EDITOR’S LETTER
Column by Carol Pipes
Partnerships key to planting
Much attention has been given to the recent passing of Steve Jobs, the man who introduced us to the Macintosh computer, iPhone, iPad and other i-related technology. Jobs’ dazzling inventions have undoubtedly changed our lives.
But we would do well to remember that no man is an island. Including Steve Jobs. Without the technical savvy of his first business partner, Steve Wozniak (computer engineer and programmer), one has to wonder where Jobs would be today. There is no doubt that Jobs was a visionary and innovative thinker, but his success relied heavily on the team of engineers and programmers who gave life to the devices that continue to propel Apple to be the tech-industry leader it is today.
In this issue of On Mission, we examine the “Power of Partnership” and how vital partner churches are in the life of a church plant. Won Kwak, a North American Mission Board church planter missionary in Fort Lee, N.J., says that having partner churches has made all the difference in planting Maranatha Grace Church—a multi-ethnic, English-speaking congregation now running about 100.
This is not mere sentiment, but is the mission-shaping reality embraced by church planters across North America—partnerships are key to a church plant’s success and growth.
I recently took part in a vision tour in New York City where I met several church planters serving in the greater NYC metro area. It was exciting to hear how God had called each of them to a specific people and neighborhood in the city. Slava Kovalenko moved to New York from the Ukraine, where his grandfather planted the first Baptist church in Kiev in 1961. Slava has started a church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for Russian-speaking people. Rich Perez grew up in Washington Heights, the son of Dominican parents. He’s preparing to launch a multi-lingual Spanish-and English-speaking church using the arts and athletics to engage a hip-hop culture on the northside of Manhattan. Jae Lee is the pastor of Ebenezer Mission church, which consists of a Korean-speaking congregation and a multi-cultural, English-speaking congregation in Queens. The church has recently launched a Chinese-speaking church and is working to start a Spanish ministry as well as two Filipino churches.
“God initiates the work,” says Lee. “He is always doing something.”
A common thread running through their stories was the reliance on partner churches coming alongside of them to help impact their communities with the gospel. Jobs had Wozniak and a team of tireless workers awakening the world to its technological future. And church planters have you helping to awaken the world to Christ’s call to follow Him for all eternity. Through Send North America, Southern Baptist churches of all sizes can partner with planters on a number of levels, from supporting them prayerfully to sending mission teams to multiplying the church by helping plant new ones. The opportunities are endless.
Many more churches are needed to move people living in North America closer to God. Together we can make a difference in countless lives. That’s the power of partnership.
Carol Pipes, editor
cpipes@namb.net
4 Winter 2012 •
onmission.com
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