One of the church planters World Impact is working with said something surprising to one of our missionaries. He said, “The biggest help that you have given me is believing in the call God has placed on me!” This is what World Impact’s Associate program is all about.
All over the United States, World Impact is partnering with church planters by providing resources, start up costs, encouragement, coaching, mentoring and encouragement they need. We have World Impact Associates around the country serving as church planters, athletic coaches, youth ministers, and chaplains. Their stories are inspiring, and God is using them to transform their communities.
The Associates Program allows pastors and church planters to focus on their role in the church and the community. Many work two or three jobs, and a small stipend relieves them of one of those jobs and allows them more time to minister. These men and women working in the city find encouragement and hope when someone comes alongside of them and says, “We believe in you and what you doing.”
This is really what missions domestically or globally should be all about. We must not only have the heart and determination to evangelize and disciple the unreached in urban under-resourced communities, we must also be about the liberating work of assisting urban Christians in becoming indigenous leaders. We must empower those leaders to believe they are the ones responsible for the transformation of their own communities.
Most urban disciples aren’t looking for a hand out, but an arm to link with to see lives changed and neighborhoods become a picture of the beloved community. The Associate program offers a great opportunity for us to grow an army of urban transformational leaders in cities all across this country. I pray you would partner with us in this empowering strategy of making a difference in urban America through indigenous leadership development.
