What Can Church Planting Look Like?

 

Srey Pov has suffered from mental illness. Living in a rural village she lacks access to sufficient medical or mental health resources. She also lacked a relational support system and is the caretaker of her mother. Several months ago Srey Pov began suffering from paranoia. She began to believe that her neighbors were going to steal her dog, who she greatly loved. 

 

So, Srey Pov locked her dog into her small one room house and moved her and her mother out of the house to live under a tree in the yard.  She did this thinking it would keep her dog safe.

One of our church planters, Kim Chheng, began visiting the village where Srey Pov lived. He believed God was calling him to share the Gospel and plant a church in this village. He began visiting homes in the village and soon met Srey Pov.

 

When Kim Chheng saw the disrepair of Srey Pov’s home and that her and her mother were living under a tree, he began to spend time with Srey Pov and her mother. Srey Pov and her mother had been living in this situation for quite a long time.  He was greatly concerned about the mother’s health living outside and Srey Pov’s health. He was moved with compassion to help them, but knew it would take a unique approach. 

 

He gathered some of his church members and they went to Srey Pov’s home and built a nice, secure dog kennel. Once Srey Pov was pleased with the safety and security of her dog, Kim Chheng asked Srey Pov if his team could come and help her clean out her house and pray and spend time with her and her mother. 

 

Soon they had the house cleaned out and Srey Pov and her mother were able to move back inside. Kim Chheng’s team also noticed that Srey Pov’s water well was very primitive and needed to be cleaned out and a small structure built to protect the well in the future. This would keep Srey Pov’s water supply clean and healthy. They even enlisted other villagers to help in the effort.

 

Through Kim Chheng’s display of love and genuine compassion he was able to share Christ not only to Srey Pov and her mother, but also to the other villagers. Soon Srey Pov was doing much better and had a relational group of people around her to provide some stability. She and her mother were happy to open their home to a weekly gathering of people for worship, fellowship and learning God’s word together.  

Over time people came to know Christ, were baptized and a house church was planted. We’ve seen in villages in Cambodia that planting a church can look many different ways. Church planters must look for the most appropriate ways of sharing the Gospel in that specific village and then over time develop disciples and leaders into healthy fellowship.

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