Treasure Hunting Update

We kicked of this year of growth by taking teams out last Saturday Treasure Hunting once again. There had been a bit of a gap since last going out onto the streets, so on one level it did feel like some momentum was lost. Could we have the fun of the first or third time's we went out...

What was really exciting for me was to see a good crowd turn up - 11 in all, and six of these were here for the first time.

We went out in three teams - mixed languages and level's of 'experience' at this, though as I've learned, it's usually those doing it for the first time that have the best encounters!!

So there was an element for me personally, taking three first-timers with me, of training and explaining 'how it works' - a concept I'm still getting my head around myself! And once again, I've still never done a Treasure Hunt in English, nor properly met some Treasure who speaks English. But my Russian is improving as a result, I guess!

Walking to the session, I felt God give me the verses about the kings banquet, but the invited guests not turning up. I had Highway's & Byways in mind, so searched my Bible for those words...finding in fact that my NIV version uses Street Corners in stead. I shared how sometimes people find there own way to church, and some times, like this passage, we need to go out and find them. I said it might be that Corners are important today. I wrote it down on my list anyway, to be sure!

Just up from our office is a junction known as 5 Corners. So I think it figured in all the teams journeys.

Another interesting thing was that in all three teams, we learnt AFTER the event, we had the same clue - Orange Jacket.

Our Orange Jacket lady I first saw some way off and there wasn't the chance to talk. Getting back to 5 Corners I saw her a second time on the opposite corner walking away from us. I pointed this out to a couple with me, and said if (when!) we see her a third time, to go after her. I soon saw her coming our way again so sent this couple off. They spoke with her. She has 5 children. They invited her to church.

All in all I would say there were 15-20 conversations and invitations were given out in our 60 minute session. One team, as a clue, got the 'name' of one lady - this is something we were seeing happening increasing more last year - and we pray will happen again! It helps, so much!

I started chatting with a Russian man who was standing in an alley having a cigarette. I told him my name - Tim - and then he said his initials were the same - T.I.M - as my name. He knew a lot of history about England. I explained what we were doing and why I was in Russia and invited him along to church.

He didn't necessarily 'fit' any of our clues but God can work in any situation. We just need to give him space.

So it was a start - we didn't see anyone come to church last Sunday - lets pray that they come this week.

We next go out on the 5th February. Please pray with us for a growing momentum in words of knowledge and that God would use them to greatly open up situations for ministry into the Treasure's that surround us in St Petersburg.

Life of a Church Plant leader

Following on from my previous blog about investments, there is another type of investment that many people make all around the world - and these are Kingdom Investments. Usually this entails financial giving, though is by no means limited to that. But within this financial giving, we see further areas that money is invested - the local church, or organisations working with particular people both nationally & internationally, and also to workers overseas (to use the popular phrase - Missionaries).

Now I've been deliberate in using the word investment - and not charity or donations or anything else. Now investment demands a return. You want to see something come from the money you are putting in. If it's a gym membership, you hope your investment will return to you a fit, more in shape body, or a more relaxed mind. If it's some shares in a company, you want to see that the company is growing, that it's producing a profit. You want to see dividends coming back.

So too in Kingdom giving. I've started viewing our 'supporters' no longer as that, but as investors. In such a short time, there has already been a return on their investment. Things are happening on the ground, a church is started, people are getting saved, churches are looking for relationship. A base church is growing. At whatever point people decided to make their investment, I realised that through our communications they were surely already seeing a return. And this is not forgetting the 'treasure in heaven' the Bible so blatantly talks about as a return given to all Christians for any giving they do that's from the heart.

But how does actually giving to a church plant actually work? Where does the money go?

These things rarely get talked about and yet here I am bringing them up. I'm going to talk generally, so as to not 'blow' our own trumpet (if we even have one to blow!) But if its ever been a thought with you, and if you've ever given in the past to such people or are considering it in the future, it's important to think it through a little in detail - after all, when you hear, for example, that rents are really high, you don't want to think that your money is just going into the pockets of a landlord looking to get rich from their Western tenants.

So here goes.....Let's image there is a family moving to be part of a church plant in another country from your church. It's their sole purpose for going, they have no employment taking them there, so they are looking to investors to partner with them for the journey. To do something together, both getting blessed through the process.

Let's say that the church plant is outside of the EU and therefore a visa is required to stay within the country. And we'll also say that a foreign language is involved (which is surely going to be more and more relevant in the future with people coming from the UK or the US and moving to countries where English is not the first language - ie most of the rest of the world!!)

Yes, I know this is sounding a lot like St Petersburg, but bear with me....

Firstly, the family need a place to stay - and cities are expensive places to live. Renting will usually be the only option on two counts - firstly the cost of buying makes it very hard, and secondly it would be wrong on several levels to buy when brand new to the culture and city (but I won't go into detail here about this yet, but email me if you want to know more on this point).

So rent will usually be the highest monthly cost a church plant family would have. Even so, rent will only account for at most 20% of the total outlay of finance needed each month.

Then you have schooling costs for children. Initially the children will only get places in private (ie non state) schools and kindergartens. This is probably the second biggest regular monthly cost after rent. In time these might change (we have, for an example, managed to get Mia into the state system for these next two years. It's basically free, so we are glad of this as our income has dropped by about the same amount so we are no worse off!) In two years time we are likely to have the costs of two children in paid for education...!

Next, and if language and visa's are required, come these costs. They might be 10 or 15% of the monthly cost and you are seeing a bit of a return there, as language skills improve and/or the visa keeps them in the place you are investing into.

And then what? Well there are many more practical things. Food, clothes, medical supplies, electricity, gas, heating. Telephone & broadband. You have annual flights to consider, annual medical cover. The flights and medical covers would be about number 4 in the list of expenses.

Then you have transportation - either the running of a family car or use of the cities public transport. Some cities are much more expensive than others (mainly in the EU though, which I'm not referring to here). St Petersburg has at the moment a very reasonably price transport network, though it is also a very busy one at times!

Within the budget for a church plant family there will also need to be money put aside for a holiday as well as Christmas and birthday's.

It was one of the strangest things I had to do before coming here, which was work out our Expense Budget. Basically we had to cost up everything (including our tithing!) and then work it backwards to see how much money we needed to get us through the year! But it was important we did it like this because you can't just live in a city without the money needed to live there!

It's also a good idea to think about National Insurance contributions and pensions. By not working in the UK you are not earning your NI and this would effect your pension in the future. Many also already have private pensions in place which should be maintained. (We haven't included this yet....note to self! Do it soon!)

I know many people don't give thinking about what cost they are covering, they just believe in the people and want to see them blessed. But on the other hand, having looked at all the things above, there is a lot listed that are just the basics of life in a city - so where does the actual church building stuff go on, you may ask?

Well, of course, all the above is a huge part of church planting as without living in any given city, you aren't properly going to be able to plant a church.

But there is so much more that the church plant leaders do that is more obviously 'church' stuff. For example, church planters will of course tithe themselves - and taking generosity out, if we use the 10% amount, that means 10% of everything an investor gives to the family directly goes in tithes to the local church that has been planted. So that means you are helping hire a venue, provide drinks and food for the church, produce welcome packs etc etc...This is huge for the local church where maybe the small, new congregation couldn't in themselves fund the work.

A church plant family are also going to be hosting people all the time!! This will be 3 or even 4 times a week....sometimes for individuals, or couples, other times for groups and neighbours. Sometimes as whole church events. Most times this is just funded as part of the family opening up their homes. It takes a lot of hosting before people start thinking about bringing something along to help.

So all investors are also involved in this type of hospitality - hosting isn't cheap - to cook 3 or 4 bigger meals a week means much more food for the family but this is so important for building community, especially in big cities, which is where most new church plants are likely to focus. It's easy to feel lost in such a city - to find a family that opens their home to you and invites you to be a part of the church plant is huge and cannot be under-estimated. So investors too are involved at this point.

Because when it boils down to things, once in a place, it's hospitality that really builds people in - sharing your life with individuals, sharing vision, taking them along with you. With us, for example, and especially during specific seasons like New Year, we are having lots of people around - most days usually. And as things grow, visitors increase from other nations, some for the first time, others returning - all of which give opportunity for hospitality.

So I hope this helps you in thinking about Kingdom Investments - yes, giving to a church plant family has many practical issues, but looking past that there is so much more hands on stuff that you maybe didn't realise your money was reaching as well!

So look also for a return on your Kingdom Investments - of course in the 'age to come' but also now....are people getting saved, is the church established and growing, are disciples getting made and how are the poor and rejected being impacted. No one wants to just throw money away, but lets not be shy in investing where the Kingdom return is evident!

So go for it! Look at who God has put around you - bless them and see the return on your investment. And if you haven't anyone around you but want to invest in this way in the Kingdom, you only have to ask....:-)

Thanks for reading and following this blog. Until next time!

Talking Investments - Paper Loses

I think differently to most people, I know that, though rarely do I see it. One such time came talking with a friend & our teacher about 'paper loses'. You know the scene - the stock market crashes, and the doom bearers on TV and the newspapers state how many millions people have lost in one day. Fear rises. For the very wealthy, the loss of £500million may not effect them. But for the average person on the street, the thought of their £15,000 pension now worth £500 is a little more alarming....

And yet, it's obvious to me but maybe not all, no one has in fact at that moment lost anything!

Let me explain. Stocks & Shares go up and down (&up&down&up - crash and boom, crash and boom....) Yesterday you had 1000 shares worth £15 each - wow, that's £15,000 worth! Today they are only worth 50p each - oh no!...you've lost £14,500.....BUT, NO YOU HAVEN'T! It's what's called a paper debt. Only if you sold your 1000 shares TODAY would you receive the £500 they are worth...

So you keep the 1000 shares...and in time, things improve, and soon they are worth £15 again.

So when you hear them say how many millions of pounds have been lost in a stock market fall, don't panic (unless you are planning on selling your shares that same day!) - because like all things, some time later, they are likely to go up again, and back down and up many times. (It is of course another matter when a company goes bust - which is very sad for all effected, but I'm just referring to paper debts here).

So investments are confusing at times - everyone wants to know that the money they are putting into something is working for them. Usually this means financial gains, but many times it means much more....and that brings me to my next entry, which you can see here...

Treasure Hunting Update

So we've been out twice since I last updated here, and its about the last time that I want to talk about now, which happened last Saturday here in St Petersburg.

We went out in two teams, the group made up two English people, one South African, one Nigerian and a Russian. The Nigerian has good Russian having been here over 5 years already but he'd never done a treasure hunt before so I thought to put the other English girl and SA with him who don't have much Russian. I could then go with the Russian lady, who has no English, and at least could communicate with her.

So we formed our two teams on very practical grounds this time - and not as usual by putting people with similar clues together.

So off Janna and I went with the other three heading off on their way as well. Quickly we realised we BOTH had written down the name Vladimiar so we went off looking for him first! Janna had Shoe Shop and I had Watches/Clocks (same word in Russian) and just up from our office (as in lots of this culture fashion base that is SPB!) there are loads of shoe shops, and many of these also join onto Clock/Watch shops as well!

We looked for any men in the shops, and the few we saw we approached, Janna asking if their name was Vladimiar before being told it wasn't and we left.....

I'd also written down Park and Beer and Alcoholism, which understandable here usually all go together. We were heading away from the park I knew, but after going in all the shoe shops up one side of the street just up from our office (yes, about 100 metres and about 6 shoe shops!) we met two homeless men standing in front of a shoe shop.

Janna asked them their names - not Vladimiar - but they were clearly drinkers and when a third man, Kostia, came and joined them, he was clearly drunk. Kostia actually stood in front of them and we talked (Janna mainly!!) with him.....after about 10 minutes the other two walked off leaving us with Kostia. He only had one eye and clearly knew the gospel, he was crying telling us all about it. He showed us his arms where he injects himself. He talked a lot (as does Janna!).

We gave him a few cards for Sunday, explaining that we met just around the corner from that very spot. He hugged me.

He was drunk - how much would he remember....

He didn't come Sunday but Janna saw him again on Monday on the way to a meeting at the office and he said he was sorry he missed it, so we might see him again. How amazing would it be if Jesus gave him his eye back!! Do it Lord!

Anyway, we managed to pull ourselves away from Kostia, crossed over and started heading back down the other side of the road towards our office, and beyond that the park. There were many more shoe shops so at that moment, in God's timing as always, we glance into the first one and couldn't see any men. As Janna turned to walk on, I spotted that someone was coming out and its a man. I signal to Janna and we follow this man into the next door shop - another shoe shop, of course!

We ask him - Is you name Vladimiar? - Yes, he replies, a little interested now.....

Isn't God good!

It's more for our confidence than anything. We chatted with him outside for about 10 minutes, he even said it was a miracle that we'd found him in the way we did....but that was it, he wanted nothing more and went on his way. So our chat with Kostia just before had been much more fruitful, but it was just encouraging to know that God gave us someones name and the fact he'd be in a shoe shop and we found him just at the right moment........had we not talked with Kostia for as long as we did, we'd have been far from there when we saw him......God's timing, you've got to love it!

We had 10 more minutes and I knew there was a very small 'park' area just after the office - it's a few benches and some bushes really, but it would have to do. We didn't have time to get to the park another 10 minutes down the road.

So we waited by the steps.....not long there, a young guy of 21 was walking past and Janna just stopped him and started talking. He listened and listened, and said the occasional thing. We talked with him for about 30 minutes! Janna had written down on her sheet as a prayer need "Trouble with Parents" and when we got to talking about praying for him, he went quiet - there was certainly something troubling him. "Was is a girl?" Janna asked - no. "Is it your parents?" - YES! He wouldn't tell us but yet again God had shown us the person to which he wanted to impact that day, in that moment.

I gave him an invite and suggested he look us up on the web, email me any questions but encouraged him to come along. So we'll see....

Janna walked away weeping for him.

Flic, Johan and Steven from the other team shared they'd had three conversations but didn't feel they had been that amazing - and yet, Katya, one lady they had spoken too, called the number on the invite and went to home group on Tuesday night. At the home group, where many had said they were coming that night, none of them turned up so it meant Katya had 3 of the leaders all to herself to ask lots of questions! So yet another praise God moment! (Later note - Katya became a Christian the following Saturday, coming to church on the Sunday for the first time).

We go out again in a week's time.....

Faith in Giving - Where do you stand?

I recently spoke on this at Hope Church and enjoyed it so much I thought I'd write down my notes here as well...

In the Old Testament we see that giving, or the 'tithe' as it is called, was a very exact thing. We see the 10% rule brought in, but the requirement went far beyond just money in these time. The first born male of animals, for example, were a tithe to God - as were grain and first fruits...

There were rules for everything, in fact these were the Law's for which the people needed to live by, their requirements for living good lives, for staying in God's blessing.

The New Testament brought in a different system altogether - Grace. This included giving. Now we see the basis for Christian giving was from the heart, not out of requirement or law, but more around generosity. Jesus's observations in the temple with the old lady who put in all she had to live on (2 small coins) compared to the rich who 'threw' in their amounts for all to see are very interesting. Clearly the amounts are not important, but the heart. But what is also clear was that proportionally the old lady put in well over the '10%' ( it was ALL she had left!) and the rich probably much less.

So in the NT we see a freedom in giving - no longer to be LIMITED to 10%, but a freedom to be free and generous and to see God lead us into exciting things that he has in store for us.

And in this NT period that churches are in, we see two ends of the spectrum when it comes to giving. At one end we see what is called the Prosperity Gospel - you give in order to get rich! At the other end of the spectrum, in reaction to this, we see people so rejecting that teaching that they lose the joy in giving altogether and revert to the OT tithe system for want of something more grounded...and not so prosperity driven. And all churches are somewhere (usually more in the middle!) on this spectrum....

Let me pause now though and introduce you quickly to three members of a new local church;

First up we have Careful Kev. Kev is a cautious man, cautious with money - in fact cautious with everything. He takes the OT 10% tithe model and keeps it very precisely - to the nearest penny in fact! He's obedient, but really it's a 'bill' to him, a 'cost' at being part of a local church. He doesn't have much joy in it though, it's just something he should do...something he must do. Financially speaking, he has some debts, but just about does ok...

Next up we have Stingy Steve. Steve holds back from all people, even family. At birthdays, for example, he'll only spend money on people that have already spent the same amount on him. But he doesn't really like giving many gifts.

Steve really likes the teaching on freedom from the OT tithe because he can give much less & feel good about it. As it is, he gives only loose change that is clogging up his pockets, just to look good on Sunday's, as well as make his wallet feel lighter! He also always feels he never has enough money - he wants more - if he was rich, he tries to tell himself, then he would give more away. Financially, he's always short of money.

Finally we have Generous Jen. Jen is generous with all she has - time, patience and especially money. She has real joy in her spirit. She see's the 10% tithe as a starting point & prays about how much more she can give above that each month. She gives in many ways - it's exciting and she is always amazed at how God uses her. She lives within her means and has many friends around her. Financially, she always has money to share each month, as well as time, emotion and patience of course!

Kev, Steve and Jen have all recently joined a new local church. They continue their beliefs in relation to their giving over the course of a year - we'll come back to them in just a moment.

Local Churches - Very rarely are local churches funded by big business or huge revenues from television stations and other media. No, nearly 100% of the time (there are always of course exceptions, but generally speaking!) churches are financially supplied through the giving of their own people, the local family of believers that make up that church.

It is clear to me, as well as Biblical, that God's overwhelming preference for blessing in the local church is the generous tithes of it's members.

So, in the 'local church' used in the story above, we suddenly see that there is vision for a building project which will cost the church £1,000,000. So on top of all their normal costs, they want to see this extra amount come in. They need faith and they need God to provide the finances.

And we know where God directs, He also provides for.

So lets look at the numbers. Using the 10% tithe as an example, for £1,000,000 to be given in offerings to the local church, that first means God will release £10,000,000 in order for one tenth of the amount, ie a million, to be given to the church.

And how would our three examples deal with it? Well Careful Kev would see a large amount coming in as the perfect time to clear his mortgage and pay back some loans. It's only prudent after all as he doesn't want the worry of debts. Some money would trickle through to the church no doubt, but not the 10% as normal. No, this large amount coming in was surely for his own blessing to take the pressure off himself, for a while.

And Stingy Steve? Well, suddenly a lot of money is too big a temptation. Now he can finally do all the things he's not been able to do. To take that trip he always dreamed about and to live life the way he's seen others live. The money is soon spent and none of it finds it's way to church.

But Generous Jen is different. She's always made the decision to first give God back a huge portion. She's got a good understanding about money and there's no danger of a generous tithe not making it through to the church.....in fact, with a church full of Jen's, maybe God releasing just £5,000,000 would be enough to see £1,000,000 given in tithes (shocking, that's 20% I here Kev say!)

And this is where you see that somewhere in the past the prosperity gospel based themselves on truth. The Bible does say you'll be blessed in giving. And while our motivation should never be to get rich, there is a principle that God is more likely to bless a generous person than someone who gives very little....and as we've seen, if you were God and needed the local church to get a bumper tithe, what type of member of that church would you most likely choose to give a little extra too......of course, Generous Jen. She doesn't give to get rich, but because she knows the spiritual blessing she is storing up for herself, as well as the blessing in many ways she experiences in life now. She loves the fact that she can play a part of outworking the Kingdom financially in her world and see's this as the reason she has money from God in the first place.

She gets that freedom from the tithe means we are free to give more. Not because we have to, or must do, or need to do. But just because its an honour to, no matter how little we have!

God loves a cheerful giver. Not a rule follower, or a reluctant obedient attitude - but JOY! Real joy. The type of joy you only get by giving money away just to bless something, when there is no immediate return for the giver (that would be a transaction).

But the Bible is clear - giving is never without reward.....but the reward might not always be money, nor should the motivation be for what you'll receive.

So, what type of giver do YOU want to be.....?

Treasure Hunting in St Petersburg - Just the Start of things to come!

Saturday 16th October saw Hope Church gathering together (with just a few visitors from South Africa!) for our first, regular Saturday time together where we'd be going out onto the streets and looking to bring God to the people.

We were using the tool that is known as Treasure Hunting, a very helpful thing for us, especially those doing this sort of stuff for the first time, of which the first story is from just a lady. Before Saturday, this Russian lady had never done anything like this before.

Usually we write down a number of things that we feel God has said, but Janna it seems wrote her whole sheet as if for one person.....she had the name Sasha, that he'd be dirty and sitting on a bench, that he'd also be homeless.....so when the teams went out, she went off looking for Sasha. Remember, this was her first time doing this, it's as if she thought "This is how it works!" - and it did!

She headed for the metro station area as usually outside there are a number of homeless people begging, but at this time there were unusually very few, only one in fact. He was indeed on a bench and was very dirty. A South African man who was in this team later commented that of all the homeless folk he'd ever seen (he went on to say that there are many in SA) this was probably the dirtiest and smelliest he'd ever encountered.

The man had a big beard, so that at first Janna thought she knew the man - she asked him "Is your name .....(I forget what she asked, but when it was clear he wasn't who she thought he was, she said) "then your name must be Sasha!"

It was.

Over about 20 minutes he shared his life story - Janna cried because of what was said. By know she was next to him, with her arm on him. Another team member, who arrived just after the first conversations, said at first he had to stay back so as not to be sick - the smell was that bad! And yet, Janna was next to him.

The team could feel the Holy Spirit was there. It's as if the fragrance of the Lord was there because they all said as the time went on, they could no longer smell anything bad....

Janna talked with him, then clearly feeling the Spirit (remember, this is a new Christian and the first time doing this!) she said he needed to repent! She prayed a prayer of repentance with him, to which he repeated!

Hope Church does not yet have this kind of rehab ministry so Janna gave him information about somewhere he could go to get sorted out. We can only pray he finds his way there.

After this the same team went to a shopping area. The SA guy had some clues that were highlighting some things about a young man God wanted to speak to. They stood in the centre for about half an hour - when people would come, Mark would say "No, it's not him...." until suddenly he saw him, a young man in black with a friend. "That's him!"

They talked. They offered to pray. He would only allow them to pray for him in a church building across the road, so having no problem with that, Mark led him across and into this building. The guys friend was being less helpful, so Janna took it upon herself to talk and distract him so that his friend could ask what he wanted to ask to Mark.

Come Sunday morning, this man turns up at Hope Church. Oleg, one of our Russian leaders, sits with him the whole time. He gets him a coffee at the end and they sit again in the main hall. This man had understood nothing of the meeting. It was a totally new experience to which he did not know what to make. Oleg and Janna, and with Mark, explained everything to him, being patient....loving him into God's Kingdom....they led him to Jesus, praying with him. That is a day he will never forget.

He then went to home group last night with Oleg and seemed to really enjoy it, though it clearly still understanding things - so praise God for this kind of break-through!

I love the clarity God speaks to us - they waited 30 minutes - and yet Mark knew his description, he'd know him when he saw him, as indeed he did - he comes to church - he's impacted but doesn't know why - he's loved and explained things too - he's led to Jesus - he's SAVED! (and now added too we hope!)

These were the stand out examples from Saturday but still there were two other groups, groups that prayed with people, groups that had also been given names and appearances for people they were about to meet.

A fire has started to burn here in St Petersburg. We've seen it in the last few weeks in our celebrations. We've felt it in our hearts. And now we are stepping out onto the streets, contending for so much more, trusting that God will do more than we can ask or imagine and that great things are going to happen.

What started out as monthly is going to be more than that. I feel we need to do it at least fortnightly now, so will take people out with me every other Saturday, to learn together, be trained together and see God breaking through into the lives of those around us - together!

God is on the move in St Petersburg. His Spirit is working, a new time is nearly upon us - it's coming!

What is Church Planting?...A Russia Perspective

OK, so I've been really bad at actually blogging lately (to busy doing the stuff....lol) but alas, I find a spare few minutes on a day I'd normally be busier to write.

So I've been reflecting lately - those in the Christian world are well aware of the phrase 'church planting'. Others might think it's some gardening term, or a funny/strange way of talking about a building (bricks & mortar) program for a church building.

But I wonder, outside of the training ground that is a church plant, whether most fully understand what it is to church plant?

I'm guessing those of you that have been reading over the last two years will have already seen in some detail the essential essence of what it is to church plant. Clearly, firstly, its a lifestyle. It's not something done just on Sunday's (or whenever you meet together as a recognisable group), but it's something you do all the time, every day, every month. For example, having people around for meals. Meeting new people for coffee (these are especially true for a city plant and that in a foreign culture where everyone new to the city is in more need of pastoral care - you know, someone looking out for them). It's helping out the core group as much as possible - so moving them into their houses (for the record, besides our own, the count is three house moves for families already in these two years - and because we all live in flats, the stairs are what make it very hard!).
It's hosting visitors - both family who've come to see exactly where their children/siblings etc have ended up, as well as hosting others looking in, one way or the other, be they church leaders (who are important for bringing in Biblical Foundations), mission teams, visiting speakers, or just tourists.

For a city like St Petersburg, mission teams take some planning and are obviously expensive things to do for those coming here, so you want to use their time well and make their trip worthwhile. After the flights and visa costs, most people have already paid something like £300 each (from the UK) before you are looking at accommodation and the rest.

And of course church planting is very much about what goes on when you do meet together in a recognised group. So the Sunday's and midweeks, and any evening meetings you have. It's bringing new leaders on quickly, training them on the job to help share the load and grow the church. It's training up small group leaders for the existing groups as well as new leaders for new groups that you hope to start soon. It's teaching people to welcome correctly on Sunday's, especially true and challenging here in a culture that to friends Russian's are very open (more open than Brit's) but are far more closed and wary of strangers - even within the church.

None of these latter points are done in one session - that would be the day! But it's continually shaping and encouraging, directing and leading by example. It's takes great patience, and even when you think you've got it right, you realise things haven't gone to plan.

We now have a Welcome Pack which is given to all new people. Because we are on the 2nd floor, someone is on the door on the street and someone else on the door to the office where we hire the hall. The process is that people are greeted on the street, and all new people then walked to the office door and 'handed' over to the person there. They are then given a pack, shown around the hall (toilets, drinks, meeting hall etc) and then introduced to someone in the hall in order for that person to return to the door quickly to greet the next guest.

A smooth, slick system.

Still, there have been weeks when a new person either hasn't seen the guys on the street, or worse still, has been let in, but left to find there own way to our office door.

And there have been times when the office door has been left open, a visitor walking in, straight past the person there, not really noticed at all or given one of our new packs.

So you repeat and encourage people constantly to do it in a way that will best serve those that are visiting us for the first time, which is the only reason we do it this way.

Church planting is seeing God in every situation - we often say to ourselves in my family "It's OK, we're church planting" when we come across a situation that doesn't seem to 'fit' with what we thought we were here for and yet is there, and people are wanting relationship, or we're tired, or something else, and we remind ourselves - "Yes, we are church planting and this is all part of it".

So church planting isn't a high and mighty phrase - it's not a promotion, as if such a thing existed in the church anyway. It's a very down to earth phrase, open to all, available to all. Everyone can be involved in a church plant. Everyone can play their part. Team is essential in all church plants, it's never possible for one person to do everything. It takes a huge amount of energy to get something started. Things that are already established just take a little ticking over and sometimes some hands on to move something on, but something that doesn't exist takes a lot of work to get it off the ground and then to gain momentum.

And it's really momentum you are looking for in a church plant. Momentum that brings in new people, momentum in growth and salvation, in service and gifts, momentum in a team working together, learning together and themselves growing. Momentum for the small fragile group of people that make up the church plant team to get through the quiet seasons and still feel you're moving on. It's momentum all church planters are looking for.

When Hope Church was launched in September 2009 there was a small but eager group to see us through the first few weeks. Many quickly joined and we saw some momentum get us through to December. January is a long holiday month so it was in February when things restarted and I believe momentum continued. In April there was a team coming over and that built some more momentum in, all the way to the end of May, but in Russia by June the 'summer' months have started.....leading through until September, even 1st October before things are back to 'normal'. So for us, one year old, it did feel hitting September again we were starting again, as we looked around and wondered where everyone was! So we are still looking for momentum, but God is faithfully adding to us, building in some strong people to help us get the momentum that could see us through next summer a little easier.

So I hope that this has helped a little as to explaining what church planting is and showing that's it's not an exclusive thing by any stretch of the imagination, but something anyone can do, including YOU. Maybe you've been thinking God has called you to a church plant, or to be a church planter, but you've thought that you couldn't do it. I think ALL church planters at some point during the process say "I just can't do this!" so that is natural - but remember, most important of all, and deliberately left until last, it's God who builds his church anyway. It's all God! We just do some of the leg work (& I realise I haven't mentioned anything on the technical or advertising sides - but to communicate well all new plants need a website, Facebook presence and advertising (we are also on VKontactia, which is a Russian version of FB)).

Jesus said "I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it!"

Why do we church plant - it's obvious - the church is the ONE place on earth that Satan does not have control. Hell's gates cannot overcome His church. The gates of any city are where the leaders would sit and decide things. Satan's power is in his gates, as they work out how to advance in the world, and how to try and attack their most dangerous enemy - the church. But those gates will never overcome the church, which is why we need to plant churches everywhere, in every city and in every nation. The church needs church planters and church plant teams.

So what are you waiting for......?