What is Church Planting: A Missionary’s Honest Take from Ghana

I remember the first time a new group of believers in a small village outside Kumasi gathered for their very own Sunday service. There were only eight of them, sitting on rough-hewn benches under a mango tree. That day, I saw firsthand what is church planting in its purest form: God bringing together His people where He wasn’t known before.

Church planting isn’t some newfangled idea or a marketing strategy for growing a denomination. It’s the very heartbeat of the Great Commission. It’s about taking the Gospel to places where it hasn’t been heard, or where there isn’t a solid, Bible-preaching church already established. It is the work of establishing a new body of believers who can then carry on the work themselves.

The Simple Act of Starting Something New (and Hard)

When my wife Laura and I arrived in Ghana, we didn’t come with a blueprint for a megachurch. We came with a Bible and a burden. Church planting, at its core, is simply starting a new church. It sounds straightforward, but it’s rarely simple. It means finding people, sharing the Gospel, discipling new converts, and then teaching them what it means to be a church.

Sometimes, this starts in a living room. Other times, it’s under a tree, or in a rented hall. We’ve seen it happen in all sorts of places. The location matters far less than the obedience of the people involved. It takes time. It takes patience. You study again. You visit again. You preach again. You forgive again. You trust God again. This kind of work doesn’t reward drama. It rewards endurance.

The mission field clarifies things quickly. It removes the padding. There are no stage lights and no weekly affirmation that you are doing well. There is only the work. If you’ve ever wondered about the nitty-gritty of missionary life, the kind of things that don’t make it into the glossy brochures, you might find some answers in my books on missions. They tell the plain truth about the work.

More Than a Meeting: Building a Body

A church isn’t just a gathering of people. It’s a living, breathing body of Christ, committed to His Word and to one another. The goal of church planting is not merely to get folks to show up on Sunday. It is to make disciples who can then make more disciples. This means teaching sound doctrine from the King James Bible, training local leaders, and helping the new believers understand their responsibilities to God and to each other.

This is where the real work begins. We teach them how to pray, how to study the Bible, how to share their faith, and how to live a life that honors Christ. We help them choose deacons, establish a budget, and understand the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The aim is for the church to become indigenous, meaning it’s led, funded, and propagated by the local people themselves. It’s not an American outpost in Africa. It’s a Ghanaian church for Ghana.

This process is slow. It often feels like you’re building with one hand tied behind your back, especially with language barriers and cultural differences to navigate. But it’s worth it. Seeing a young Ghanaian man, who once worshipped idols, stand up and preach the Gospel with power and conviction, that’s a reward you can’t put a price on. We believe in strengthening the local church, not just starting one. You can read more about our approach and what we believe on our about us page.

Why Bother? The Great Commission and Unreached Souls

Some folks ask, “Why go all the way to Africa to start a church when there are so many needs right here at home?” It’s a fair question, and the answer is simple: obedience to Christ. The Lord Jesus gave us a clear command in Matthew 28:19, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” That isn’t a suggestion. That’s a directive.

There are still billions of people on this planet who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ. They live and die without hope. Many of these unreached people groups are found in places like West Africa, in remote villages where no missionary has ever set foot. Our burden is for them. Our mission is to take the light of the Gospel to their darkness.

“Globally, there are 3.23 billion people who still have no access to the gospel. They live in 7,377 unreached people groups.”
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That number isn’t just a statistic. It represents souls. Each one is precious to God. We can’t reach them all, but we can reach some. And the most effective way to reach them long-term is to plant a church among them. That new church can then become a lighthouse, shining the Gospel into surrounding areas. This is why we go. This is why we labor. We partner with organizations like the International Mission Board in their efforts to reach the world with the Gospel.

The Dirt, The Sweat, and The Joy of the Work

Church planting is not glamorous. It involves a lot of dirt, sweat, and sometimes, tears. I remember one time we were trying to transport some Bibles to a new church plant deep in the bush. The road was barely a path, and our old truck got stuck in a mud hole that looked like it had swallowed smaller vehicles whole. We spent half a day digging, pushing, and pulling. That went about as well as you would expect. By the time we got those Bibles delivered, I may have praised the Lord loud enough for the whole village to hear.

But amidst the challenges, there is immense joy. The joy of seeing a person understand the Gospel for the first time and accept Christ as their Saviour. The joy of watching new believers grow in their faith and overcome old habits. The joy of seeing a new church stand on its own two feet, led by faithful local men. The Bible promises us a harvest if we don’t give up. “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9).

That verse isn’t just a nice thought. It’s a promise we’ve seen fulfilled time and again. We keep planting. We keep watering. We keep praying. God brings the increase. It’s hard, but it’s absolutely worth it. If you’d like to stay up-to-date with our specific triumphs and trials, consider signing up for our prayer letters.

What Church Planting Isn’t (and What It Always Is)

Church planting isn’t a guaranteed success formula. It’s not about trying to replicate an American church model in a foreign land. It’s not about making converts to a particular culture or a specific set of traditions. It’s about Jesus. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s about bringing people to Christ and teaching them to follow Him, letting the Holy Spirit guide the formation of their local body according to the Scriptures.

It is always about obedience. It is always about faith. It is always about patience. We are not the ones who save souls or build churches. That’s God’s work. Our job is to be faithful messengers and diligent laborers. We just show up, preach the Word, love the people, and trust God to do the impossible. Sometimes, it feels like we’re just planting tiny seeds in vast, dry ground. But God is faithful to His Word. He brings the rain. He brings the growth. He builds His church.

The lessons learned in church planting are invaluable. They strip away the superficial and expose the foundational truths of faith. They challenge your assumptions and deepen your reliance on God. This journey of faith, and the real stories from the field, are what drove me to write my books. If you are interested in understanding the missionary call and the practicalities of serving God on the field, I encourage you to check out my books on missions. They share the heart of what we do and why we believe it matters.

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