Torch, Spring 1984

,. person to keep our own work going. That will always be true . As you grow, more people are required and it will always seem there are never enough people to get the job done. My church experienced that feeling in Fort Wayne until God taught us an important lesson. The church had given away seven families to start the first of 12 branch churches. Natur– ally, we thought we needed to heal, to recoup the loss. We desired to plant a second church, but the reality of having a hole in our own leader– ship ranks caused us anguish of soul. That New Year's Eve , Russ Mal– colm, a trusted leader in our church, died . We were shocked. We needed Russ. God did not consult us before taking him home. Did He not re– member that not long ago we gave seven families away? I pondered over this dilemma, then reasoned that God, after all, is sovereign and capa– ble of meeting our needs for leader– ship , and that we did not need to be overly concerned about resources when God is in control. We could trust God to fill the ranks. The sub– stantive issue was to push ahead at all costs. If we waited until we could spare leadership to plant another church we would lose the day by de– fault. But, Pastor Younger , there's another barrier: our lack offinancial resources . Planting churches costs money . We' re spending a lot ofemo– tional energy managing our own church budget. What on earth would happen if we were to assume more re– sponsibility? The answer lies in your perspec– tive. Church planting is an invest– ment, not a cost. Agreed, prudent in– vesting is important. As Christians become wiser they must seek invest– ment opportunities where the pros– pect for high yield is good. Church planting is a blue chip investment. But what about the cost ofplanting a church? We don't have money for capital investment. Granted, it requires money and a congregation must count the cost. But do not forget that God is aware of the need in His work . He is not asleep when it comes to providing for His children's needs . I will never forget the experience of starting the church in Churubusco . We bought a church building on our word and $100 cash earnest money that we happened to be carrying. We called Marv Troyer, a Cedarville College graduate, without knowing how he would be paid or where he would live. We named the church without knowing its nucleus of families . Foolhardy? Perhaps . But two families from our church who lived in "Busco" and about 15 singles formed the nucleus and became mis– sionaries to do anything required. Marv and Janet rented a home. When the landlord discovered what we were doing, he gave them six month's free rent. He also donated all the paint and decorating material along with scaffolding to renovate the building that had stood empty two years. The Lord provided Marv a sal– ary adequate for him to devote all his attention to the new work. I was even reimbursed my hundred dollars, not that that mattered . What an exciting time! Yes, we must count the cost, but let us not ignore God in the count– mg . When we started in Fort Wayne there were no funds available for church planting, only for foreign missions . But the people eagerly ac– cepted the challenge of investing dol– lars for planting churches . Our com– mitment to church planting grew; soon we were budgeting 30% of our missions dollars for that purpose . The highlight of all our dreams for capital investment came when we planted Blackhawk Baptist Church . Three years before the church plant– ing we invested in a choice five-acre property. One year before the plant– ing, we began praying that God would raise up ten committed families to form the nucleus for the new church. We found a mobile– home manufacturer who designed and delivered an L-shaped facility to accommodate 125 people in a sanctuary and in classrooms . We put up a loan to pave the parking lot and to make the downpayment for its pas– tor to purchase his own home . Then God led us to Cedarville College graduate David Jeremiah who be– came Blackhawk's first pastor. We agreed to provide the mobile-church at no cost to Blackhawk for three years, during which time we hoped they would build a permanent facili– ty. Our intent was to use the mobile facility to plant churches in other communities, which we did one more time in Paulding, Ohio . You may be wondering, didn't that curtail your efforts toward for– eign missions? Not at all. Church planting became an investment in foreign missions as well, since numerous foreign missionaries are now supported by many churches rather than one. Immanuel Baptist Church never lost its love for foreign missions . One New Year's Eve we spontaneously committed a $10,000 gift to Cedarville College graduate Norm Nicklas in order to plant a church in Sao Paulo, Brazil. There was one period of time when we planted three new churches within fourteen months . Since we needed help , we visited pastors across the state of Indiana . As a result, for two years we received $2,200 per month from outside sources . God supplied. And, some funds came from small congregations . So much for small talk with pastors of small churches. Some of you attend larger churches. You, too, can plant churches. I know that many of you believe that in your area there are al – ready too many churches. Perhaps. But that argument does not seem to keep those in banking or oil or restau– rant businesses from locating new sites consistent with their interests . Why would we use it as an excuse not to plant churches? I hear you, Pastor Younger, but the scope of our work is so demand– ing and the excitement for what God is doing here keeps me as ful– filled as I need to be. I don't need another challenge. continued on page 22 Dr. Younger is pas– tor of First Baptist Church in Walnut Creek, California, and a former trustee of Cedarville Col– lege . He is past pres– ident of Western Baptist College and he pastored Immanuel Baptist Church in Fort Wayne , Indiana and Immanuel Baptist in Arcanum, Ohio . 5