Everyone wants to go to the cool places in the United States. The New Yorks, Seattles, Miamis, and Los Angeleses. There are many unreached people groups living in such locations. And we must continue to go to these places.
But the cost of living in such communities prohibits some church planting teams from long-term sustainability.
How about considering the small to mid-size U. S. cities and communities? The uncool places? There is a substantial Bosnian population living in Bowling Green, Kentucky. And remember Bubba from Bayou La Batre, Alabama in Forrest Gump? Well, about one-third of the population of that community is from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.
The strangers next door are living in the uncool places. This makes reaching them even more challenging. For now, not only do they remain hidden to most churches, but they are in the communities rarely considered by most church planting teams. Few want to plant churches in Des Moines or Lincoln among unreached people groups.
We may find that labors in smaller communities–where no one is serving–are not only fruitful but also more sustainable. And with technology and air transportation, those migrating to the uncool communities remain in regular contact with Asia and Africa. And that is very cool.
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Apostolic Church Planting released last week. I hope you get a copy. Read what David Hesslegrave and George Patterson had to say about the book.
We are a small church in SE WI…on paper our town of 9,000 is 30% Hispanic probably higher…we are talking with a Hispanic church planter…but really need help on our worship team…also their is small Albanian population that flies under the radar…so much more could be done…
Thanks for sharing, Todd.