The Church Planting Program That Became a Filipino Movement

Bethany DuVal • Dec 15, 2021

The students at the Church Planting Institute are a mismatched bunch.

High school dropouts and college professors.

A former gang member and a former aspiring priest.

Mature believers and brand new ones.

But they’re all attending the CPI because they share two things in common.

“It’s basically, do you believe in Christ? Are you passionate about Him enough to invest your life in multiplying for Christ?” says TEAM missionary David Weaver. “And if you are, then … we’ll take you wherever you’re at and disciple you from there.”

This easy entry philosophy might not lend the Filipino school much prestige, but the results are undeniable.

David and his co-founder, Filipino pastor Leonardo Diawa, started CPI with just 12 students. Twenty-five years later, that class has multiplied into a church planting network, growing across the Philippines and into the world.

A Simple but Radical Training Program

Early in their careers, David and Leonardo were assigned to each other as church planting partners.

Leonardo had been planting one church after another since he was 17 years old. David and his wife had just finished their first church planting assignment and were realizing they needed a more efficient model for planting churches.

“We started praying about how to train Filipinos, to … build off of each church that’s planted instead of, you know, just starting [from scratch],” David says.

Their plan for a three-year program was simple but radical: The students would watch Leonardo and David do ministry, they’d attend classes — and they’d start doing their own ministry right away.

It was scary at first. Some of these students had only been believers for a year or two. But because the students were immersed in ministry immediately, they could ask practical and theological questions as they came up.

“It really helped accelerate their growth,” David says. “And instead of, you know, stashing everything in a notebook for four years from now, they were using it right away.”

It was an echo of how Jesus did ministry. The disciples watched Jesus do ministry and were then sent out on their own. When they came back, they told Jesus about the problems they faced. He gave them more teaching and then sent them out again, better equipped.

As the program grew, Leonardo began pairing new students with older students and alumni who could guide them on a continual basis. When one student has a special event at their church plant, a flock of other students comes to help. When students graduate, they keep coming to classes — and bringing disciples of their own.

“It is really easy to plant a church because we have so many forces — the whole CPI joined together,” Leonardo says.

‘The Church Should Not Stop’

One of Leonardo’s joys has been watching his own son Jerry go through the CPI program. Jerry was 10 when he first started asking his mom how to share the Bible with his friends.

“From that time, my father realized that I have a calling, and my father involved me in many areas in ministries,” Jerry says.

Jerry enrolled in CPI after high school and jumped into ministry along with his classmates. The program did more than teach him theology. He learned how to minister and support other believers in ministry. He built a community.

Jerry established one church with the help of other CPI students. Then, after 10 years, one the church members invited him to a birthday party in another community.

“I preached the Gospel, and many people listened and wanted me to go back,” Jerry says.

Jerry went back and continued preaching the Gospel. He gathered a team of CPI students his and another church, and they worked together to plant yet another church. Then he invited members of the new church to join CPI and started training them as well.

“The mission is not only will I plant a church but that the whole church will plant. … The church should not stop,” Jerry says.

CPI founders David Weaver and Leonardo Diawa emphasize building relationships as part of their disciple making efforts.

CPI founders David Weaver and Leonardo Diawa emphasize building relationships as part of their disciple making efforts.

Building a Family of Church Planters

Jerry is now one of many CPI pastors who are training their own members to plant churches.

Traditionally, churches have scraped together money to send promising young people to Bible college. The hope is that the students will graduate and come back to invest in their home church. Instead, they often find salaried pastor roles at wealthier churches.

CPI fixes this problem by keeping students local and not charging tuition. The teachers travel and, more recently, teach online as well.

The program’s flexibility allows students to continue in their regular jobs while they study. Their pastors continue to mentor them. They partner with other local church planters. The church plants grow naturally out of other local churches, rather than as the product of a distant Bible school.

“Maybe that is the reason why we are committed [to each other],” Jerry says. “We are like family.”

Part of CPI's success comes from Filipinos starting churches and leading their own ministries.

Part of CPI’s success comes from Filipinos starting churches and leading their own ministries.

Sending Filipinos as Missionaries

In 1995, Leonardo and David were encouraged to look forward to 2020 and draw a picture of their vision for CPI.

They drew a picture of a meeting with church leaders from every church in two provinces. The leaders had been trained through CPI, and they were laying hands on a missionary family, preparing to send them out.

In retrospect, that vision was short-sighted. They accomplished it in fewer than 20 years and now have CPI-trained disciple-makers in Dubai, Canada and Taiwan. Established denominations are asking if they can do the same style of training.

David and Leonardo pray that more and more churches will adopt this training — not only in the Philippines, but around the world.

“It’s simple, it’s relational, it’s not heavy on program,” David says. “It’s just living with people, doing ministry with people and then helping them to help others do ministry with the same resources.”


By Suzanne Pearson 08 Mar, 2024
Through God-ordained partnerships and creative connections, TEAM worker Keith Moore sees the global Church advancing in amazing ways. In the global missions landscape, a phrase that comes up often is “from everywhere, to everywhere.” God is calling His global Church in literal new directions, as He raises up cross-cultural workers to be sent from places that were once on the receiving end of missions work. We call this movement “polycentric sending.” TEAM workers Dawn and Keith Moore have seen first-hand this transition taking place. Their story involves the unlikely but beautiful intersection of Charlotte, North Carolina; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Memphis, Tennessee...and beyond. The Path to Honduras Keith and Dawn joined TEAM in 1991 and served as church planters for nine years in Bogota, Colombia. After safety concerns precipitated their return to the States in 1999, they knew they wanted to continue serving in Latin America. The Moores felt called to Honduras but wanted to connect with a strong missional church to help send them. The Lord orchestrated a collaboration with Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. “Some people asked, ‘Why Honduras? Missionaries have been there for 100 years. It’s already reached,’” Keith says. “But there’s a whole section of Latin America that had not been reached - the upper crust.” Keith goes on to explain that he and Dawn felt called to reach college-educated professionals in Honduras – a ministry vision that resonated with the missional goals of Bellevue Baptist. Impact and Growth With the support of this new church partnership as well as another sending church in Birmingham, Alabama, the Moores embarked on their next adventure. Keith and Dawn started Impacto Honduras Church from scratch, and in less than 20 years, the church grew into four locations with 1600 total members. The Moores and other TEAM workers also created a “Bible school” type training program to help professionals who feel a call to ministry to make that transition. Throughout this period of explosive growth, church partnerships played an integral role. “It’s such a different vision when you have a church that says, ‘OK, this is our deal, we want to make this happen,’” Keith explains. “They helped us with everything. They took away every single obstacle to growth. Every time we needed something, they were there.” In 2017, the Moores once again found themselves on the verge of another decision. Was it time to leave Honduras? “I had no desire to leave,” Keith recalls. “People were coming to Christ every week! It was just so amazing.” However, back in the U.S., Keith and Dawn’s parents were in their 80s and would soon be in need of more care. “We realized that either we would leave in a crisis, or we would leave strategically,” says Keith. The couple began to implement a careful succession plan. By the time they left, the four churches were established with strong, Honduran leadership ready to carry on the work of the Gospel.
By Suzanne Pearson 23 Feb, 2024
Justin Burkholder, pictured here with his wife Jenny and their daughters Isabella, Olivia, and Zoey, has recently been named as TEAM’s next International Director. On February 19, 2024, with much excitement and gratitude to the Lord, TEAM announced that Justin Burkholder will become our organization’s new International Director, effective July 1, 2024. Justin, who is currently TEAM’s Executive Director of Global Ministry, will assume his new role upon the retirement of the current International Director, Dave Hall. ( Read the full press release here. ) We sat down recently with Justin to learn a little more about his background, his family, and the journey that has led him to TEAM. Q: Tell us a little bit about your “origin story” - Where did you grow up? What was your family like? A: I grew up in Mexico City as a missionary kid. My parents were focused on church planting. We were very close as a family. Both of my parents are still alive, and my dad serves as a pastor in southern Florida. I have one brother who is a pastor in Wisconsin, and the most special individual in my family is my sister, Amber. She was born with a very severe case of cerebral palsy and is entirely dependent on my mother...who is extraordinary! The three most impactful forces that have shaped who I am (outside of God’s grace) are growing up in Mexico, having parents who loved and planted churches, and sharing life with someone with a severe disability. My parents belonged at the time to a church and denomination that came with quite a bit of legalism and performance-oriented Christianity. Grace was a challenging concept to grasp. While I had an awareness of my sin and need for redemption, it wasn’t until I attended Moody Bible Institute that I began to grasp the fullness of God’s grace and His delight in His children. I have continued learning and trusting in the Gospel through formal education, like completing my M.Div., and through spiritual practices in community. Learning the Gospel and believing the Gospel has been a daily exercise. The Gospel is as beautiful and multi-faceted as a diamond! At an individual level, it is simple enough for us to live convinced that “Jesus loves me, this I know.” At a corporate level, it becomes the foundation that forms and informs our life as a spiritual family. At a cosmic level, it is redemption that reaches as far as the curse is found. It is hard to even grasp the multiplicity of goodness found in the Good News. Q: Share a little bit about your family life now. What does a typical day look like in the Burkholder household? A: My wife Jenny is my high-school sweetheart! She brings joy and kindness wherever she goes. She’s the best listener I’ve ever met, and we love spending time together. We have three daughters. Isabella is ten, Olivia is seven, and Zoey is four. Each of the girls is unique and has taught us a lot in our process of following Jesus together. We like to go out on walks and go to the park together. Once a month I try to get some alone time with each of my daughters which usually includes bowling or trampolines. A typical day in the Burkholder house starts around 5:00am. Because of traffic here in Guatemala City, we have to leave early for school. After school, the girls come home to different activities - sometimes swimming class, sometimes piano lessons. Four or five nights a week we have dinner together where we usually talk about our high and low moments of the day. On weekends, we enjoy time together, playing outside, or watching sports together. Go Cubs and Go Buckeyes! Q: What are your interests and hobbies? If you have the day off, what are you likely to be up to? A: I enjoy physical activity, running, strength-training and following sports. I also love music and, truth be told, am a bit snobby about my taste in music! I also am a very curious person and love reading just about anything that passes through my hands. A day off is usually an opportunity for time with family. Jenny and I like to cook something interesting together on our days off. Often there is time for some reading and watching some type of athletic event. Q: How did God lead you to TEAM? A: My wife and I were working in the Chicago suburbs. I was a youth pastor and she was a Spanish teacher. When we got married, we had already sensed God’s direction to serve cross-culturally, but it was a matter of discerning when and where. There was a driving desire in me to see a church deeply love the Scriptures and at the same time, be deeply engaged in loving and serving their city and the most vulnerable among them. As God directed our paths, we visited a variety of places and made some friends in Guatemala who opened up the path for us to serve here. While we were exploring, we knew that the International Director of an organization called TEAM happened to go to our church, so I decided I should probably invite him out for breakfast - his name was Charlie Davis. Charlie was extremely thoughtful, passionate about disciple-making, and very gracious in creating space for us as we stepped into this endeavor. Charlie connected me with Steve Dresselhaus, a fellow TEAM global worker who was at that time serving as the Senior Director for the Americas. I cannot express the debt that I owe Steve. He walked closely with me in the transition, encouraged courageous thinking about the church and her role in society, and blasted open the doors for us to serve in Guatemala. After meeting Steve, we spent some days praying about joining TEAM. One thing I will never forget – one night during the process, I found myself wide awake in the middle of the night. A peace like I have seldom experienced passed over me confirming that we should join TEAM. There is no doubt in my mind that God tied all of these pieces together to bring us into the TEAM family and community. Q: What roles have you held in TEAM? What have been the milestones in those roles? A: The most important role I have held in TEAM is that of a global worker. God in His grace has allowed us to help plant two churches here in Guatemala, serve in leadership development, counseling, and discipleship. Our greatest joy has been found walking with those who are learning to follow Christ more deeply. I served as the Ministry Area Leader in Guatemala from 2016 to 2019. We helped to establish and lead this ministry area as it grew from just four global workers to over 15. I then served as Senior Director for Mexico and Central America from 2019 to 2021, Regional Executive Director for the Americas in 2021 and 2022, and then transitioned to the role of Executive Director of Global Ministry which I’ll continue in until the end of June. Q: What do you love most about being a part of TEAM? Why TEAM rather than other organizations or job opportunities? A: The TEAM community is full of people who have faithfully served God’s mission and have given up a lot to do so. It is a privilege to know many of our global workers and be counted among them. I am also fascinated by the fact that TEAM has existed now for more than 130 years! There is something to be said about the resilience and faithfulness of an organization that has continued to impact the world for so long. The rest of our conversation with Justin will be coming soon on blog! We’ll hear more about how God called Justin to the role of International Director, and what Justin sees for the next chapter in TEAM’s work in the global Church.
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