Teaching Students about Church Planting
June 10, 2023
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
One of the classes that I am teaching this term is Church Planting. Even though I spent fifteen years in Kitale doing church planting, I still hardly feel qualified to teach this course to new ministry students. It is such an important subject for my students to study and I can only pray that I teach them properly and to do everything I can to help them understand the importance of the subject and how they should be doing it. But what I’m teaching them has been a hard sell so far. Let me see if I can explain why.
My students are studying for ministry work. They are diligently studying the Bible and what it means to work in the ministry of Jesus Christ. They are good and godly students who want to know Jesus, want to know the Bible, and want to minister the gospel in the lives of people and in the world. But they usually also come with a certain mindset. I’ll call it a Traditional mindset. They come to Bible school, many of them want to become pastors. They are thinking of becoming pastors of already established churches, of preaching the Word of God and ministering in that church, of seeing that church grow bigger, and of eventually building a bigger church to accommodate this bigger congregation.
There is nothing wrong with the above model, is there? No, there isn’t. It is the same model that most of us are familiar with and, if we are pastors, it is the model we are probably participating in. So, no, there is nothing wrong with the Traditional model. But I am trying to teach these young Bible students something a little different. I am trying to convince them to consider a slightly different model. I don’t know what to call it, so I’ll just call it the Different model. In the Different model that I’m teaching them, I’m trying to convince them to go to a location where there is NO church already present, where there may not be any Christians at all, where the gospel needs to be preached, and where a new New Testament church is actually needed. My students can usually get on board with this pretty well, after all they are godly students wanting to fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus. Where they start jumping off the wagon, however, is when I begin to teach the really different part of the Different model. I am trying to teach them to start churches that will reproduce themselves and start other churches and to teach them principles on how to do that. They were on board at first because, while they do want to fulfill the Great Commission, they also want to start churches that will eventually become big, have lots of people and tithes, and be able to build big church buildings and have lots of structured programs. When I began telling them that church buildings are not always conducive to churches reproducing themselves because poor communities cannot reproduce such a thing, they began jumping off board. When I began telling them that when their church becomes big enough (defined as too big to meet in their house anymore) then the church should start convincing some of its members to start a new church in another location, even more jumped off board. After all, how can their church become big if they are always sending some of their members off to start a new church somewhere else? I think their biggest issue might be, “How can I ever get enough financial support from my church if my church membership is never more than 15-25 people?” The other issue they face is the issue we all face – the mindset that “Bigger is better.” They want to pastor a big church because “Bigger is better” for a thousand and one reasons. I want them to start churches that will start churches that will start churches so that the gospel will spread, the kingdom of Christ will spread, and there will be a church presence preaching the gospel in every place in Kenya and in every place in the world. It is a hard sell, even for godly, Jesus loving Bible students at Bible college. I can see some changes in them, though. They are beginning to ask themselves the question I ask them all the time, “What is your goal?” Is your goal a big church, with a big membership, a big offering plate, a big building, and a big reputation? There is nothing wrong with that goal, my beloved students. But consider another goal – a dozen churches, spreading out over the city, preaching the gospel and reaching the lost, all with the purpose of spreading the Kingdom and starting more churches that will all be doing the same thing.
“My beloved students – What is your goal?”
Blessings to all,
Roger, Julie & Chloe
CONTACT INFO
Roger & Julie Tate
Moffat Bible College
P.O. Box 70
Kijabe, Kenya 00220
rojuta@gmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
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Modeling and Teaching the Word of God
November 10, 2022
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
Modeling and teaching.
Biblical modeling and teaching is exactly what I am trying to do and accomplish here in Kenya for current and future Kenyan church leaders. And, fortunately, I get plenty of opportunities for doing both.
There is something I try and keep in mind as I model and teach future Kenyan church leaders. It actually comes from the books of Ezra and Nehemiah in the Old Testament.
First, Ezra. What did he do? The Bible says that when Ezra returned to Jerusalem with the other Israelites after seventy years of captivity in Babylon that Ezra focused on three things. This, in essence, is what I’m trying to model and teach. Look at Ezra 7:10 to see my own model:
- Ezra set his heart to STUDY the Law of the Lord.
It is the Word of God that gives us direction in life, in ministry and most importantly in our relationship with God. My desire is to set my own heart to study the Word of God and I want my Kenyan students to do the same.
2. Ezra set his heart to DO the Law of the Lord
One thing I reiterate over and over to my students, or church members, or anyone else who will listen is that we can know the Word of God very well, but it doesn’t do us any good unless we actually DO it and follow it. A disciple of Jesus is someone who FOLLOWS Jesus. We are trying to make and multiply disciples of Jesus. I also tell anyone who will listen: “A person who knows 90% of the Bible but only follows 10% of what they know is far less mature than a believer who knows only 10% of the Bible but follows 90% of what they know.
3. Ezra set his heart to TEACH the Word of the Lord
I have set my heart to teach the Word of God to any and every Kenyan person who is willing to hear it. I know I have few skills and abilities, but I can teach the word of God with passion and I pray that the Kenyan people and especially the future leaders of the churches in Kenya catch that same passion for teaching the Word of God to the rest of the Kenyan nation as well.
Second, Nehemiah. What did he and his contemporaries do? Listen to Nehemiah 8:8 – “They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.” Awesome! When they read and preached from the Word of God they also “gave the sense of it clearly” so that the hearers could understand completely. It is one of the hallmarks of my ministry to make the Word of God as simple to understand and follow as possible. That’s not hard for a simple man like me. But I want my Kenyan hearers to UNDERSTAND. I want them to understand, then follow and love Jesus, and then expand the kingdom of Jesus to the rest of Kenya and beyond.
Hey, y’all, I want the Word of God to come alive in this country and start a revolution of following Jesus and glorifying God. “Gracious and loving God, may this happen in my own life and in the lives of your beloved Kenyan people. Amen.”
Blessings,
Roger, Julie & Chloe
CONTACT INFO
Roger & Julie Tate
Moffat Bible College
P.O. Box 70
Kijabe, Kenya 00220
rojuta@gmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
Presuppositions in Interpreting the Bible
October 5, 2022
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
I am constantly reminded how important the work I’m privileged to be doing is. At least I think it is important —teaching and training future Kenyan pastors and church leaders. I am currently teaching them how to try and properly interpret the Bible. I know we all get it wrong sometimes, but we want to try and always get it right. And getting it wrong simply because we haven’t been trained to get it right is a shame. If you have young, eager students who desire to learn, want to know God and the Bible, and want to minister truth to God’s people, it is worthwhile to train them.
In my class, we were discussing the problems of bringing our presuppositions to our interpretation of the Bible. Presuppositions are those beliefs we “assume beforehand” are found in the Bible but are not. We all do it, but we have to try hard not to do it. Some are more serious than others. I wanted them to see that they do it too. The following discussion ensued.
Me: Who does the Bible say was riding the donkey on the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem? Joseph or Mary?
Student S: It was Joseph, because he was the man.
Student N: No way. No man would make his nine months pregnant wife walk while he rode the donkey.
Student S: I’m pretty sure the Bible says it was Joseph.
Student A: Every picture I’ve seen has Joseph leading the donkey and Mary riding.
Student S: But is that what the Bible says?
Student I: Is it possible the Bible says that both of them were riding the donkey?
Student J: Poor donkey.
Me: Ok. Turn to Luke 2 and tell me what the Bible says.
Students (All): TEACHER! THE BIBLE DOESN’T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT A DONKEY!
Me: Exactly.
Then I got them again with the following conversation:
Me: OK, you guys got this one. How many Magi came to the stable and worshiped the baby Jesus laying in a manger?
Student N (catching on to my tricks): I don’t think the Bible says how many came to the manger. We just know some were there.
Student A: I’ve heard that there were 3 because there were three gifts given to Jesus. But I don’t know what the Bible says.
Student J: I’m pretty sure the Bible says there were 3.
Student D: Teacher, how many does the Bible say were at the manger?
Me: Zero
Students (All): Teacher, now we know you are wrong. The Bible tells us they were there.
Me: Turn to Matthew 2 and tell me how many Magi were at the manger.
Students (All): It doesn’t tell us how many were at the manger…Wait…it says they came to the HOUSE!
Me: Exactly.
Finally, I made things a bit more serious.
Me: According to the Bible, what is speaking in tongues?
Student A: I’ve heard that it is a prayer language?
Student N: I’ve been taught that it is a way of communicating with God that you don’t understand.
Student J: It’s a language unknown by anybody that needs an interpreter.
Me: That may have been what you were taught, but how does Acts 2:1-13 describe speaking in tongues? It looks to me like the Christians were speaking in their own language but each one in the audience heard the speech in their own language.
Students (All): Teacher, can this be true?
Me: The bell has rung, and it is time to go. Go study the passage and give me your findings tomorrow.
Is all this important? I think it is.
Blessings,
Roger, Julie & Chloe
CONTACT INFO
Roger & Julie Tate
Moffat Bible College
P.O. Box 70
Kijabe, Kenya 00220
rojuta@gmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
Teaching in Three Places
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is church planting.
January 26, 2019
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
It has been a long, hard month and I cannot remember being this tired for this prolonged of a period. We have worked really hard this month and it has left me feeling ragged and worn out. But that is not to say that the work hasn’t been rewarding, nor has it been drudgery. But it has been exhausting. I don’t know, maybe I’m just getting older and my mind and body just can handle what it used to be able to handle. I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m complaining, because I’m not. I’m just telling you all where I’m at right now.
Work at the Upper Room Baptist Chapel has been going well. Our attendance for the month has kind of been all over the place but our “regulars” have continued to come each and every week. On one of the Sundays this month we did experience our highest attendance to date with 28 people! While I’m not getting caught up in any numbers games, I did think this was a great attendance and I was very excited that so many people heard the Biblical message that week. Of course, the next week our attendance was about half that amount. I was telling a local pastor friend of mine about our fluctuating attendance and he gave me this perspective. He said, “Roger, you are the only full-time member of the Chapel”. I thought that was an interesting perspective. Anyway, I have been teaching each week on the parables that Jesus taught from the book of Luke. Through these parables I want the people to see into the heart and mind of Jesus and the Father. I think Jesus’ parables are one of the best ways to see how God thinks about things and they reveal the heart of God in an extraordinary way. And I want the people of Kitale to know this heart of God.
In addition to this Julie has been working extra, extra hard with the directors (and our dear friends) of the school Chloe goes to in order to help them start a new international branch of the school called Milimani Christian Homeschooling Community. She has been working very hard with them for over a year to help them get this started and my plan is to let her write the newsletter update for next month and explain, in her own words, this ministry that she has become heavily involved with. I am mentioning it this month because I have been asked to teach a math class at the new school. I accepted this ministry and now get to daily invest into the lives of some lovely young students at the school, as well as doing the morning devotions. But, again, I hope that Julie’s voice can be heard on this ministry next month.
Roger at the Bible College
And, now, throw into the mix that I taught a week-long class at the local Bible college on Biblical Financial Management and I can honestly say, I’m tired. But I always enjoy investing into the lives of the future pastors and church leaders that attend the college. Three of my students from this week were from South Sudan and plan, upon graduation, on returning to the war-torn region of their country and spreading the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
We pray that God would continue to bless our feeble efforts, expand His Kingdom in this part of the Earth and glorify His name.
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in Kenya,
Roger & Julie Tate (and Amy, Josiah & Chloe)
rojuta[at]gmail.com
Visit their blog!
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280
Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
Missionary Update: Jud & Raquel Hatcher Stateside from Brazil [October 2015]
Jud and Raquel Hatcher serve the Lord in Manaus, Brazil. They are part of the “SeedFactory” church planting initiative, which is a movement to plant churches in all 26 Brazilian capitals. Since 2006, 43 churches have been started in 5 states.
October 7, 2015
Dear friends,
This last month has passed so quickly.
Family
Our kids are doing well in school. Their greatest difficulty is still the English language, but they are committed to learning. They regularly bring books home from the school’s library and we take them once a week to the public library. Bedtime is a hard time for me, as I have to insist they stop reading and turn off the bedroom lights. I am grateful for their desire to read in English. The kids are doing well socially too, as friendship comes easy to them. I would be harder on us as parents if they were having difficulty making friends. Raquel is doing great, she participates in a women’s midweek Bible study and is connecting well.
Teaching and Networking
I am enjoying my time at Liberty University as an adjunct professor. Teaching and mentoring is part of my DNA and I feel at home engaging with students. The Lord is giving me the opportunity to connect and network with new pastors at existing churches around the Virginia and North Carolina region. The opportunities to work with Dr. David Adams at the School of Divinity in the Pastoral Leadership Program and with Dr. Matt Willmington at Thomas Road Baptist Church is never boring. This experience is also a great learning opportunity for me. I do stay busy, but that is part of my life’s routine anyway.
Upcoming
This coming weekend we plan to participate in the “Testify to the Gospel Conference” at Grace Baptist Church in Fairborn, OH where my dear friend, Mark Pyles is pastor. The following week I will participate in the Refuel Conference at Thomas Road Baptist Church, where Jonathan Falwell is senior pastor.
Our prayer requests are as follows:
- Our finances.
- Our children’s education and English language.
- Expanding our support base network.
- For our unsaved neighbors.
Grateful,
Jud Hatcher
Furlough Address:
216 Mill View Ln
Lynchburg, VA 24502
(859) 608-4742
judsonhatcher@hotmail.com
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Missionary Update: John Mark & Judy Hatcher in France [October 2012]
Missionaries John Mark and Judy Hatcher have been serving the Lord in Tournefeuille, France since 1999. They define their ministry as “disciple-making,”
October 2, 2012
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Judy and I are thankful that God has placed us in Southern France as his witnesses. We are also grateful for your unfailing support.
A few weeks ago, a young man, who has attended on Sundays in Tournefeuille from time to time, called me to ask if he could start studying the Bible with me. The Lord had convicted him that he was wasting his life. He started coming twice a week after work and we study the Bible for a couple of hours each session. He gives evidence of having trusted the Lord and tomorrow we are studying what the Bible has to say about baptism.
The ladies are planning a Vacation Bible School which is to take place the first week of November. This may seem like a strange time to have Vacation Bible School, but we have found that this is the best time to have it. The children have a week of Fall break vacation. Since families do not generally leave town at this time, the attendance is usually better than in the summer.
Teachable Moments
Teaching God’s Word to children is at the heart of our ministry. Consider your own situation. Were you saved early in life? Equally, reaching adults is essential. Most people who are serving Christ had natural or spiritual parents as examples and nurturers. Consider the case of Timothy. God used his natural mother and grandmother to lead him to Christ and nurture him spiritually, but also used Paul as an adoptive father to continue this process. Perhaps, now would be a good time for each of us to stop and give thanks to God for those that He used or is using to nurture our spiritual life. So, in the service of Christ, we seek to be used by God to reach people of all ages: children, teenagers, young adults, mature adults, aging adults. No one is beyond God’s reach and He reaches through you and me. The questions we must ask ourselves continuously is, “What kind of witness am I?” and “How am I contributing to the training of disciples?”.
We are encouraged that recently two more ladies from our congregation in Tournefeuille have started to help with the children’s classes. God gives to each person gifts and abilities. It is our job to encourage the use of these abilities for Christ and by example and word. Believers grow up in Christ when each part of the body of Christ performs as God planned in their function. Each Sunday afternoon the leaders of our congregation meet to review what God is doing, agree on what God wants us to do, and pray together.
The other Bible studies are going well and we see encouraging signs that God is at work. At the last Bible study in Mazere there were two new participants.
May God richly bless you,
John and Judy
John and Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher[at]aol.com
Click here to donate to BFM.
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