Church PLANT Manual

Introduction • xiii

Though the kingdom of darkness has been defeated, Satan and his minions keep billions of souls trapped in spiritual bondage. Not desiring that any should perish, but that all should be set free by the power of the gospel, Jesus gave a mission charge to His Church, to get up, get out and to move forward and multiply. This is the essential task of the Church – Missions – the sending of authorized (identified, equipped, commissioned) individuals to go into unchurched communities to proclaim the Gospel, win converts, make disciples of the converts, and gather them together to form functioning, multiplying churches that will bear the fruit of the Kingdom of God in that community. This Church PLANT Manual is the equipping resource used to coach church plant teams in the foundational principles of planting healthy churches in communities experiencing poverty, here and around the world. The Lord will return soon, and His reward will be with Him. Until then, let’s not shrink back from our essential task of identifying, equipping, and commissioning laborers to bring

good news leading to new churches being planted. “. . . not of those who shrink back . . .” (Heb. 10:39) Rev. Bob Engel Director of Church Planting March 28, 2024