New Planter Spotlight: Mark Robertson
The Robertson Family
Mark Robertson IS THE THE HEAD PASTOR FOR The Heights Presbyterian Church in Cleveland, Ohio. WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH HIM AND THE CHURCH COMMUNITY BEGINNING IN 2018.
How have you seen God working in your life?
It's been a joy to experience the movement of the Spirit in my own heart, played out in a renewed sense of excitement for the gospel and transformed lives in our community. I have experienced, by his grace, the depth of my own sin before him, but that has resulted in experiencing, by his grace, just how much he loves me. This has been reflected in my preaching of the Word, in my discipling the flock, and seeking the lost in our neighborhood. I am refreshed and excited about what God can do!
How have you seen God working in your family?
My family has always enjoyed being part of the family of God, but lately my wife especially has been using her gifts to share the love of Christ with the body of believers. She feels an urgent need to care for others in the church, and our children have picked up on that as well. Having started something from nothing, they have been able to see the different members of the church care for each other radically, and it's created in them a sense of belonging and intentionality that they might not have felt in a more established church. We have understood the need as a family for worship in our home, the necessity of prayer, and the joys of singing his praises in the house and even in the car!
How have you seen God working in your church?
I have learned that God is gracious in bringing together a variety of personalities and gifts to allow the church to flourish in areas of hospitality, service, and worship. We need the guy who plays the guitar - we need the couple to open their home - and we need those who will get in the trenches with us and do the hard work of caring for the poor. I have learned that we need all of these things - and somehow God has brought them together. Now people see our church and see a dynamic representation of who God is and what he wants to do in the world. I could not have done that alone, or even with a few folks, but we need the whole body of Christ coming together, shining the light of Christ in myriad ways.
Church Vision
Our vision statement is this:
We are a city on a hill, for the city in which we live;
shining the light of Jesus, for the glory of God.
We like to think about our local context: that we focus on our efforts to strengthen believers in our midst so that they can pour themselves out for their neighbors and for this community. We ask our folks to do three things: Love God. Love Each Other. Love This City.
The third facet especially will vary from individual to individual, but the Christian should be active in all three areas, fulfilling the greatest commandment given to us by Jesus himself. Our hope is by living out this vision, we will disciple-makers in this community, and the believers we have will grow in their Christian maturity.
If you would like to reach out to Mark, you can visit the church's website at www.heightspres.org.
New Planter Spotlight: Rudy Rubio
The Rubio Family
Rudy Rubio IS THE THE HEAD PASTOR FOR Reformed Church of Los Angeles in Lynwood, California. WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH HIM AND THE CHURCH COMMUNITY BEGINNING IN 2018.
How have you seen God working in your life?
God has been doing amazing things in my life since we’ve planted RCLA! He’s humbled me by reminding me over and over that I/we need to be completely dependent upon Him, yet work hard for the sake of the Gospel and the ministry we’ve been called to. He’s grown my marriage, my kids, and to see my family as a whole take on the task of leading the way by planting has been amazing. He’s been working on me by stretching me, in loving folks at all times, making me think twice about the things I say and do, that I would be very mindful of my CORE Team, encourage their strengths and help build up their weaknesses. I’ve witness the Gospel of Christ transform a group of people that according to the world should not be hanging out, but for the sake of Christ and our ministry we are, and everyone is using their gifts to do what we’ve been called. I’m blessed in learning how to maintain a healthy relationship with my co-pastor Chris, appreciating how we complement each other and sharing responsibilities.
How have you seen God working in your family?
My family has always been close, not perfect, but close. We’ve been serving the Lord in ministry for close to 8 years now. It’s a joy to see how we’ve remained faithful throughout the course, though we’ve had stumbles, we’ve matured in our love of each other and Christ. The subject of planting has been something we’d been talking about for the last 4 years and we’d actually put that conversation on hold, thinking we wouldn’t be planting for a while, but God had other plans. There’s been additional pressures and at times even strains, but we’re a close knit family that has been through so much in the past that the things we encounter now aren’t even close. I think that we’ve all matured and in essence our love has grown stronger, my wife and I know when it’s time to sit down and talk about things that need to get addressed, we listen to each other, and make sure Christ is at the center of what we’re talking about and deciding on.
How have you seen God working in your church?
The most impactful thing I’ve learned in planting a church is that things don’t always happen on my time schedule. God has really been teaching me to be patient, to lean more on Him, and to remain flexible in modifying, adapting, and changing things up. I’ve learned that I need to stop and listen more, process longer, pray more often, and then move forward. I’ve learned to step out of my comfort zones in fundraising, asking for help, and being reminded that I/ we can’t do it on our own. I’ve also learned to be ok with being vulnerable, and to have a much deeper appreciation for accountability with multiple men in my life. I used to always struggle with time management and by planting a church it’s taken me to a higher level of doing this not just for ministry purposes, but also school, and especially time with my family.
Church Vision
As a church, we are committed to building a community of believers that are passionate about knowing God and walking in obedience to him. We seek to accomplish this by preaching the Bible in an expository fashion with passion and clarity, and by making disciples of Jesus Christ through small group communities. We are also devoted to engaging and impacting our neighborhood through evangelism, social justice and cultural renewal. We believe the Christian faith is best articulated by the historic reformed creeds and confessions, but we also believe in teaching these truths in a way that is authentic and understood in the language of the people we are ministering to.
We hope to impact our community by targeting the 2nd and 3rd generation Latinos for the first 18 months and when we’ve stabilized CORE Team begin preparing for a Spanish service to target 1st generation (Spanish speaking) community and have two separate service instead of a bilingual service. We’ve already made great partnerships with local government and school district with plans to commence multiple community project bringing them both together as well as involving other churches as we’ve learned from the Compton Initiative (www.justdogood.org). We hope to partake of the efforts to drastically reduce prostitution along the Long Beach Blvd. corridor that runs through Lynwood and Compton and plant a church by our 5th year’s end.
If you would like to reach out to Rudy, you can visit the church's website at www.reformedchurch.la.
New Planter Spotlight: Sigolf Greuel
Sigolf Gruel and his wife
Sigolf Greuel IS THE THE HEAD PASTOR FOR Comunidade Encontro in Santa Catarina, Brazil. WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH HIM AND THE CHURCH COMMUNITY BEGINNING IN 2018.
How have you seen God working in your life?
I see God acting and shaping my character through his Word: through the word I read and study, but also the word I preach and share with people. God's word is transforming me and making me more aware and sensitive to people, and giving me a more missional heart. My deepest desire is to become a better person, through the Word of God.
How have you seen God working in your family?
I see clearly God leading our family and approaching us one from another, building solid love bonds between us. Different experiences of life, some of suffering, has been used by God with this purpose in our family. We have been seeking to learn and to trust in the Lord, even in the suffering experiences. And having the whole family committed with Christ and his mission is a blessing!
How have you seen God working in your church?
The short history of Comunidade Encontro is an eloquent testimony of God's acting. In only two and a half years, we have already consolidated ourselves as a congregation. New people coming every week, and many of them becoming disciples of Jesus are another clear sign of God's action among us. Lives are being transformed. Also the way everything happened to set the new project Encontro Ilha, the base group and the partnerships, shows us that God is acting among us and in the control of everything.
Church Mission & Vision
Encontro is a contemporary christian congregation that cares about people and provides opportunities for meaningful relationships with Jesus and with others, acting with societal relevance.
Visão:
To be a referencial of christian congregation, multi-located, planter of new communities, communicating the Gospel of Jesus with boldness, excellence and creativity.
If you would like to reach out to Sigolf, you can visit the church's website at www.encontro.org.
New Planter Spotlight: Dan Anderson
The Anderson Family
Dan Anderson
DAN ANDERSON IS THE THE HEAD PASTOR FOR Central Presbyterian Church of Little Rock in Little Rock, Arkansas. WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH HIM AND THE CHURCH COMMUNITY BEGINNING IN 2018.
How have you seen God working in your life?
Words do not do justice to the fire I feel for God right now. His gospel is as alive in my heart as it ever has been. Through several teaching ministries across the country I've come to a much greater understanding and appreciation of the union that I have with Christ through faith. As a result I am experiencing a renewed passion for the gospel, a desire to share it with many, and a clearer picture of the gospel culture that I want to establish in the church. I've never worked harder, longer, and with this amount of zeal in my life but I've also never had this type of energy as well. All praise be to God!
How have you seen God working in your family?
This past November my wife gave birth to our third child (William) on the floor of our bathroom. The unexpected timing of the birth as well as its speed showed us God's care and protection over Kimberly and William despite the absence of modern medicine. On top of that, when William was born he was our 3rd child at 3 years of age and younger so over the past ten weeks we have seen rapid development and growth in all three of our kids.
But God is at work spiritually in all of their lives. One of the greatest joys as a father is to hear my two oldest sing the doxology. Every now and then my son (age 4) will lead our church in the doxology.
How have you seen God working in your church?
Well for one, he is bringing people to us. Over the past month we have seen a dramatic increase in our numbers (50%). This is something we've been praying for. Our people are beginning to understand who we are and what we believe and as a result are bringing their friends with them. The church as an organization is also beginning to understand how to make our church easier to attend and easier to remain at.
Besides that, one of the objective realities of 2017 was that our church had done a poor job of giving. So we have been praying for an increase in our internal giving. Thankfully, the Lord is doing this as well. In just the first 4 weeks of January we are already at 33% of our total giving of 2017 and we haven't had to guilt people into giving!
On top of these things, I have entrusted some of the leadership to people who have been a part of our church from the beginning. After being mentored and trained over the last year (and you want to talk about God at work!) these people are now teaching, welcoming and leading other in our church. When they began doing this earlier this month it was the first time there was an official church event and I wasn't at leading! So encouraging!
Church Mission
Loving Little Rock with the gospel for the glory of God.
Church Vision
Transformed lives, Transformed City
The love of God is trans-formative. It is the love of God in Christ Jesus that transformed us from sinner to saint. It is the love of God in Christ Jesus that transformed us from selfish to selfless. Because of this great love, we as a church seek to bring it into to the hearts, minds, and institutions of our city. We believe that in doing this we will see lives transformed as well as our city.
Who we target: Our church is strategically placed five minutes west of downtown Little Rock. The vast majority of people that live in this area are politically and theologically liberal. They tend to be young but are not always so. There is also a decent mix of young families. Over 90% of this area is Caucasian and wealthy.
Success and the change we want to see come about five years from now go hand and hand. We will be successful if we continue to see people come to Jesus (or come back to him). We will be successful if we launch another church in Little Rock (we know we can't be the only ones pursuing the gospel mission). All of this will require equipping the saints to do the work of ministry, raising money from within, and establishing leaders to help bring it about.
If you would like to reach out to Dan, you can visit the church's website at www.centralpreslr.com
New Planter Spotlight: Pastor Dima
For the safety of Pastor Dima and his church, personal pictures and names cannot be shared.
Pastor Dima IS THE THE HEAD PASTOR FOR a new church plant in Belarus. WE ARE HONORED TO PARTNER WITH HIM AND THE CHURCH COMMUNITY BEGINNING IN 2018.
How have you seen God working in your life?
When I became a believer, I eagerly received the free gift of Jesus dying in my place, to pay the penalty for my sins. But as time went by, I came to believe that I needed to work to maintain my salvation. I lost my joy toward God and I hid my imperfections from people. However, this past year I studied the book of Galatians and the Holy Spirit helped me to understand that I am an adopted child of God. There is nothing I can do to cause him to love me more nor is there any bad thing I can do to cause him to love me less. I needed the Gospel for my salvation and I also know that I need the Gospel every day for my sanctification.
How have you seen God working in your family?
My wife and I have been married for more than 15 years. We are in a sweet season where we enjoy our similarities and no longer try to change the other person's differences. I'm blessed to have a wife who cares for me, loves our children, works full-time and disciples women in our church. Her sacrifices allow me to be a pastor and freely shepherd our church. Our children are growing in their love for God, by it is more and more difficult to protect them from negative influences in our culture. Even though our lives are extra busy because of planting a new church, it has been unifying to serve God together as a family.
How have you seen God working in your church?
As we launched the church, I had many new ideas that I was sure would result in many new believers and a fast growing church. God had other plans for us. Many of my new ideas did not work. God worked in ways that we did not expect. I think that God broke some of my pride through failures so that I would learn to depend more on Him.
Church Vision
There are a lot of young people currently living in our city, and many more are coming here from villages and towns all over our country. The number of students at our main University (and different colleges) is over 15,000 people. Additionally, there are also over 18,000 students in public schools. At the same time young people are lacking guidance in life and basic moral values, which is why we have serious problems with smoking, drunkenness, drug addiction, AIDS, early abortion and violence. In 2015 our city was #1 in the region regarding AIDS infections, and is in the top 5 of our whole nation.
It breaks my heart to see that the young people are dying in my city without God. I want to bring the gospel into their lives and share this hope for a new life that only God in Christ can give!
In addition to growing our church, we plan to plant a daughter church that will focus on another part of town. We are investing in young men who want to become elders and pastors in the future.
For the safety of Pastor Dima and his church, names and locations cannot be shared. However, if you would like to learn more about Eurasia Partners and give towards Pastor Dima's work, visit www.eurasiapartners.org/give/00245.