The Pulse: Summer 2008
Missionary Momement: Willie Jacobs
Willie Jacobs Jr. only joined the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio in 2006 but in the last two years alone, he has been the primary strategist for developing 18 new African-American church starts and has four more on the drawing board for 2008.
That’s why Willie was one of four to win annual Church Planting Awards during the North American Mission Board’s 2008 Church Planting Missionary and National Missionary Forum (CPM Forum), February 27 through March 1, in Atlanta. The CPM Forum gathers the largest network of church planting leaders in North America.
The award recognized Willie’s current work in Ohio and a history of work that spans three states and more than 15 years.
Willie said the forum re-affirmed his church planting practices over the last 15 years—engaging the community, networking for evangelism, starting small groups, identifying and equipping leaders. Willie estimates he has participated in the planting of as many as 50 churches in Texas, Ohio, the Virgin Islands, West Indies, and Nigeria over his ministry career.
“I was speechless,” Willie, 61, said of winning the annual award. “What I do, I do for the Lord. It was a blessing to receive it, and I give God the praise.”
Willie was working as a chef at a high-end hotel in Dallas, Texas, when God called him to do missionary work. In the midst of managing seven restaurants and serving dignitaries and business people 70 hours a week, Willie knew God was calling him to a greater work.
“It was at the time I was working as a bi-vocational pastor that God impressed upon my heart the lostness of individuals in the United States and throughout the world,” says Willie. “God was calling me to become part of a team to impact His kingdom.”
Willie retired from the restaurant business and committed his life to starting churches in order to spread the gospel in Texas and then Ohio. Now based in Columbus, Ohio, with wife, Ozzie, Willie has started churches in Columbus, Cleveland, Akron, and Cincinnati.
While Willie sees himself as a church planter, he also sees himself as a mentor and encourager to others who are doing the work.
“I believe that every Moses needs a Joshua and every Paul needs a Timothy,” he says. We need to pass it on. Pour our lives into the lives of other planters to help strengthen them for the work God has called them to do.”
Pray for the Jacobses that God would continue to soften the hearts of the residents in Ohio and do amazing work among the African-American community.
Intercession Ignited
More laborers in Oakland
The East Bay Baptist Association is praying to start a church among the Asian people-groups that live in Oakland, California’s thriving Chinatown. Many are
Cantonese, Mandarin, or Vietnamese speaking. A student missions team from the University of Vanderbilt assisted the association with a survey and discovered there also is a growing number of Taison-speaking people.
• Pray with the East Bay Baptist Association that God will show them how to reach these peoples, and “that the Lord of the harvest will send laborers to His fields here.”
Hispanic church plants in the Northeast
“We are reaching the ends of the earth here in the northeast,” says missionary John Kovalchuk, ethnic missions director for the Baptist Convention of Penn-S. Jersey. Born to Ukrainian parents in Argentina, John works with Southern Baptists to reach more than 20 ethnic groups living in the area. “God is blessing our work with these ethnic groups.” They are starting five new ethnic churches (Haitian, Korean, Arabic, and two Hispanic) this year.
• Pray for the new churches being started in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and Bridgestone, New Jersey, where they are reaching people from Peru, Ecuador, and other Spanish-speaking countries. Pray also that doors will be opened for them to witness to many people about the love of Christ.
Break dancers in St. Louis
Church and Communities Ministry missionary Chet Cantrell has worked with the urban kids of East St. Louis for two decades through the Christian Activities center there. Recently he witnessed the amazing magnetism of hip hop music and break dancing, which draw kids from the innercity and richer suburbs to master their craft and compete in “Beanie Battles” (break dance competitions). “We simply opened our facilities to one of these regional competitions,” Chet says. “I saw kids there with piercings and tattoos covering their bodies. But what amazed me is what I heard. These kids were sharing their faith with others.”
• As the center hosts another of these outreaches, pray God would bring believing kids who will share their faith with their break-dancing, hip hop friends, and that the center would establish relationships within this community.
Livestock 4 Missions
Western Kansas Baptist Association
One cow + one rancher = an interesting way to fund missionaries. Three years ago in the Western Kansas Baptist Association, Director of Missions Randy Caddell and missionary Tim Huffman came up with a business model where cows could help fulfill the Great Commission. They call it Livestock 4 Missions (L4M), and the results have been moooving to say the least. Here’s how:
A Sunday School class, a church, or individual buys a mother cow. Randy finds a rancher willing to care for her. As she calves (gives birth), they’re sold and the money is used for missions. When the “mama cow” is sold at auction (after about seven years), that money is paid toward another mother. As the mother cow continues to produce calves, the funds grow. Rural churches in western Kansas multiplied their missions dollars and now fund new church planters and missionaries in Kansas and Nebraska.
“If a Sunday School class or a church wants to put $1,000 toward missions and see that money multiply, they can buy a cow and we’ll place it,” says Randy.
During its lifetime, a mama cow can produce about $5,000 in calves and, when sold at auction, fetch about $800. During the last three years, the association has placed more than 20 mama cows.
Here’s how you can get involved raising cattle for missions:
Help buy a cow. Giving to Livestock 4 Missions is an investment almost guaranteed to grow. Often Sunday School classes, small or other groups within the church will join with other groups to buy a cow or contribute toward buying a cow. If you don’t own a cattle-raising farm, this is an excellent first step toward helping with this ministry.
Help place a cow. If you or someone you know is in the cattle raising business, you can help make space available for a missions cow. A rancher willing to do this invests in feeding and upkeep of the cow alongside his other livestock. This is the motor keeping Livestock 4 Missions working.
Pray for this ministry. The business model for Livestock 4 Missions relies upon the generosity of people to buy the cattle but more important on the ranchers who raise them. Pray for ranchers who are willing to give a little extra time and money to make this a self-sustaining mode of missions.
Are you interested in this unique missions opportunity? Visit Western Kansas Baptist Association on the web at www.westernkansasbaptist.com or call 620-275-7223.
New Churches:
New Hope Community Church
Sacramento, California
Pastor Daniel Wong, Started 2005
Pastor’s path Pastor Daniel Wong served on staff of a growing Chinese church in Sacramento four years ago leading a successful youth ministry. Today he serves as a church planter, ministering to a low-income community. The church started because of “a restlessness in my heart.” When his former church decided to move to a new facility in another community, he had a concern there would be no church to serve the Meadowview neighborhood.
How did the church start? The Lord used many incidents to confirm the vision of starting a community church in the same building. One of them was the witnessing and winning of a World War II veteran before the gentleman passed away. The church also started in the Wongs’ home. As people had need, they’d stay with the family. This group spanned a wide swath of ethnicity, accounting for the church’s multi-ethnic identity today.
What kind of church is it? Starting with a core group of 15 in 2005, it’s a multi-ethnic church drawing Anglo, African American, Filipino, Hispanic, Hmong, Pakistani, Vietnamese, and Chinese. Because of its location in the community of Meadowview it draws people walking by the church and serves as a prime location for outreach to the local community. Regular attendance is 60-70.
How is it reaching its community? The church offers one of few places where a multi-ethnic community can hear about Christ and feel loved and welcome. One passerby walked into the church recently and said “I need new hope.” The church also offers basketball camps for kids and a food closet for families in need.
Where will they go from here? When New Hope Community Church launched four years ago, the multi-cultural neighborhood saw it as another Chinese church. Now they see it as a church that reflects the diversity of the neighborhood. Working with the association the congregation hopes to plant a Hispanic church.
How can we stay in touch? You can contact the church offices at 916-422-3370 or send correspondence to:
New Hope Community Church of Sacramento
1821 Meadowview Road
Sacramento, CA 95832
Awakenings
By Stacey Billger
As David Lofton sat in his backyard watching a group of kids learning about Christ, he began to have questions of his own. First Baptist Church, Zwolle, Louisiana, had asked if they could hold a Backyard Bible Club at his house, which was in a central location in Toledo Bend park. The Backyard Bible Club was an answer to prayer for Mary Gore, resort missionary at Toledo Bend, as well as Jim and Paula Phaup, who teach children from the area in Sunday School at First Baptist Church Zwolle.
“The Lord impressed on our hearts that the kids in the area needed to hear about Him,” says Jim. “We really fell in love with the kids.”
For months leading up to the Bible club, the youth from FBC Zwolle were taught witnessing techniques and were encouraged to pray for the outreach. Two days prior to the event, the youth canvassed the neighborhood with fliers advertising the Backyard Bible Club.
“The first morning we had a yard full of kids by 8. The club didn’t start until 9. They were so excited,” says David.
The outreach touched the lives of children and ignited a passion for outreach in the youth group. “This was a great experience for our youth,” says Sherry Fulton, youth director at FBC Zwolle.
Youth member Stormie Stephenson “learned that God can use even the smallest thing like a Backyard Bible Club to change someone’s life—even the life of the host!”
Three weeks after encountering the truth in his own backyard, David Loften was baptized at FBC Zwolle. David and his wife now are committed to serving the church. They do their best to bring a van-full of children every week to church with their family.
David recalls the experience that led him to consider his eternity: “I didn’t realize how much my kids knew about church. Things that I didn’t even know.”
Top Picks
Prayer 101: What Every Intercessor Needs to Know
(New Hope, 2008) by Elaine Helms is a comprehensive guidebook for discovering how to pray as God intends. You’ll journey through Scripture, find inspiration in the stories of others, and learn simple and effective principles for prayer. Includes review questions and
a prayer ministry guide.
My Husband Wants to Be a Church Planter...So What Will That Make Me
is the newest resource now available for church planting families. This resource features planters’ wives who share openly and honestly about their role, their struggles, and their victories. This is a must read for any wife who’s husband has been or is being called to the ministry of church planting.
VisionSanDiego.com is the website for the North American Mission Board’s latest Strategic Focus Cities project. Throughout 2008 and 2009, Vision San Diego, in partnership with the San Diego Southern Baptist Association and California Southern Baptist Convention, will work to start, strengthen, and mobilize Southern Baptist churches in the Greater San Diego area. Visit this website to learn how you can partner with this exciting work!
