New Planter Spotlight: Roberto Barbosa

The Barbosa family

Roberto Barbosa

How have you seen God working in your life?

I see God working in my life through contact with the Bible and the practice of prayer. I feel your grace and great mercy on me. It renews my feelings and thoughts, takes care of my heart and frees me from fear. Whenever I face great challenges and my heart is troubled, God reminds me of the Gospel message and makes me look at the Cross of His Son. Through the Gospel, God daily reinforces my identity: I am a son loved by Him.

How have you seen God working in your family?

With the beginning of the church planting, our family moved to another city and many things were changed in the family routine. Our children changed schools, my wife left her job and we started to live in a new context, with new people around. But God takes care of us in every detail. Our children are well adapted with new friends and the new school. My wife got a new job, and in all of these things, God kept our hearts by holding us closer together as a family. Home life is a great pleasure for us!

How have you seen God working in your church?

A year ago, when we gathered the core group for the first time, we were a small group of dreamers willing to cooperate with what God wanted to do in our city. In that time we saw God bringing people to join us, we had the joy of baptizing some people and our Sunday mornings are marked by the sweet presence of God that makes us celebrate his powerful deeds among us and we grew through the biblical exposition. I look at things that have happened in that short time and I can only say that the grace of God did everything.

Church Mission & Vision

Our mission:

Be a church centered on
Gospel, which
seeks to glorify
God loving people
and serve the city.

Our vision:

Culturally relevant, biblically faithful, committed to God's mission, creative in communication and relational.

If you would like to know more about Igreja Plena Rio
http://www.igrejaplenario.com.br

New Planter Spotlight: Bruno da Luz

The da Luz family

Bruno da Luz

Bruno da Luz IS THE HEAD PASTOR FOR Aviva Church in Santa Catarina, Brazil. WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH HIM AND his CHURCH COMMUNITY starting January 2020.

How have you seen God working in your life?

With each passing day, I feel happier to serve God. I feel a lot of satisfaction. There are many challenges in church planting, but God has brought joy to my life. I have always worked as a physiotherapist, but I have never felt as happy as I am now, being a church planter. Furthermore, it is a big responsibility. God has placed in my heart great fear and zeal for his work. I see God's grace at work in my life, giving me gifts to fulfill His purposes. Skills I didn't have naturally, but his supernatural action has empowered me. I also clearly perceive the Holy Spirit's action in sanctifying me. I feel embarrassed by my sins and soon I humble myself in repentance.

How have you seen God working in your family?

My family and I have learned a lot about what it is to be a genuinely Christian family that glorifies God in every action. I thank God that He has placed a great desire to serve Him in my wife's heart. She supports me in all activities, takes care of our family in a spectacular way, as well as helping with various activities in the church. We try to spend time together, both at meals and at leisure, such as going to the beach. My oldest daughter is 11 years old and already shows signs of the Holy Spirit's action in her life. He shows signs of repentance and a desire to walk in holiness. Our youngest daughter is 4 years old and loves to participate in the worship moments in our church.

How have you seen God working in your church?

What has most impacted my life in planting this church is the powerful hand of God bringing all the necessary financial resources. One of my fears is not having the financial resources to spread the work of God. Perhaps, due to the difficulties I experienced in my childhood, I must have a trauma, which generates fear of missing something. But God has been faithful, bringing all the financial resources we need. For example, financial support from SRC. My faith has increased when I see God's powerful and miraculous action on financial matters. It is amazing to see that when we invest in new chairs, God sends new people and more resources.

Church Mission & Vision

Our mission is to make disciples for Jesus, to influence the world, all for the glory of God. The least reached people in our city are the people with the highest levels of education and the highest socio-economic levels. Among this group, we have less than 20% of Protestants. We want to reach these people. We intend to take the Gospel to them, through strategic actions. We want these people to become Jesus' disciples. In addition, we want our members to influence the different spheres of our society. We want them to be "salt of the earth and light of the world". We are training them to understand the Christian worldview and impact society, influencing the spheres: church, family, culture, politics, economics and education.
In addition, we intend to multiply churches. Our plan is to plant 18 new churches in the next 10 years. So, in the next 5 years, I hope that we have formed a multitude of new disciples for Jesus. I also hope that we are involved in planting at least 2 new churches in the southern region of Santa Catarina. We also intend to have members of our church directly involved in the different spheres of society.

If you would like to know more about Bruno and Aviva Church check out their website at en.avivaigrejacrista.com.

New Planter Spotlight: Winston Miller

The Miller Family

Winston Miller

Winston Miller IS THE HEAD PASTOR FOR Grace Life Church in Lauderhill, Florida . WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH HIM AND his CHURCH COMMUNITY starting January 2020.

How have you seen God working in your life?

By His grace, church planting has allowed me to widely use my gifts of shepherding and edification to share the gospel and encourage others by the gospel. However, I have seen these same gifts reveal a sinful desire to merely please others to gain their approval. By God’s grace, I’m blessed with my wife and friends who remind me through the Word of God that this type of idolatry challenges the gracious working of God’s desires for my life. The very gift that he has given me in order to lead others to him and see them edified through His Word can be the very gift that separates me from Him, if I value people’s opinions more than the truth and more than His promises to me. The gospel loudly says that I am not only accepted by God the Father because of Jesus Christ, I am now a Son of God. I therefore have privileges, rights, and a relationship with the God of the universe! As the Lord continues to give me opportunities to shepherd and edify, he is reminding me that I can share Him not out of obligation or for utilitarian purposes, but out of love for those whom he is calling to also become his adopted Sons and Daughters in Christ, like me.

How have you seen God working in your family?

When we decided to move back to South Florida, I assumed my family would be as excited as I was about planting a new church. We often discussed church planting, and I was confident they knew my heart, the necessity of the sacrifices we would have to make, and the great reward we would experience when the church was launched! I also assumed that as we were on a spiritual journey, it would become easier to cultivate healthy relationships and rhythms with my wife and children. The reality is that my children were very attached to their friends, their school, and the neighborhood where we were living at the time, and they were apprehensive about moving back. Moving back would actually challenge rhythms that were healthy for them at the time. Moving threatened to negatively impact the opportunities for healthy communications in the family. I’ve since learned that, in dependence on the Holy Spirit, I need to be intentional about cultivating healthy communication between my wife and I, and between us and our children in order to foster healthy rhythms and healthy family relationships. It will not necessarily be the shared experiences in the mechanics of church planting that will aid this healthy communication, but time spent simply as a family, getting to know them and participating in their interests, enjoying times of recreation and leisure, and date nights with my wife. God has been working in our family to help us recognize and pursue these rhythms.

How have you seen God working in your church?

In these very early stages of our church’s life, we’ve been blessed with a core group of folks who are mainly de-churched. Some of them are realizing for the first time what the gospel really means and implies, and it is changing their understanding of how a relationship with God and with others is defined, and what it looks like in their daily lives. There have been times where I’ve been tempted to believe that the more attractive worship, or the coolest website, or the most overwhelming social media presence would be the key to ensuring a vibrant and growing church. However, as I witness the slow work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of people, I’ve been changed to trust God for the growth of the church as we work to make and multiply disciples of Jesus. I am therefore much less anxious, while becoming more excited about the daily work of church planting.

Church Mission & Vision

Mission: We seek to make and gather disciples of Jesus from every nation, help them to grow and live by God’s grace, and equip them to go into their communities to make a difference

Vision: We exist to see the spiritual, social, and cultural renewal of Lauderhill, South Florida, and all nations.

If you would like to know more about Winston and Grace Life Church check out their website at www.gracelifefl.com.

New Planter Spotlight: Pete Evans

The Evans Family

Pete Evans

Pete evans IS THE HEAD PASTOR FOR Trinity Church Manchester in the UK. WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH HIM AND his CHURCH COMMUNITY starting January 2020.

How have you seen God working in your life?

Like most people, I grew up wanting to be someone and make a name for myself. I loved people’s approval, was crushed by rejection, and was filled with fear that eventually I’d be outed as a fraud. This drove me, shaping the way I approached my relationships, my achievements, and my ministry.

What God taught me is that my efforts to achieve a lasting glory are as futile as they are corrupt. I was made for His glory, not my own and I could never attain that by my own efforts. But mercifully I discovered in the gospel that Jesus invites me, and all of us, to share His glory. Through faith in Him, everything He achieves also belongs to me. I have God’s approval because His death removed my sin. I won’t be rejected because I’m adopted forever as a son of the King. The shame of my failures is swallowed by the glory I share with Christ.

I still have a way to go but experiencing these truths daily has changed me. I’m less afraid of personal failure. I’m care less about what people think. I am freed from the burden of making my own name and can serve God and others. My life belongs to and is defined by Jesus Christ, which changes everything. John the Baptist once said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn. 3:30). Though contrary to everything we think we need, I have discovered that this is where true life is found.

How have you seen God working in your family?

Planting a church is a fun and an amazing privilege, but it also has its challenges! My wife and I not only face the pressure of planting and leading a fledgling church in one of the most secular, liberal, post-Christian cities in the UK, but raising our kids here too. We’ve left behind the comfort of a larger church family and feel the lack of older mentors to invest in us as a couple. We moved from the USA back home to the UK, saying goodbye to many Christian friends who had kids the same age as ours. My eldest has just started school and is, as far as we are aware, the only kid from a Christian family.

I’d be lying if I said we didn’t worry about the impact planting will have on our children and our marriage. However, we’re continuing to discover the truth of Paul’s words in 2 Cor. 1:9 – God takes us to places of hardship and discomfort for our benefit as much as anyone else’s. Planting has given us an opportunity to rely on the One who raises the dead in a special way. In the past we have experienced so much of His blessing in our marriage because of our ministry. Our hope and expectation is that we’ll see His grace at work in our kids’ lives too as He proves that He is more than able to keep them and draw them to Himself.

How have you seen God working in your church?

City Church was planted in 2015 with 27 adults in the heart of Manchester, UK. In the past 5 years we have seen tremendous growth, many baptisms, and countless stories of lives transformed by the power of God. About 300 people now meet each week, gathered from highly diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, sharing the gospel with one of the most secular cities in the UK. We’ve had some great highs and some big lows. Through it all, God has sustained us and blessed us.

We know that only God could have done this. People ask us all the time how it happened, and we don’t really have a good answer. We’ve tried our best to faithfully communicate the gospel in a culturally relevant way. We’ve committed to training and equipping the next generation. We’ve tried to use our resources wisely and structure our ministries well. We’ve taken risks, putting our faith in God’s goodness. But we’ve also made big mistakes along the way and yet God has blessed us anyway. As we gear up to plant Trinity Church into the north of the Manchester this summer (2020) we go with the same ministry philosophy and faith in God who can still do amazing things today as He has in the past.

Church Mission & Vision

We want to be a gospel community for North Manchester that gives, grows and partners for God’s glory.

By the end of our first year (summer 2021) we want to achieve the following:

GIVE
• Give 50 people the opportunity to hear about Jesus at a Trinity Church event
• Develop an ongoing impact in 50 people’s lives with local mercy ministry outreach
• Every member of Trinity Church sacrificially giving their time, talent and treasure to our church

GROW
• Grow to an average weekly Sunday attendance of 100 adults
• 50% of adults belonging to a small group
• 25% of adults in a 1-1 discipling relationship

PARTNER
• Launch 2 new church to church partnerships
• Join the FIEC, the Northern Gospel Powerhouse and the North West Partnership
• 5% of our annual budget allocated to mission partners

Our hope is that as we establish this new church in the north of Manchester we would see many come to trust in Christ through our church and the churches that we plant together with City Church and our other partners around the UK and beyond.

If you would like to know more about Pete and Trinity Church Manchester contact Pete at pete@citychurchmanchest.org.

New Planter Spotlight: Joel Deacon

The Deacon Family

Joel Deacon

Joel deacon IS THE HEAD PASTOR FOR City on a hill: Wollongang, Australia . WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH HIM AND his CHURCH COMMUNITY starting January 2020.

How have you seen God working in your life?

I grew up in a beautiful family but a family that doesn't love Jesus. At 16, I was saved because someone had the boldness to befriend me and tell me about Jesus. At age 20, the Holy Spirit graciously rebuked me of some serious sins and awakened my heart to the urgency of mission. Like our Saviour, I long to see my family, my friends and more people in our world know Jesus. And for this to happen, I’m convinced more churches need to be planted. Which is why for the last decade I have been praying that God would give me the character, wisdom, giftings, resources, faith and capacity needed to plant churches and win souls for Jesus.

With sober self-assessment and the affirmation of others, I believe the Lord has given me the characteristics and convictions needed for leadership (1 Timothy 3). He has convicted me that I am to be a Deacon by name and demeanour. He has blessed me with a godly and gifted wife (Emma). His Spirit has graciously equipped me to preach, pastor, lead and evangelise. Furthermore, he has graciously given me experience as a civil engineer and pastor to sharpen my giftings, chisel my character and grow my love and affections for Jesus and his people.

How have you seen God working in your family?

We (Emma and Joel) grew up in great families but non-believing families. Both of us became Christians as teenagers after friends had the boldness to tell us about Jesus. After school, Emma studied journalism and creative writing, and worked as a conference producer, while Joel worked as a Civil Engineer before studying his Masters of Divinity and becoming a pastor.

Like our Saviour, we long to see our family, our friends and more people in this world know Jesus. For this to happen, we’re convinced more churches need to be planted, and that more churches need to be planted in Wollongong, Australia.

Emma and I both studied our undergraduate degrees at the University of Wollongong, lived in Wollongong for Joel’s civil engineering work and his first role as a pastor. We moved to Melbourne to join City on a Hill and now moving back to Wollongong to plant. We have close friends in Wollongong; some who are believers and some who are not. We believe that not only is now a good time to plant, but we are a good team to send because we know and love the city. We love the city of Wollongong and feel compelled to plant there.

How have you seen God working in your church?

City on a Hill began in Melbourne in October 2007 with a small team and a big vision to make a difference for the good of all people and the glory of God.

Meeting initially as a small group bible study in a city apartment, throughout our journey, God has done incredibly more than we could ever think or imagine. We have seen hundreds of men and women find new life in Christ and enter the waters of baptism. We have celebrated with those who have reconnected back to following Jesus. We’ve seen God inspire leaders and volunteers to care for the poor and marginalised, pioneer new ministries, train leaders, equip and send out of missionaries near and far, and open many doors for the gospel.

Today, City on a Hill is a movement of 2,500 men and women who are gathered across seven local churches, in four cities, in two states, all united around one mission – “to know Jesus and makes Jesus known”

Our vision is to reach 10 cities with the beauty, truth and relevance of Jesus by planting 50 churches. City on a Hill Wollongong will become the 8th City on a Hill church in the 5th city. The prayer is that it would be the first of many churches in the region of Wollongong. A vision we hope would awaken sleepy Christians, save souls, change the city and raise humble, courageous, sacrificial leaders to reach Wollongong and beyond.

Church Mission & Vision

City on a Hill's Mission
To know Jesus and make Jesus known.

City on a Hill's Big Vision
To reach 10 cities with the beauty, truth and relevance of Jesus by planting 50 churches.

City on a Hill Wollongong's Vision
Our heart's desire is to see more people in the beautiful city of Wollongong come to know the wonder of Jesus.

Our prayer is that this church will be:
- A sanctuary where sin is exposed, the grace of Jesus is proclaimed, and people respond with continual repentance and faith;
- A family that is bound by the blood of Jesus;
- A community where seekers and sceptics are welcomed
- A temple that shakes with praise
- A body that serves one another and our community
- A training ground for gospel leaders
- A place where kids and adults enjoy God
- A church-planting church.

If you would like to know more about Joel and City on a Hill check out their website at www.cityonahill.com.