House Church Leaders

Leaders: Each house church has its own leaders. These leaders don't come from outside the church, they rise up from within the church. True, often someone comes from the outside to gather the group together and to get them started but the real leaders of the church are to come from within. Often the leadership starts with a family that hosts the group in their home. The "missionary", the one who comes from the outside, often models how to facilitate a participative Bible study for two weeks and then recruits someone within the group to facilitate the next lesson. When I say missionary I often am referring to the national believer that comes along and starts this group. Don't read missionary to mean the North American like me. Recruiting someone to lead the third participative Bible study does wonders for "passing the baton". I've heard so many talk of starting a new group and working with the members for years and not finding anyone capable of leading. This is hard for me to believe. I often wonder if the impediment for the group taking off is in the outsider who hangs on to the leadership role and doesn't hand off early and not in the people who have developed a dependency for that outsider. Some point out that we should not have a new person lead a group. Actually all of the churches Paul and Barnabus started were led by new people. At least that is what Scripture seems to imply. Paul and Barnabus didn't stick around so they had to have been led by new believers. The teaching to not select new believers seems more focused on the leadership for an established church, not for the frontier missionary church planting endeavors. It certainly wasn't a requirement in Paul and Barnabus' church planting. I believe that it shouldn't be. Another reason that the newness of the new leaders is not a great concern is that they are learning in an on-the-job training environment with that outsider, who is a believer, accompanying them in their first experiences at leadership. Often the outsider might stay with the group for several months as they learn how to be a good. Sometimes as time passes the local congregation in the house may decide that others are good leaders as well. Often they will recognize multiple leaders. Sometimes they will call them pastors, sometimes not. What they do in fact is pastor. They shepherd the flock of the Lord. Being a pastor isn't about preaching, it's about shepherding. This means providing the opportunity for the congregation to learn God's word and obey it. Others in the church become servants. Sometimes they are called deacons, often they are not. Either way they are looked upon as those who help the other leaders minister to the physical needs of those in the church and outside the church. A chief goal of the OIKOS network is the formation of many leaders. The more opportunity that the average folks in the church have to facilitate a Bible study, the more likely they are to develop into a leader. To plant churches that will reach the population will require the rapid development of house church leaders. To expect to always send a leader from outside is unrealistic if we plan to take the gospel to all peoples. To hold leaders back from leading until they've had lots of experience and training is not only unrealistic, it seems to lack biblical bases as well. We thank the Lord for raising up leaders who are multiplying themselves in others, one house at a time!

Sunday, 19 April 2009 - OIKOS House Church

 I think the rainy season is about over. Today we had a bright sunny day, perfect for our monthly joint house church service. It was one of the largest ones so far. The Luz del Norte church led the service but folks from three different churches were baptized. The special music was just that, special! One church sang a well-known chorus, a young man improvised (read he did a rap song), another did a choreographed dance, another sang an Ecuadorian folk style song of praise and then two young people sang a contemporary song together. It was a great time and we had a large number of visitors. Even before the Lord's Supper was celebrated one visitor was already seeking counseling as she'd come under conviction. Another believing couple visited and expressed interest in joining one of the house churches nearby. I'm always moved by the baptisms but probably what moves me most at every one of these meetings is the way the leaders of the house churches have grown in the Lord and lead with a godliness and maturity that amazes me, considering that 9 out of every 10 have been believers for less time than it takes an average pastor to go to semiary. Later in the afternoon the OIKOS house church network youth met. They started up about two months ago with the vision of not just having a good time meeting togethe but to work hard at bringing in young people from the streets. Each Sunday afternoon the youth from each house church come together to sing, play games, learn from Scripture and share their faith with the newcomers. This afternoon they had asked Paula to teach them about dating. She had a great time with that. They also invited a praise band from another church  This group was an unexpected blessing. I say that because the secretary of the church called to say that they wouldn't be able to come. She called right at the time the youth meeting started. It apparently is one of those churches where there are some strict rules as to who can do what. It seems that the pastor has to approve any member of the church participating in any Christian activity outside of their local church. I was surprised that they came any way. I suspect that these young people came without permission. I'm hoping that they won't be treated badly for having come. It made me reflect on what Peter says in 1 Peter 5:1-3. 

"The elders among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.

Parting ways: Sometimes the right thing to do

We've made it four and a half years as a house church network without any of our churches closing or leaving the network. This week we saw the first of our churches leave the network. It was kind of disappointing but necessary. One of our Baptist values is the autonomy of the local church. Our network consists of individual house churches that associate out of their own desire for fellowship, encouragement and cooperation. Why did we see one of our churches leave? Several things came together to produce this separation. First, the couple leading the church meeting in a local medical clinic were offered a salary by the director of the clinic if they would continue to do what they were doing. This clinic is heavily subsidized by foreign gifts and offerings. Some of that money is being offered as salary for the couple leading. Our house church network values the idea of un-salaried local leadership in the house churches. We do provide support to the "send ones" who go out as missionaries to start churches, both in Ecuador and abroad. This seems to follow the New Testament model more closely and makes it possible for the local church to meet the needs of more of the needy in the community. The offer of money was too good an offer in our slow economy for these leaders to withstand. Naturally with the money came the requirement that they start a traditional preaching service. The three members of that congregation are working to grow the group and start a traditional church now. Join us in praying for them to reach people and grow. The leader of this participative simple church also started going to a seminary in Quito. Seminaries can provide good training for believers who wish to serve in leadership as long as they can separate out the biblical from the extra-biblical. That didn't happen in this case. It is evident from some of the things this leader has said lately that he has been influenced to believe that he must conduct a service with a sermon and be the key participant in the service. This is unfortunate. We wish them well and bid them farewell. The remaining churches continue to focus their efforts on reaching the people in the homes around the homes where they meet. Exciting things are happening as the leadership team for OIKOS plans evangelistic and missionary activities in and around northern Quito. Pray for the development of a second network of churches in the area just east of the airport. 

What happened in house church today...

Today was great! Things started off different than normal. When everyone arrived Juan said that a neighbor had died and that the extended family was gathered and had asked the house church to come and conduct the funeral. We filed out of the Juan's house and up the sidewalk three doors, climbed the stairs to the flat roof where the family was gathered with the casket, candles burning and where there was some painful crying. Because this family could see the difference in Juan and Jackilina's lives now that they are followers of Jesus, they called on our church to minister to them in this time of grief. What an honor and what a reminder that we be ready in and out of season to proclain the gospel. After the brief funeral service in which the hope of the gospel was shared we re-gathered at Juan's house for worship. Rubi and Sandra led the praise singing, then Washington facilitated the participative Bible study time. We were discussing Ephesians 4:22-27, about putting off the old man and putting on the new. During the commitment questions several new followers of Jesus came under conviction to repent of hard feelings they had towards others. One was a sister who went straight to her brother right then and there to ask his forgiveness. House church format allows for the Lord to interrupt our plans and do His work. It was beautiful to see what He was doing. At the end of the service Vanesa mentioned the family mourning the death of a family member needed help with the costs of transporting the body to another part of Ecuador. Immedaitely the church agreed to give all the offering to help with that need. There were visitors present today. One couple stayed behind to ask questions about what they'd seen. They were moved by the open sharing and the obvious spiritual power displayed. They had seen the church give all its money away to people in the community but not in the church. They wanted to know more about Jesus and after talking for a while said they wanted to follow Jesus.  I'm so glad to be part of a church that is simple in structure and function so that it can stop and deal with community needs right during the worship service. I'm glad to be a part of a church that can stop everything and help members right wronged relationships right in the middle of the worship service. I'm glad to be part of a church that doesn't have to spend God's money on itself in the form of land, buildings and salaries for leaders so that it can minister to the community of lost around it with open arms. That's what it's all about!

How OIKOS began

OIKOS house church network began in November 2004 when my wife, Paula, mentioned to me that she had been so focus on reaching Quichua people that she had not been paying enough attention to the Latin people living right around us. When we moved out of the city of Quito to Carapungo in 2000, the outskirts of the town where we live was largely populated by Quichua people. Our goal was to learn the language and ministry to them. We were fortunate to participate in the planting of a traditional Quichua church in the first few years here. We then shifted much of our attention to the Cangahua rural area. We worked for a year, intensively training leaders from a Baptist and a Covenant associations of churches. We had hoped that this would result in new churches being formed. Unfortunately the leaders were more interested in learning than they were in applying the training. Only one church began. It began with the help of one of our Carapungo-trained leaders. Both of these churches continue to meet and minister today but are not starting other churches. While in Cangahua we began to apply the obedience-based approach and found that the new groups were saw start tended to show interest only if we or national workers went out and "did the show" for them. We backed away for a few months in prayer and contemplation. It was during this time that the Lord led Paula to begin to focus on our closest neighbors. She began to pray for opportunities to meet and share with them. One evening she returned home with a neighbor and found a whole world of people from developing apartment complex on our street. They were swing away with picks and shovels as they dug a ditch to connect to the new sewer system. Quickly Paula and Cayatana gathered up some cookies she'd baked that day along with some cokes, plastic cups and tracts and went out to meet the people. Everyone appreciated the kindness and some listened. Two ladies listened and responded to her invitation to come to a ladies gathering at the house. On the appointed day only Sandra came. It was God's timing. She heard the good news and she received the Lord. Paula advised Sandra and her family to gather in their own home with her the next Sunday for worship. Paula modeled for them how to conduct a participative Bible study. For two Sundays in a row she modeled this, then she turned to Sandra's husband, who had also received the Lord, and challenged him to facilitate the next lesson. Because he was in his home with his family and extended family there was less fear and shyness. Washington led the next worship service with flying colors. No he didn't know the Bible from cover to cover but he did want to obey the Lord and believed, as we do, that the Word of God is powerful and penetrating and essentially teaches itself. God blessed this little house church and it began to reach out to the whole apartment complex. The church grew. The growth was not just in attendance. After all, the little living room couldn't hold many people. The growth that most impressed us was the lateral growth as new groups began. As the lateral growth continued we saw more and more house churches open up and establish themselves as growing, healthy Biblical churches. We praise the Lord for His faithfulness. We firmly believe that had we continued to train men and women who only wanted to learn but never apply, we would never have seen this blessing that is today OIKOS. 2 Timothy 2:2! 

Teaching them to obey all that the Lord has commanded

When we began OIKOS house church network we were committed to not only starting new groups that would become house churches. We were committed to establishing healthy, doctrinally sound churches. Part of the missionary task set forth in the Great Commission is to teach them to observe (obey) all that the Lord commanded. We use the obedience-based approach to training and have organized the lessons for literate and oral learners in such a way that they are called to make a commitment to specific steps of obedience. We move through the following training tracks in sequence everytime a new group is formed:

1. The Evangelism Track (five lessons designed to demonstrate to the participant that God is real and that his salvation is personal).

2. The Immediate Follow-Up Track (eight lessons designed to encourage the new follower of Jesus to obey the Lord's most urgent commands).

3. The Faith, Love & Hope Track (23 lessons designed to strengthen the new church focusing on the putting off of 10 bad habits and the putting on of 10 good habits; right relationships and how to stand firm when the pressure is turned up on you for what you believe).

4. The Commands of Jesus Track (37 lessons designed to teach obedience to the commands Jesus gave his followers in the gospels).

5. The Apostolic Commands Track (90 lessons designed to teach obedience to the commands given by the Apostles after the resurrection and asencion of Jesus).

6. The Teachings of Jesus Track (95 lessons designed to orient the follower of Jesus to the truths He taught).

7. The Apostolic Teachings Track (173 lessons desgined to orient the follower of Jesus to the truths the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostles to teach).

8. The Acts 1:8 Vision Track (14 lessons designed to orient the follower of Jesus to the heart of God for the nations as portrayed throughout all of Scripture).

9. The Old Testament Survey Track (we have only recently begun to develop this track. It will be extensive.

OIKOS began in November 2004 when Sandra made her commitment to follow Jesus. From there it has grown to numerous house groups (those that do not yet meet the biblical requirements to be called a church) and house churches. Each group follows the same set of lesson plans. We have groups at different stages of the training. These followers of Jesus glean the biblical truths from Scripture through participative Bible Study. There is no preaching, no sermon. They learn from the open Word of God together. While many are literate and are reading through the entire Bible, it will be years before they systematically study through the entire Bible as a church. The encouraging thing is that they have a plan for self-feeding in God's Word that does not require that they have a missionary or a person with higher seminary training in order to grow in their faith. We are confident that they have the tools with which to learn the Lord's will and to follow Him in obedience. 

Obedience-based training, part 4

In this, the last installment on obedience-based training, we will take a look at the relationship between obedience, love and fruitfulness. For those who might think that obedience is not central to the business of church planting and discipleship, Jesus informs us in John 15. Let's take a look. This discourse begins with the imagery of a vine, which represents Jesus himself. God the Father is the one who works the vines. The branch are those who claim that Jesus is their Lord. Some remain connected and are very fruitful, some become disconnected and are unfruitful. Only by remaining connected to Jesus is a disciple able to do anything of eternal value. If he becomes separated, he is useless. There are consequences to not remaining vitally connected to Jesus. But before I mention them it's best to consider the fact that this is not a passage about salvation. Some would take this passage out of context and try to say with it that those that were once connected and later became disconnected from Jesus have lost their salvation. It is impossible to get this from the passage as John, the author of this Gospel, is quite clear in John 5:24 and 10:27-30 that eternal life is forever and that there isn't a power in all creation that can change that. This passage is about the sad reality that some followers of Jesus stop following and become useless in the kingdom of God. They are saved but they are worthless. Continuing with the imagery of the workings of the vineyard, Jesus says that the disconnected branches withers up, then they get gathered up and cast in the fire. Who of Jesus' followers wants this as their epitaph? "He withered up and was tossed in the fire". Not a one of us does! But what about the connected ones? Jesus says they will pray with power as they remain connected to Him and allow His words to work in them. God the Father is, in fact, glorified that they bear lots of fruit and prove themselves to be Jesus' disciples! Note the promise of great fruitfulness to those who remain connected! Jesus says He chose us so that we would be fruitful. Fruitfulness is His plan for the faithful. I sometimes draw a triangle and place at each point one of the following words: "fruitfulness", "obedience" and "love". Notice that verse 10 directly connects love and obedience. If you obey Jesus, you will be loved by Jesus. Some find this a hard saying. Does it mean that we are no longer loved by Jesus when we are disobedient or does it mean that we experience in fulness His love when we do obey? You decide. I shared about "obedience junkies" in an earlier blog. I described the fulness of joy that one experiences when they obey the Lord. I think this is what Jesus is saying. If you obey, you'll experience His love like you never have before. Isn't that fulness of joy what verse 11 is about? The follower of Jesus who remains connected, obedient, will experience both the fulness of His love and great fruitfulness! Now let's think about this again. The apostle Paul tells us to invest in faithful (obedient) men and women who will teach others also. If obedience supplies us with the sense of His full love and fruitfulness, shouldn't we expect obedience from those who decide to follow Jesus? I hope this helps you to see just how critical it is to keep the bar where Jesus placed it. He expected obedience from those who decided to follow Him. So should we. This will change everything about the way we plant churches and make disciples. If one decides to follow Jesus but is unwilling to obey His command to be baptized, then we should call this what it is: disobedience. We should never make baptism an optional thing. It is commanded by the Lord and we should call for it. Most people who have come to the Lord in an obedience-based environment when they come to the truth about baptism decide to obey the Lord. New groups that form and value obedience will be fruitful and multiply into other groups. Groups that are disobedient, that do not apply what the Scripture teaches may become churches but they are much less likely to become reproducing churches. Invest wisely! The photo is of an Ecuadorian Quichua follower of Jesus who has left the comforts of his home, family and friends to serve the Lord among the Tigre Quichua of the Peruvian jungle. His name is Levi Collaguazu. To me Levi represents obedience.