Testimonies From Church Plants Around The World
 Howard and Naomi Kellett
The Hope Church
Salford, UK
Some people seem to choose where they might get involved in church planting, but as we looked to start a church, God had already penciled in Naomi and me for a task in Salford, West Manchester. Why? Because it is not a place you move to if God isn't on your case!
Following the move, our family sat outside a house in Salford for five hours waiting to exchange contracts and complete the purchase; everything was on a knife-edge, but finally we moved in. Later relaying the story I said, ‘It might sound like faith but it felt like foolishness!’ Ginny Burgin (Sheffield, UK) sensed God had told her that ‘the way we moved up to Manchester was the way the church would move forward’. I didn't thank her for her word; I'd had enough roller-coaster adrenaline!
We continue to see students and the poor saved and added; but also against my better judgment (I want everyone to stay), God has been sending on Hope pioneers to lead new churches in East Manchester, Blackpool, Kendal, downtown Johannesburg, Tableview, Cape Town, and even now to new ventures in Preston and Lancaster.
As we live daily on the knife-edge of faith, ‘We … imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised’ (Heb. 6:12). Following prophetic promises from Julian Adams of ‘a warehouse to impact a city region’ (we await planning permission), and from David Carr at Brighton Leadership Conference 2004, ‘Salford: a city within a city. God is going to do something significant in Salford and give you the resources’, we know that the 150 we regularly gather in this unlikeliest of places merely represent the end of the beginning.
 Simon and Sanna Finch
Grace Church
Auckland, New Zealand
God had been calling us to start a new church in Auckland, New Zealand since 2002. The team began to arrive towards the end of 2006 and now we have 30 adults and 19 kids from Newcastle, Worthing, Beaconsfield, Leamington Spa, Hastings, York, Guildford, London, Johannesburg … and Auckland. Our city, of 1.2 million people, is culturally diverse, and our vision is to be a church representing many nations.
For some, moving has been a massive step. We have left friends, families, homes, jobs and churches to begin again in New Zealand. It is costly and there is loss. And now having been uprooted, building a cross-cultural church takes time. We have been developing new friendships, getting kids into schools, looking for new jobs, finding homes and waiting for belongings to arrive. It’s all part of adjusting to a new way of life.
We are so grateful to God for calling a team together. From day one we have been too large to meet in a front room and we now meet in a local primary school. In December we invited the local community to our Christmas Service. It was exciting to double our normal Sunday attendance!
Facing opposition is a reality of church planting. It’s been tough facing bereavement, car theft, house burglary, serious illness and major surgery. But we have found in a new way that Jesus is with us (to the very end of the age). We know God has opened a great door of effective work for us in Auckland.
 Steve and Jo Petch
Grace Church
Chichester, UK
We started meeting mid-week in September 2005 with about twelve interested people, and that November ran a ‘Chichester Day’ to let people know what was going on. We quickly grew by word of mouth and in January 2006 began Sunday morning meetings with about 35 people.
After three months we’d grown again, to around 80. Then in June 2006 we held a launch weekend with the whole church and a team of Frontier Project volunteers leafleting the whole area, advertising the church to the general public. We soon began gathering 150, and continued to be active with outreach events and preaching the gospel on Sunday mornings. Seeing regular salvation has been a real blessing and we have baptised many people here in Chichester.
Our aim has been to build a church on the Word and the Spirit, and we have unashamedly preached from the Bible and been hungry and passionate for our God. This has been our second church plant, and one thing we are aware of is that there is no ‘magic formula’; we have just tried to be faithful to God every step of the way, even when that has meant taking risky ‘faith steps’!
In March 2008 Grace Church moved into its own building, a rented warehouse which we have refurbished. 320 people were present at our first meeting there.
Challenges along the way have included house moves (we launched the church before we as a family had been able to relocate!), changing kids’ schools, employment issues, finance, and spiritual attacks of many kinds. We have had great apostolic oversight, which has supported us through the many storms of establishing a church. Much prayer has gone into this church plant too, along with a reliance on the Word of God and a sense of being stewards working for God’s glory with His resources. It’s Jesus’ church; ‘I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’ |
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