1. Planting churches follows the 2,000-year-old biblical example of Jesus and the early church 

In the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20), Jesus called upon the followers he had invested in to go and make disciples. Implied in Jesus’s charge is the need to invite others to follow Christ necessitating the formation of communities wherein new believers may foster an ever deepening, informed faith, challenged to live out both the Great Commandment and Great Commission. 

2. Planting churches is the most effective means of evangelism 

New churches are the most effective means of reaching non-Christians in any culture. Of course, there must be a core of Christ followers before any church may be planted. Often, however, if new believers come to faith in the absence of a supportive “community” they lose heart and give up quickly. A new church plant, even if only comprised of 3 or 4 individuals, gives significant encouragement, mutual accountability, and a built-in mechanism of care and instruction. 

A new church plant has also proven to be far more attractive to the “spiritually curious” within any culture. An established church will see 90%* of new attendees coming from another church. In contrast, nearly 42%* of new church attendees in a church plant report no previous church affiliation.

The bottom line: Most church plants baptize more new believers and create more new disciples than already existing churches.

*According to a Lifeway Study

The conventional model for a mission agency to plant churches in faraway places has been to select a church planting couple (typically non-indigenous), to train them in language and culture, and then to send them into a foreign place to begin fostering relationships and creating projects with the hope of developing a church.  In some cases, a church was planted, but too often, the result was disappointment. 

The methodology of Crescent Project begins with the assumption that God provides the potential, passion and brilliance on the ground well before we get there. Our initial task is to find where God is already moving and determine if we can come alongside that effort.

Many are doing good things in the name of Christ in some very hard places. We are, however, constrained to find the most effective, indigenous expressions and capable leaders with whom to partner.

In some cases, we will identify church planters and supply the necessary training and resources. In other cases, we will discover where church planters are being trained in-country by solid indigenous leaders who provide not only training but local accountability.

The strength of this option is obvious coupled with the fact that they are raising up individuals whose heart language and culture already match the target group—a major deterrent to success of previous models.