‘We Don’t Want to be Heroes’: One Couple’s Church Planting Strategy

Brianna Langley • Oct 09, 2018

“The word that sticks in my mind is walls ,” TEAM missionary David North told his wife, Kathy when they scouted out the location of their last church plant. “There are cement walls everywhere, it’s industrial, it’s dirty, it’s gray, but there are also spiritual walls.”

When David and Kathy moved to the Filipino city of Mandaue they could feel an overwhelming darkness. But still, they moved.

David and Kathy North have been church planters for over 20 years and have successfully planted several churches. They are champions for growing the Kingdom. But it hasn’t always been an easy road. Several times throughout their career, they have been on the brink of throwing in the towel entirely. But the Lord brought them through each season of weariness with gained insights and new understanding.

Now, after years of prayer, trial and error , they have broken their church planting strategy down into a simple, biblical formula. And today, they’re sharing it with you!

Phase One: Research, Research, Research

When the Norths plant a church, it all starts with research.

“For us, every time we finish a church plant in one city, then we do a survey and we do research, and we try to find the cities and towns that are the least evangelized, ” David says. “And we don’t want to be in a city where we’re competing with other churches.”

The Norths chose to build their last church plant in Mandaue, a city on the island of Cebu , where the population was less than 1 percent evangelical.

Even fellow believers warned David and Kathy about taking the Gospel to Mandaue, calling it the “graveyard of missions,” because missionaries typically only last about two years before giving up.

But the Norths knew God had a harvest waiting among this hard soil. They just needed to find out who He wanted them to reach.

Phase Two: Who is Your Audience?

Figuring out who exactly they were ministering to contributed hugely to the rapid growth of the Norths’ newest church plant, in the city of Consolacion.

“Consolacion has kind of got two groups of people: There are the original Consolacion people, and then there’s the large number of professional people who have moved here from Cebu City to try and find an area where they can have their own house, because down in Cebu City, it’s completely full,” David says.

The original people of Consolacion speak the island’s local language, Cebuano, and the Christians there worship in small house churches. However, most of the professionals speak English, so that’s the target group David and Kathy chose to center their church plant on — and that affected how they designed their ministry.

“We specifically felt like we should start a church here that caters to professionals, and people who prefer English, so we use mostly English in the services,” Kathy says.

Defining a target audience is the easiest way to spend your energy on the right people.

Phase Three: Building Relationships

Once the Norths have chosen a location and determined their target audience, they immediately start building relationships.

In Consolacion, they focused first on integrating themselves into the community. Then, they started working with a team they brought from their previous church plant.

“So we started up with a few people from our previous church plant who were from this area,” David says. “And we had a team building retreat, and at that, we made a list of ways that we could bridge into people’s lives, to connect with people.”

The Norths and their team made a list of about 50 different ideas, ranging from tennis to civic clubs to jewelry-making. Then, they narrowed the list down to a more realistic number and got to work.

Because they had already done so much research on the area during phase one, they had an idea of which outreach efforts would be most effective.

“But then we also have our evangelism training and our evangelistic Bible study methods,” David says. “We try to train all of the members in how to share the Gospel, how to disciple someone and how to lead an evangelistic Bible study.”

This leads us to another key phase in the Norths’ strategy: Teaching members how to pass on what they’ve learned.

Phase Four: Teach Others to Pass it on

church planting strategy

Discipling and training members of the church plant to share the Gospel with others is a key component of any church planting strategy.

“Starting from day one, when we’re first doing Bible study with people, one of the assignments at the end of the lesson is, ‘What’s something that you learned in this lesson that you can share with someone else this week?’” Kathy says. “So it’s constantly being passed on.”

And now, all these new Christians are building the church plant as they grow in their own faith. They lead Bible studies, evangelism training and worship. Because of how well David and Kathy have equipped them, they’re able to bring people to Christ on their own!

“One of the exciting things, as we’ve been going along, is that I’ve been training a few of the guys in preaching, and they take their turns to preach. And we get together and evaluate who it is, and we talk about the upcoming messages,” David says. “Some of them are really preaching well now!”

Phase Five: What is Your Exit Plan?

Watching a church plant grow is a wonderful feeling — but for church planters like the Norths, it’s also a signal that the time to move on is near. And goodbyes are always bittersweet, even under the best of circumstances.

“But this is what we’re here to do, is to get it started and then move on,” says David.

The final step in the Norths’ strategy is executing their exit plan.

For the Norths, several key elements have to be in place in a church plant before they will leave it , including a locally-led worship team, an established discipleship plan to take new members through, thriving community small groups, a ministry that is financially self-sustaining and trained local leadership , including a pastor.

Every phase of the church plant works toward establishing these pieces. And now, the Consolacion church now has every element except the last one.

Soon, the congregation will be up and running on its own.

A Recipe for Successful Church Plants

“When I was a young missionary, I did burn out several times because I felt like I had to do it. I had to do everything,” David says. “And I wasn’t good at really just enabling and equipping others.”

Now, teaching others how to effectively pass on the Gospel message is David and Kathy’s first priority with every church plant.

And even though it can be exhausting work, there is no greater calling than making disciples among the nations .

“Maybe you’ve heard the phrase, ‘We don’t want to be heroes, we want to be hero-makers.’ And I think that’s so important in church planting,” says Kathy. “Because as church planters, you’re not going to be there forever. It has to be more of them and less of us.”

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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