On Saturday I attended Barbara Allen’s graduation from The Urban Ministry Institute of Los Angeles (TUMI-LA). Afterwards I met the leaders of the church plant she attends. Pastor Lennox Gentle and his wife Paulette are planting a church called Yahweh’s House of Prayer for All People. As I spoke with Paulette (on left), she described how God had changed her heart toward church planting, “My husband had been involved with reaching those on the street for twenty years, but I had no thought of participating. Then one night I saw a vision of Jesus weeping over the homeless. When I saw Jesus weeping, I knew I needed to join him in reaching those on the street with the gospel.”
A vision of Jesus weeping for the lost on LA’s streets agrees with the picture of Jesus we meet in Scripture (Matt 9:36; Luke 9:41). One of the central reasons the city needs new churches is because Jesus loves the lost. He calls his followers to go and share the good news of his kingdom in word and deed. In the constant flux of the city, new kingdom embassies need to be constantly opened to reach new communities facing new challenges. A central characteristic of urban church planters is that they have been called by God to share his love with those who do not know its joy, peace, power, and comfort. Believers carry the good news about Jesus to those who have never heard, and they watch firsthand as God creates beauty in the midst of ashes.
World Impact is currently looking for partners called to train and equip leaders like Pastor Lennox and Paulette to plant new churches among the poor. We hope to see five to ten Evangel Schools of Urban Church Planting launched in 2016 in order to equip church planters working among the poor. These church plant schools will take place around the country in order to train urban church planters in their own ministry context. If your church or denomination is interested in partnering with World Impact and The Urban Ministry Institute to host an Evangel School of Urban Church Planting, please consider attending the Evangel Dean Training which will be held August 26−29 in Wichita, KS. Registration and further information about the Dean Training can be found here.
Why do you need an Evangel School of Urban Church Planting in your city? Because your city has many lost people, and one of the best ways to reach these lost people is to equip gifted and called pastors to lead embassies of the Kingdom in every neighborhood in America’s inner cities. Praise God for the workers he is raising up for the urban harvest fields. Join us in asking him for many more (Matt 9:38).
Dr. Hank Voss is World Impact's National Director of Church Planting.
