While most were from the cities, I met a couple who had recently moved from Transkei, a country bordering South Africa. They had come to train for pastoral ministry under my friend Xavier Adriannse. 

Having grown up in the bush they were struggling with the culture shock that hit them when they moved from the countryside to one of the most physically beautiful cities in the world.

Meeting these soft-spoken people drives me harder in a quest to help where it is most needed. And, it is most needed where people can afford it the least. 

HISTORY

The earliest people to populate South Africa were called the, “San,” often referred to as, “Bushmen,” these brown-skinned people were eventually subjugated by black people arriving from northern parts of the continent.  

The first European to arrive in South Africa was a Portuguese explorer who arrived in 1487. He named the southernmost tip of the continent, “The Cape of Storms.” Upon returning to Portugal, his king re-named it, “The Cape of Good Hope,” in the belief that it led to the riches of the far east.  

But it was the Dutch who would colonize South Africa in the 1650s. Along with colonization came war, slavery and the discovery of diamonds and later, gold. By the 1800s the Dutch were at war with the British over the riches of the region. The British eventually prevailed. During this time racial segregation was mostly informal but would blossom into the evil of apartheid in the 1960s when South Africa became an independent nation.  

It wasn’t until the 1990s that the nation, under severe pressure from the rest of the world, dismantled apartheid. Nelson Mandela was released from prison after 27 years, eventually becoming the head of state. Today the nation enjoys more racial harmony than at any time in its history.

SOUTH AFRICA TODAY

South Africa is multi-ethnic and with a wide diversity of languages and cultures. About 79.5% of the South African population is ofAfrican.Africa also contains the largest communities of European,, and racially mixed ancestry in Africa. Whites make up only about 16 percent of the population. 

There are 11 officially recognized languages though English is pretty much common to everyday business.  

ECONOMY AND CRIME

South Africa has a mixed economy drawing from mineral resources, tourism and diversified agriculture. It is the largest economy on the continent. Home to more than 20 universities it has become an important intellectual center for the continent. 

Sadly, South Africa also hosts horrid crime rates. The United Nations rates South Africa as second for rape and murder per capita among the nations of the world. Most Middle-class South Africans live in gated communities.

Even the stable economy has done little to boost the unemployment situation. Many blacks have joined the middle class but many more live in poverty, some on less than two U.S. dollars per day.

RELIGION

Muslims claim that their faith is the fastest-growing religion of conversion in the country, with the number of black Muslims growing sixfold, from 12,000 in 1991 to 74,700 in 2004

Nearly 74 percent of South Africans consider themselves Christians, although that number is shrinking. While about 15 percent practice ancient native religions. The rest of the population is widely spread in its religious beliefs with about nine percent claiming no religious affiliation. 

JESUS POWER

Christianity played a strong role in the transition from apartheid to democracy (though apartheid had operated under a cloak of false interpretation of scripture). 

Sadly, the church seems to be losing ground in South Africa and that is why I traveled further than the distance around the world to get there and back. 

Frustrated with the time and expense of formal schooling Xavier is busy discipling potential pastors from five Southern African nations. Some have moved to Cape Town to train in his church. But, he often drives as much as 30 hours to spend time with his disciples. 

I first met Xavier in Johannesburg a year ago and discovered that he had built his church around a teaching series I had done on cassette-tape over 20 years ago. His thriving congregation now owns a wonderful building and is using it to multiply churches. One of the men he partners with is a university professor/missionary sent out by Hope Chapel Hermosa Beach. It seems the world is indeed a small place.

The trip was worth the long nights on airplanes and I will make it again in a couple of years. It is good to contribute knowledge and experience where people want it badly. . 

Thank you again for your prayers and financial support. These people could never afford the cost of the airline tickets, which allow me to spend time with them. You are touching the lives of people you will only meet in heaven.

  I was still a newcomer, dressing and speaking like a tourist who thought he was a local—a lot about my demeanor was somewhat offensive to people who grew up in the community.

  The relationship with school leadership was a bust. I didn’t communicate well with the principal. My mistakes were many, and they always magnified into crises.

  One day, I took my secretary to a meeting with the principal. While waiting for him, she made friends with his receptionist (The cookies we gaver her helped). This woman had previously been very cold toward me. My secretary managed to explain the church and its mission. She explained why she trusted me, and my plans for our church. She even made jokes apologizing for my funny clothes and odd speech.

  When the principal came to greet us, his receptionist went out of her way to introduce me to him with great respect. She tipped him off that she had now accepted me into her world. That worked wonders. He and I became friends that day and our problems greatly diminished. He eventually accepted the Lord through one of our members on his faculty.

  New relationships always risk potential miscommunication. The church planter faces a host of them. Some may seem institutional and insignificant at a time when you want to focus on evangelism and growth strategies. But, they are necessary to your success.

  These “extracurricular” relationships are 1. A landlord who makes it possible for you to meet. 2. The financial institutions necessary to your success. 3. Your parent church and its support capacities. 4. Your denomination if you have one. 5. Personal friendships from within your new community. 6. A prayer team who will support you over the long haul.

  To the degree that you cultivate these relationships, you’ll walk a smoother path and sleep a whole lot easier.

   The Bible speaks of people who go to the fields to sow seed—they weep as they go, apparently because the ground is so unready to receive the seed. However when they go out to reap they go with great joy. The harvest is better than anyone expected.

REAPING AFTER MANY YEARS OF SOWING

   Those scriptures speak to my heart. I’ve been traveling and teaching in Japan for 26 years. Have been in the country more than 60 times (actually counted the stamps in my passports). Many of those trips were highly UN-rewarding.

   In the early days I became fairly famous as a speaker “on the evangelical circuit.” Trouble is it seemed that few were taking the message to heart. I often returned home deeply discouraged. The one thing that kept me going was the growing band of disciples we were building throughout the nation. They were young people who actually started churches and they currently number more than 40 churches including “house churches.”

  But, things are changing. I’ve taught at the same seminar in January for each of the last three years. The first time I went there I nearly froze—the snow was over 12 feet deep. But I also felt that the people weren’t exactly receiving the message. Few could name even three people they were discipling. However, this year everyone had disciples and several are in the process of multiplying new churches.

   And it’s not just those people who are launching churches. The tragedy in Sendai and Tohoku have motivated the churches to get involved with outsiders in ways they never dreamt of before. Christians are doing more relief work than any other segment of the population. And...as they help people they are bringing Jesus into the equation. Several established churches have planted house-churches in the area. The spillover from Sendai is that churches are beginning to gain vision for multiplying disciples and congregations in their own vicinity. God is at work.

   To top it off churches are finally growing larger. Many now number over 100 and there are five congregations of more than 1,000 in the Tokyo area. This has never happened in the history of the country.

THE PAST DID BEAR FRUIT

I am enclosing an excerpt from an email we received from a middle-aged pastor in Japan. He writes about our recent trip but also about teaching I did 17 years ago. He writes:

   “Thank you for going to Japan last month and teaching us. After coming back from Manza retreat, I have shared with my church about the retreat, and everyone was agreeing with the vision of Hope Chapel.

   In 1995, we started our church Grace Home at my house. In the same year, we...participated in a retreat with Pastor Ralph at a hotel in Waikiki. ... I could see that Pastor Ralph was pursuing for nothing but building a biblical church. I also saw that his heart was devoted to obey Jesus' commands to disciple people, meeting in houses, and building up a loving church. We have the same vision in our church. do not feel like Hope Chapel as just another church in a foreign country. Though we have learned much from churches in South Korea, Singapore, and United States, I find that the vision, values, and faith of our church most agree with those of Hope Chapel. , the growth rate of our church is not as fast as that of Hope Chapel. We still much to learn from your church.

   After Manza retreat, I have informed my church about a retreat to Hope Chapel, and 39 people including children responded. Those 39 people have desires to see how God is blessing hope chapel and learn from your church just like the group of people Queen of Sheba brought to see the wisdom of Solomon.”

A BUSY TRIP

   On the trip I spoke at two seminars, one in Tokyo and one in the Japan Alps at Manza. Carl went with me. We participated in an impromptu party with the converts of many years of youth mission teams in Machida. We layed strategy for another Japanese language church in Honolulu. We met with all of our Tokyo area pastors for a time of encouragement and fellowship.

   Later we moved to Kansai where we met with pastors and leaders from three movements in three separate meetings. Carl spoke at Hope Chapel Osaka and I spoke at Kobe Bible Fellowship, our largest church in Japan.

EVERYONE IS UP TO SOMETHING

   We found that our own disciples are doing lots of ministry in the earthquake damaged area. They are also maturing into missionary sending churches with work going on in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

   One congregation that was once fairly hostile to young people is now crawling with them. More importantly the older people are very happy about it.

   Two of our churches are at the point where they have standing room only. This, too, has never happened before.

   Please don’t mistake my enthusiasm for victory. The road in Japan is long and the seeds of spiritual awakening are only just beginning to sprout. This is like early spring—there are little green shoots coming out of the ground everywhere you look and some trees are in full leaf. It seems that summer is finally arriving to this nation that has been so difficult to reach for many centuries.

Thank You For Prayer And Financial Support

Finally I want to say “thank you" to those who pray for me. This trip taught me something of the importance of your prayers. We were freezing everywhere we went, but rides appeared out of nowhere and appointments were in warmer places than ever before. Japan in January is hard on Hawaii people but this was a most rewarding trip…

My next journey takes me around the African Continent. I would really value your prayers during that time. I head out tonight around midnight. Will take four days to get to Cape Town. After Cape Town I head for Cote d’Ivoire where they are in the aftermath of a civil war.

To get a full-color newsletter including my teaching trips and lots of pictures click on the link at the top of the page that says, "Mission Hope International." Sorry but I have to use snailmail for the photos as this site does funny things to pictures in articles... 

Much is written about the process, relationships and structures involved in multiplying churches. But one thing we can easily overlook is the friendship factor. My wife and I were, literally, without friends except for a few hours on Sunday during our first adventure.

We had planted the church without a team, though a few friends did help we only saw them on weekends. It was a very lonely situation.

The second time we had a core team and they were great people. Many are still with us 29 years later. Many others have gone on to launch other churches.

But the wondrous factor in our second church plant was that we partnered with a couple who were our best friends.

Friendship magnifies happiness and it blunts the force of misery. Staff, team and structure can never be a substitute for great friendships. I’m not saying that the team won’t grow great friendships—that’s a given. But starting with someone who is already a tight friend makes life a whole lot better.

A treatise like this wouldn’t be complete without bringing old King Solomon into the picture. He wrote, “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).

Giving deference to Solomon, especially the last part of the quotation would suggest that three best friends at the center of a church planting team are better than two. Either way, when visioneering and budgeting we should make room for the friendship factor.

Read more of Ralph's stuff here: The Friendship Factor | ChurchPlanting.com 

Or, check http://www.amazon.com/Ralph-Moore

   Where I live we celebrate “Pastor’s Appreciation Day.” Every year the local Christian radio station admonishes the saints to bless their pastors with cards and letters. I usually get one or two in spite of the fact that I think the appreciation usually flows in the wrong direction. I think we leaders and pastors too often under-appreciate the people entrusted to our care.

SELF APPRAISAL

   Some beat their church down in an unhealthy sort of self-appraisal. They feel that they aren’t doing enough to make the church grow so they demean its size. This assessment is really a reflection of their feelings about themselves or their own leadership ability. But, it becomes an unintended put-down on the Lord over that pastor’s congregation who said, “I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it” (Matthew 16:18 NLT). Church size is his problem. Caring for the believers is ours.

   Think you have problems, consider Moses. His “congregation” was growing because of illicit sex as the people partied around the golden calf. After the incident Moses was at an all time emotional low. In his conversation with the Lord, he reminded God that the people belonged to Him and that as a human leader Moses was he was just a follower of orders, “Please, if this is really so, show me your intentions so I will understand you more fully and do exactly what you want me to do. Besides, don't forget that this nation is your very own people” (Exodus 33:13).

   You and I need to remember the wisdom in his plea. The people don’t belong to us, so church growth is not our department of worry. Because they belong to him we must tend them according to his direction. The imperative in our lives is to hear and obey his directives 

COMPARISONS SUCK LIFE OUT OF A PEOPLE

  Our problems stem from our continued awareness of other churches. That awareness would be great if we could measure all the factors contributing to their health. Trouble is, most are not visible. There are no ideal standards to measure by.

Ideal Size

There is never an ideal church size. Every community is different. So is each leadership team. Many small towns and big-city neighborhoods can be served, most effectively, by the proliferation of small congregations. Wherever people identify closely with each other in their community they will choose a family-style approach to church.

Adequate Resources

If ideal church size is a myth, so is the concept of “adequate resources.” Many of my friends pastor smaller churches. They can often be heard to say things like, “If we were larger we could afford to do more.” The truth is that larger churches usually have less money in the bank compared to their income stream than do smaller congregations. They may have more dollars in the bank, but they are more vulnerable in a downturn. The same goes for involvement of volunteers. The larger the church the more difficult it is to achieve, say 80 percent participation.

None Better Than Another

None of this is to say that a small congregation is better than a larger one. Only, that you can’t defend a larger church over a small one. All are valuable in God’s kingdom—including the one you pastor.

DO YOU LOVE YOUR PEOPLE?

   Some leaders love their church, but have little concern for its people.

   Your people can sense whether you love them or not. They will feel your dissatisfaction if you are depressed over the size of your assignment. Or they will feel the joy you take from serving and sharing life with them.

   I recently watched a pastor struggle against his assignment. His church grew many times over from a tiny group to a very respectable size. But, he was never happy. He spent almost his entire tenure applying for jobs in larger churches. Finally he landed a position at a troubled church twice the size of the one he led. His people felt unloved and abandoned.

   This man’s successor unknowingly hit a raw nerve when he announced that he was thrilled to lead “these people.” That he felt called by God to “this place.” And, that he could spend his life in “this position.” The people went nuts with joy over their new leader. When asked if they didn’t feel guilty for transferring their affections so quickly they had a telling response. They said, “No, we don’t miss him. We also don’t think he misses us.”

   I wonder what those two pastors will be feeling five years from now. I’m pretty sure the first guy will be just as dissatisfied as ever. Given that he took a troubled church just because it was larger, he may not even be in ministry. I’d bet that the second guy will be joyfully serving in the job he just assumed. I’m also pretty sure that his congregation will grow because he appreciates his people and his role. Growth usually comes to those who are faithful (and happy) in the small places. 

But today turned out special. 

While I was waiting for my buddy to pick up his order I happened to notice a young woman intently reading what looked like a Bible. She was writing notes in the margin and highlighting sentences so I was pretty sure it was a Bible.

Then she bowed and began silently praying. The prayer went on for several minutes. By now I was pointing her out to my friend and kind of rejoicing in the faith of a total stranger. While that was going on she quit praying and pulled out a book to read--one that I had written.

I went over and asked if the book was any good. She told me she was only into chapter two and couldn't say, but did say that she enjoyed it so far. 

I told her that I had written it. Ended up autographing it, etc. But the cool part of the story is that she attends our church, but not during a service where I preach. She had no idea that my wife and I started the church or anything else. I was a total stranger. As we laughed about all this I found out that she is a friend of my daughter-in-law. 

Small world, filled with Jesus--a very pleasant connection!

Cornerstone Community Church, pastored by Yang Tuck Yoong was started in 1989 and has grown to more than 3,000 people worshipping in 12 services each weekend.

They are a missionary church. Four meetings are in English, the others in foreign languages. By the way, though most Singaporians are of Chinese descent, English is the national language. They invited me a year ago in hopes of multiplying their 70 overseas churches to 1000 in the pastor's lifetime. These folks have vision.

On this trip I preached in church and spoke in their School of Leadership. It was fun to speak to people who are really doing the ministry.

But what impressed me most was how much I learned from Pastor Yang during the time we spent together (eating the best Chinese food on the planet).

Pastor Yang is much more strategic in his thinking than I am. We've always just gone with whatever vision God put in someone's heart when it comes to church planting. At Cornerstone, they are praying for a grand plan and then will pray someone into place as the vision unfolds.

If the time there wasn't enough fun, I returned home to preach about Priscilla, Aquilla, Apollos and Paul. 

If Apollos hadn't been willing to learn from P & A, his ministry would have never fully blossomed. Paul had meager results in Corinth, but Apollos was able to build strongly on Paul's foundation. Meanwhile, Paul was in Ephasus building a movement upon the foundation layed there by Apollos. 

Life in the Lord is good when we can join hands in ministry...

Shawn said that his congregation has become a haven for single-moms and their kids whom he sees as the widows and orphans of the modern world. Many are Okinawan women whose American husband has left them either on deployment or through divorce.

The church has built a strong balance between men and women with men taking a strong role in leadership. 

It is the men's approach to ministering to women that caught my attention. Shawn says that women used to come to church looking for what he calls 3 "C" men--that is men who were calm, cool and collected. This is especially true of women hoping to marry (I believe the church should be a mating ground and that pastors should pray for this, actively).

But, this church has moved from 3 Cs to 4 Cs. The men have decided to lead by serving. they are Cleaning, Cooking, Caring for children and Christ centered. And they do all of this in a practical manner; in a way that disciples men into servant leadership in church and at home.

Men figure big in the leadership of this church. But they also volunteer to serve during an after-service discipleship time for the ladies. During this time, men clean up the church, cook barbecue, care for the children while the ladies have discipleship--and all this is done in a manner where the pastor is teaching them Christlike qualities during the process.

I've never seen anything like this. And, it is effective. This is a military/local congregation and the US military produces many broken marriages between servicemen and Okinawan women, usually the product of culture and language barriers. But the church has proven stellar at healing broken marriages. As a result the word is spreading, "If your marriage is in trouble go to Noah Community Church..." 

By the way, the church name comes from the concept of Noah providing a lifeline of hope during dark days. This church plant is a strong and healthy lifeline to hope. I want to teach the 4 Cs to our own guys...

This is a very productive time for us. It helps build unity into our staff. But more important is the atmosphere of challenge we've built into this time. We each challenge each other to stretch vision.

We normally spend Tuesday mornings in staff discipleship. This goes for about three hours each week and those are the most important hours of my working week. Outside my family, discipling our staff is the most important function in my life--more important than sermon prep, etc. This is where we keep getting leaders to plant churches.

Lots of pastors are into teambuilding. But much of that revolves around fun and staff outings or retreats. Yet, the master asked us to make disciples. He also spent massive amounts of time with twelve primary leaders, and more time with just three. 

Somehow most pastors seem to tradeoff Jesus' example for the flavor-of-the-month, in terms of books and current examples of success. Yet, in the long-term, those who make disciples are those who build movements. Think in terms of John Wesley, etc.

I submit that the most enduring investment you can make is that of making disciples of primary leaders in your team. If you have a paid staff, those people should be your top priority...

The book is a little hard to find. An Amazon search brought up a dozen ways to buy the movie but didn't list the book. I had to narrow my search to books in order to find it.

I can understand Amazon since so many people are into video. But they are selling us all short because the film (one of my favorites) simply does no justice to the book or actual history. 

For starters the king was a far more godly man than we see in the movie. Their relationship was far deeper than portrayed in the movie with the two men often meeting three times a week. The king, as a disciple, spent an hour a day doing excercises to stop the stammering. The list goes on.

The wondrous thing about the whole book is the accuracy of the subtitle. The full title is "The King's Speech: How One Man Saved The British Monarchy." At a time when Brits were losing faith in their system and themselves they faced their greatest challenge--Adolph Hitler. I personally don't get the whole "royal" thing, but they do and they needed their king as a symbol of strength in those dark days. While a stammerer would appear week, they got just the opposite. The book depicts Lionel Logue equipping King George VI to speak well long before he became king. When the darkness fell the man was already prepared.

The very cool thing is that most of the world will never hear of Lionel Logue aside from the movie and most will forget him in a very short while. But he materially contributed to the destruction of the Nazis and the freedom we enjoy today.

His life was amplified in the life of his chief disciple. Wish we could each say that about our own lives.