his Christian life. Outside financial assistance should only augment what the people have given, not be a substitute for their giving. If the idea is to plant a healthy church, then you must think of raising a giving church from the beginning. Remember, the initial teachings and impressions will determine the type of church that will grow. A group depending upon outsiders to pay for their bills will not function as a true church. The last source of financial help I want to point out is God Himself. Church planting is partnership with God. He is the founder and initiator of every church that is to be planted. When He says, "Lo, I am with you always..." (Matt. 28:20), it includes His presence in the time of financial needs. When He asks "whom shall I send?" (Is. 6:8), the implication is that all arrangements have been made, including finances. I have a conviction that all that God said is possible. He made the material world out of nothing. He cannot be limited or affected by the inflation in our country. God has his own way of providing for His work. In the words of John Wesley, truly "God's work done in God's way will not lack His support."

Rev. Awo is from Nigeria, and is currently in Kenya studying at Nairobi Evangelical School of Theology, in Karen. Before coming to Kenya, he served as Academic Dean of Wesley International Bible College in his home country.

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