What I learned in Egypt - Church Planting

Egypt is in the middle of a transitional government. Not only that, they are facing social unrest each and every day. Within the storm of the political and social unrest I saw the church standing firm with resolve to spread the gospel of Jesus! In America, we have multiple conferences, books, and seminars on numerous topics. One of those is church planting. We began the process of asking the pastor about his church planting strategy. His response was not what we expected. He had not heard the verbage, "church planting!" It was ironic to hear that the Pastor had already began 10 churches in Egypt. He did not have all of the "jargon" down but he was fulfilling his mission to start churches. In America, we place a huge emphasis upon environments, strategies, and meetings. I agree that they are all important in leadership but simple obedience to God is even better. The vision that the pastor told us was to start a church in every city in Egypt! Talk about a vision! He did not have all the charts, graphs and strategies perfectly laid out but he was starting churches. His vision was to start churches, develop young pastors and help build them up. But, he did not have a "strategy of church planting" book, just a passion to lead the church to multiply! The church should be strategic in all things but never at the cost of putting methodology above the message. The gospel is more important than our strategies, conferences and personal preferences.

Jesus said, "I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it."

I'm thankful that God does not base his love for us based on our knowledge or strategies. I'm thankful that God uses us even when we do not have all of the answers. God has begun to show me that His plans are greater than my plans.

Are we relying more on our strategies than simple obedience to God's Word? Are we following the Holy Spirit or our own preferences?

Driving in Egypt

You know what they say, "safety first!" Enjoy the demonstration! (please excuse the filming quality, it was handheld with my iPhone).

What I learned in Egypt - Environment

Last week I was on a trip to Egypt with Todd Thorpe and Nick Carter. Two guys who are passionate about not only reaching people in America, but across the world with the gospel. I have to be honest, I was a little nervous about the trip. Egypt is in a bit of turmoil is an understatement. But, we were given an opportunity to go and begin the process of beginning a church partnership (I will not disclose the area or pastor's name for his church and families safety).

To be honest we went on the trip as tourists as our cover to not cause any suspicion. In Egypt, you can be a Christian but you cannot openly evangelize in the streets. The people we worked with were of baptist convictions and believed in salvation by grace through faith alone in Jesus. The pastor made sure we knew that it was not his church that was involved in the riots a few days prior that was blanketed in the news (those were the Coptic orthodox Christians).

We were given an opportunity to preach in the church in Egypt and share the good news of Jesus. We were blessed to see 13 people come to know Christ! It was an overwhelming experience for me. I noticed the control of Islam but the passion and confidence of true believers worshiping God.

One lesson I learned is that their environment is not great. There was no free coffee, greeters, full band, perfect lighting, perfect temperature or thought provoking videos. Although the outward environment wasn't as appealing, the power of the Holy Spirit was evident! I'm honestly amazed that in America we have to provide a pre-packaged environment FIRST so that people will think about coming to church. We have expectations that we want before we respond in worship. In the Egyptian church, I simply realized that there are few "fake" Christians. Why would you be? What benefit would it be to you and your family?

One story I heard from the pastor has forever changed me. One student came to know Christ a few years ago at the church in Egypt. He listened to the sermon on prayer and that Jesus is the true prophet of God. At the end of the service he told the pastor that he realized that night that Jesus is the only way and received the gospel. The only problem is that his dad was the Imam. When he shared his decision that night his dad was angered. He stripped him and put him in the streets to die (it was winter). That night the student prayed for Jesus to rescue him. The next day he was still alive and his dad was amazed. His mom quickly sent him away to flee the country to save his life. Now, he lives in Canada and has changed his name to Paul. I would say his environment wasn't all that great! But the power and rescue of Jesus is life-changing and sustaining!

Environments are important and helpful but they are not the ultimate goal. The power of the gospel unto salvation is the goal (Romans 1:16). I noticed the power of their prayers. I noticed the urgency of their worship. I noticed the passion in how the pastor would interpret the preaching. I am still amazed that in a country that has one of the longest histories of persecution to Christians, there is a remnant that is worshiping the true God. What is our excuse?