In the Hope family, church planting is always our passion and motivation. This is because we desire to fulfil the great commission of Jesus Christ, our lord and saviour. However, this is not an easy task. Although we want to plant as many churches as possible by faith, when we look at the facts, we realise only limited resources are available. Therefore we cannot help but think that we are not ready. We are constantly caught in this dilemma of facts versus faith.
I think we should strike a balance between having faith and exploring facts before we engage in any big projects such as church planting. How then, do we reconcile faith and the facts?
Faith and facts never contradict each other. If we want to have a successful Christian walk and to have a fruitful ministry, we must be a man or woman of faith who possesses understanding and relevant information. We shouldn’t have to choose between faith and the facts but we should have both. I would suggest that we think through the best we can, based on the facts we have. On top of that, we also have faith, knowing that God is almighty. His law transcends the so-called natural law. In fact, God’s action seems to be supernatural for us because our knowledge about nature is so limited. After all, a human being regards things that cannot be explained as supernatural while explainable things are described as natural.
Let’s think about television. Television is something that almost every household today owns. Can you imagine what would happen if we sent a television back to the people who lived several centuries ago? For us, television is normal, but for them, it would be considered supernatural. In the same way, there are many things that may seem impossible for us but is possible for God. Let us believe in what is humanly impossible but totally possible for God.
Our faith should not be conditioned by our situation but it should centre on the character and the will of God. We should pray the hardest, think the deepest and do the best, believing God will take care of the rest.
Sometimes God may give a clear vision to his people. He may call them to do something that is definite and explicit. We see this clearly in Moses’ life. God called him to save the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 3- 4).
Sometimes God may lead his people step by step, like Abraham (Gen 12:1). However, even if God doesn’t give us an explicit call, we, as God’s people should still have a heart burden and try every way to carry out his vision to establish his Kingdom on earth. We should always make our plans by faith, yet at the same time, allow him to change our plans. In other words, we should not wait for God to tell us everything before starting to do anything. Paul didn’t wait until God gave him a clear plan before commencing his missionary work. He did his best to devise a plan and implement it, yet allowed God to change it when necessary. One time he wanted to preach the Gospel in Asia but the Holy Spirit did not allow him. He was willing to change His plan (Ac 16:6-10).
If we set a goal for ourselves and we do not achieve it, we should not lose heart. Surely we may be disappointed, but we should not be discouraged. Instead, we should evaluate ourselves and make improvements. Our goal should not be our golden calf. In other words, we should be serious about our goals but should not worship it. Failure to achieve our goal should not discourage us if we have tried our best. The key is doing our best and trusting that God will do the rest.
From this year onward, in Hope Europe, we would like to emphasise more on international church planting, especially in Europe. Let’s stretch our faith, do the best and trust God for the rest.
The Kingdom of God is advancing!
Together in the Vision,
Pastor Prakich Treetasayuth
Hope Europe Zone Leader
