View from the Church: From the Smallest to the Largest, PCA Churches Commit to Send 1%
Means of Grace, a PCA church plant in Denver, Colorado, has around 30 members, making it the smallest church plant in the Rocky Mountain Presbytery. Village Seven Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs has more than 1,600 members, the biggest church in the presbytery. When MTW challenged PCA churches to pray that an additional 1 percent of their congregations would be called to long-term, cross-cultural missions, both churches struggled with the idea.
David Choi
Pastor, Means of Grace church plant, Denver, CO
There are plenty of established churches who could really commit to the 1% Challenge. We’re small. We’re still trying to survive. What difference could we make?
As a church planter, this question plagued my mind. I recognize now that it’s a shortsighted way of thinking. I had similar questions when I decided to plant a church in Denver; yet God providentially got the ball rolling, put people in my life to spread the news to, and changed my heart in the process.
The road hasn’t been smooth and there have been many failures along the way, but in retrospect, my biggest failure was putting God in a box. Realizing that God is immensely greater than my own expectations helped me take the plunge into church planting. With the same mindset, I am urging our members to commit to the 1% Challenge.
Page Clark
Director of Mobilization, Village 7 Presbyterian, Colorado Springs, CO
When MTW first announced the 1% Challenge, our initial reaction was, "There’s no way we can send 16 more missionaries!" We considered the number of people, time, financial resources, and energy that would be necessary if we really did send out 1 percent of our congregation for missions. We were overwhelmed, and in many ways we still are. When we planted churches in the past and a group of our people went out with the new church, we felt the loss—but each time God has provided.
His faithfulness to us as a congregation in the past led us to take up this challenge. For us, the 1% Challenge starts with a lot of prayer: prayer with our missions leadership and in our monthly missions prayer calendar. We also plan to involve our entire congregation through an emphasis at our yearly missions conferences, and look forward to identifying and encouraging those interested in missions.
Has your church responded to the 1% Challenge yet? Learn more, see the churches that have already responded, and record your commitment at mtw.org/1.
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SEE MOREPray that the global church, including the PCA in the U.S., would love their neighbors well and see the value of hospitality in leading others into truth.
Give thanks for those God is drawing to Himself around the world, particularly a Japanese who feared she was too broken to be fixed, and several Ukrainian students who are exploring faith in Christ.
Pray that the agricultural training efforts of the Equipping Farming International ministry would make a way for pastors and churches in Africa and around the world to become self-supporting.
Pray that God would prepare hearts for the upcoming PCA Global Missions Conference November 1-3.
Give thanks for the many Japanese women coming to faith in Tokyo Bay through the faithfulness of one woman who became a Christian through MTW missionaries.
Pray for John and Ellen Buerger, missionaries serving in Portugal, and their children, as they face the ups and downs of missionary life. Pray also for the ministry in Lisbon.
Pray for the church plant in Uganda and the many lives being changed there as people hear the the gospel of grace clearly for the first time.
Pray today for specific missionaries you know or who your church supports.
Pray for the lost in Sydney, Australia, a city filled with people from many nations. Pray for Koreans, Indian, Nepalese, Lebanese, Vietnamese, and others who live in Sydney and don't know Jesus.
Give thanks that God still calls workers into His harvest! Pray today for Chris Claburn, as he serves on a church-planting team in Bangkok, Thailand.
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