Planting a church can be a difficult, time-consuming, costly process. Aside from the logistical challenges, church planters also face a variety of attacks in the form of distractions, discouragements, and doubts. You may want to help – but how can you possibly assist a church planter as they attempt to start a new church overseas?
Read on for 4 practical ways you can support church planters, no matter where they are.
#1: Commit to Regular Prayer.
Find out what specific prayer requests the church planter has, and then make a commitment to pray for those things on a consistent basis. Once you have begun your prayer routine, reach out to the church planter and let them know that you took their prayer requests to heart and have been praying faithfully for those things. Ask them how the process is going, and how they have seen God move.
Knowing that they have been heard, understood, and valued enough to be actively prayed for will mean the world to a church planter. Often, they feel alone and overwhelmed – so hearing that you’re thinking about them and offering their needs to God will go a long way!
#2: Commit to Regular Financial Support.
One-time donations are extremely appreciated! But committing to regular financial donations for a church planter, or a church planting partner ministry like Doulos, shows that you are coming alongside them for the long haul. It also provides a more consistent, predictable flow of income.
Donating to Doulos Partners is a great way to support church planters in the field. 100% of all the donations we receive go directly to the support of church planters – not to administrative costs (those are fully funded by our Board of Directors). So giving to Doulos is like putting money right into the church planter’s hand – and for our organization, every $1 we receive equates to 2 potential professions of faith.
#3: Send Supplies and Gifts.
A care package or a gift of needed items can show a great deal of support to a church planter. Anything that encourages people to come to the church – games and toys for kids, DVDs, books, etc. – could be incredibly helpful. Just make sure you check with the church planter beforehand to find out what they need, and consider which items you can send through the mail, and which ones you can’t.
#4: Travel to the Church Plant.
Doulos will take 3 trips this year as part of our ministry. If you can go and physically visit, help, and support a church planter, it will be an incredible experience for both of you. You will see God move in ways you may have missed back home, and the church planter will enjoy fellowship with someone who is there to help and encourage.
(Interested in joining us on one of our trips? We’d love to have you, but please get in touch with us soon as these trips fill up quickly!)
Join Us in Our Work
Here at Doulos, we partner with established, successful church planting ministries that already have deep relationships with natives around the world. We work with Christian church planting organizations and native believers to spread the Gospel. If you’d like to be involved with what we’re doing, take a look at our website for some ideas to come alongside us. We would greatly appreciate your support!
