The ATL Journals: Part 8- The Beginning of HIM

Between 2001 and 2007, 786 churches were planted.

 

Just in Malawi.

 

By “church plant”, I do not mean a church split, in which one denominational house divides because of a disagreement and takes half of the members with it to another location. “Church plant”, in this sense, means the birth of a new church consisting of new disciples of Jesus Christ.

 

 

Herbie sat across from Matt and I in a small coffee shop in South Africa, sketching diagrams and thoroughly explaining how Harvester International Ministries (HIM) works. Their model of ministry is effective. Its exploding. Thriving. Bursting at the seams…. …Why?

 

…Because of 4 words: Making disciples, not converts.

 

Herbie is the representative for HIM in Malawi. I got in touch with him through Seth Barnes, the founder of The World Race and president of Adventures In Missions, after he told me that HIM is one of the two church planting organizations in the world that are doing this thing well. Seth encouraged me to take my team, go work alongside of them and do research on why they are so effective. Hopefully we would be able to incorporate their model for church planting into The World Race, as well as partner AIM with HIM long term.

 

So here we were, sipping a Coca Cola with Herbie, our mouths wide open (and practically drooling) as we listened to him explain what God has been doing in Malawi, Zambia, Angola, and Mozambique over the last 8 years. We decided that Matt’s team and my team would split up; one would go to the northern region of Malawi to work with Harrison in Nkhotakhota, and one team would go to the central region to work with Harvey in Lilongwe. Our ministry there would be unlike anything we had ever done before; my heart was leaping…

 

…door to door evangelism in predominately Muslim villages

…crusades (intensive weekend long teaching and preaching)

…one on one discipleship 

…showing the Jesus Film

…baptisms

…and even planting a church ourselves.

 

 

You’d like Herbie. He is a man of distinct humility, and sure of his Christ-given authority. The mission at hand is huge, and he is intensely focused on it… I sensed such an urgency from him; much what I imagine it would’ve been like to sit across the table from Paul the apostle. “People are dying, guys. Their souls are dying. And we have but a small window of time to get in there and bring Christ to them.”

 

Shooooot…. LET’S GO!!!! Man, this is what I came out here for!!! To get into dark places and cast it out by the power of Him who is in me! Matt and I prayed for Herbie as we parted ways, and then we sat there like two kids in the middle of Christmas morning, feeling like we’d just unwrapped the greatest gift EVER… we were giddy.

We couldn’t seem to stop babbling about what we were about to embark on. Usher people into the Kingdom. Kick back darkness and oppression. Not only show people the Kingdom of God, but help them to enter into it. All the way back to the Brown Sugar, we asked Abba to fill us with the HS so we could do this (because the Kingdom of God is not one of talk but of POWER), teach us, wreck us, mold us, make us effective…

 

 

It felt like another part of me woke up in that coffee shop. 

 

We don’t have time to be sitting around focusing on petty matters anymore. There really ARE people who have never, ever heard of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

 

We don’t have time to be debating over the color of the carpet in the sanctuary or the style of worship on Sunday mornings. There really ARE people who don’t have any clue what God has done for them.

 

We don’t have time to be dabbling in relationship idol worship, staring at our dolled-up images in mirrors, and reading self-help books that just make us more self-centered. Souls are starving for truth that they don’t even yet know exists.

 

And we sure as heck don’t have time to be dis-unified inside of the Body of Christ, because if we are going to bring the Kingdom to earth, we NEED each other. What good is an army if they are quarreling against themselves, if most are wounded beyond being able to even fight, and half of them are sleeping?

 

 

Kingdom, come.