World Missions & Evangelism, Inc.

Dear Friend of Honduras Church Planting Movement Project, Happy New Year. Thanks for all your faithful support and prayers this year. Just a reminder that we are now in the last week of the year and December 31 is our last chance to donate to HCPM and receive tax credit for 2010. We appreciate all of your prayers and gifts this year. God has blessed in a wonderful way and we are expecting even greater things in 2011. You are an important part of this ministry. You can give on our cause page online, or you may send a donation by mail to: WME P. O. Box 790 Benton, KY 42025 For 2010 tax credit, all gifts must be postmarked by December 31, 2010. Thanks again and may this be your most blessed Holiday ever! David Parish

Merry Christmas to all from World Missions and Evangelism, Inc. God has been so good to us this year, and we would like to give praise to Him for His many blessings to us and to those involved in the Honduras Church Planting Movement project. This year the geographic area of where the project was involved has expanded greatly. Last year at this time, Honduras was coming out of nearly 6 months of governmental crisis that had impacted our work as well. Today peace and stability have been reestablished (although the nation still has many problems). As an example of the works expansion: 3 years ago: December 2007 - The strategy coordinator team was preparing to begin the project, no work had begun. 2 years ago: December 2008 - The team had begun work in 5 departments of Honduras, but with no multiplication yet. 1 year ago: December 2009- The work had been hampered by nearly 6 months of government crisis, but the project was working both directly and catalytically in 6 or 7 departments ...

I think that the most frequently asked question I have had as I share about the Honduras project and CPM is "Will CPM work in the United States?" Here are some thoughts on that subject. 1. My first answer is yes. Someone might say, why are we not seeing cpm here yet then? My response is that we need a bit of historical perspective on this. Let me put it this way: 50 years ago, there was not cpm anywhere on the planet earth. I am not saying God was not working. There are always places of kingdom advance and revival and great harvests. 50 years ago we were talking about "Revival" and "Church Growth" and "People Movements", but not "Church Planting Movements". According to David Garrison's intitial books, a Church Planting Movement is: a rapid and multiplicative increase of indigenous churches planting churches within a given people group or population segment. Using this as a very general definition (one that is currently bei...

I want to thank everyone who prayed for Mario, one of our church planting coaches. We put the prayer request out online and a number of people prayed for him. Here is what happened: Mario and Paco, one of our 2 men CPM teams (Luke 10), specifically the team we call team 4, has just been deployed into a new department of Honduras. They are based in the city of Danli in the department of El Paraiso. They are just beginning the process of looking for persons of peace and making the relational contacts that will result in new Discovery Bible Studies. On December 13, Mario was on his motorcycle and was the victim of a hit and run incident. A truck hit him, knocking him from the motorcycle onto the road. The truck then sped away. Mario hit his head on the road and for a while, bleeding from the nose and mouth, looked to be possibly seriously hurt. His teammate Paco got him back to their home and gave him some medical attention, then they contacted our Strategy Coordinator, Randy Trav...

Here is a testimony from one of our Honduran team members. This is as current as it gets. This happened in November. This is one of our most effective 2 person cpm coaching teams, 2 Honduran brothers named Jacobo and Adiel. Jacobo is telling this story: One day in the month of November Jacobo and Adiel were in a village called Cosiris, of San Juan , Department of Intibuca. I, Jacobo, was working on my motorcycle when I noticed a young man named Hector, walking towards me. I left what I was doing and rose up to meet him. Hector was a salesman from a village in the department of Lempira. I immediately began to talk with him about the Bible studies we do and began to explain to him how they work. I trained him on the spot on how to do the Bible studies with the Megavox. I then gave him a Megavox. After talking to him for a good long time he invited us to his home. So for two hours we road the motorcycles on horrible, horrible roads until we made it to his village. As...

This is your invitation to get ready for WME's World Mission Conference which is scheduled for April 8-10 at Oasis Christian Center in Paducah, KY. This conference will be a time for believers, missionaries, and pastors to fellowship and be inspired to do the work of Advancing the Gospel Worldwide. The Theme of our upcoming conference is: MOVING FORWARD Our desire is to see God's work move forward into all unreached areas of the world. Our speakers will be: John Peter Kirubagaran, President of United Evangelical Mission International. Bro. Kirubagaran has been a partner with WME since the mid 1990's and has partnered with WME in planting nearly 200 churches. Beyond this UEMI has planted hundreds of other churches, and has schools and children's homes that are impacting the nation of India. Joyce Lynn Kirubagaran, will also be speaking. Joyce is Bro. John's wife, and is a dynamic preacher of the Word. She is also the founder of the Talitha Cumi ministry, which is imp...

To all the blog readers, my apologies for the delay in an update. I am just now getting back to the blog after the trip to Honduras. We (businessman Caleb Gentry and I) had a marvelous time in Tegucigalpa. We went to participate in a conference of missionaries in Tegus. I was able to share CPM testimonies and some principles on Friday and Saturday of last week. Missionaries representing 8 ministries were present and several have expressed interest in further information on CPM. This was our first effort to begin an informal network or consortium of missionaries/ministries that would be interested in being catalyzed in CPM principles for the ultimate goal of multiple CPMs in Honduras and Central America. Thanks to all our prayer base members who held this time up to the Lord. On Saturday morning, our first session was a prayer time for Honduras and Central America. The participants spent time calling out to God for revival and the reaching of this region for the Kingdom of God. ...

The month of November is here and our HCPM project continues to move forward. There are 2 specific areas where we need our intecessors to focus this month as God opens doors for the advance of the work. On November 11, I will be traveling to Tegusigalpa, the capital of Honduras, to speak at a conference of Missionaries. Workers from around Honduras will be gathered to be encouraged and taught. This will be the annual conference of the Fellowship in Honduras (connected with the Full Gospel Fellowship of Churches and Ministers, Intl. based in Dallas TX). The director, missionary John Mattica, has been a long time friend. Also traveling with me will be businessman Caleb Gentry, who will be looking at ways business can assist mission in Honduras. The conference and the subsequent speaking opportunity will be on the 12th through the 14th and then Caleb and I will be traveling home. So you can see that it is a very quick trip, but I hope a very significant one. During the conferenc...

One of the things that has characterized my life is reading. One of WME's missionaries, Michael Goodnight, was here at our office this month, and we were talking about hobbies etc. I told him that my only hobby was reading. I am an inveterate reader. But until fairly recently, there were not many books that would really explain CPM strategy, results, and theory. That is probably because most people involved in CPMs are active practitioners rather than academics. Thankfully, the dearth of literature about cpm is beginning to change and here are my top 5 recommendations for those who want to know more. 1. David Watson's blog: www.davidlwatson.org I want to start here because there is such a wealth of information here that you can launch from here to learn almost everything you want to know. David Watson is, I think, the leading practitioner, trainer, and mentor in CPM. His work 20 years ago with the Budjpuri in India was really foundational to CPM as we are working with it tod...

The Honduras CPM project is moving forward. I was just visiting with our Strategy Coordinator, Randy Travis. The project is moving into new territories as our team works diligently to take the Discovery Bible Studies into new geographic areas. Let me explain our 2 main thrusts into Honduras and then share how far the impact of the HCPM project is reaching as we have entered the last quarter of the year. The HCPM project is divided into 2 complementary strategies: The Direct Project and The Catalytic Partners. The Direct Project involves our team that was recruited and trained in the department of Copan in 2008. Beginning in late 2006, WME had laid the groundwork for this outreach for nearly 2 years. From September 2006 through July 2008, out strategy coordinator team had formulated the strategic plan, gained training, developed our access ministry tactics, obtained the location in Copan for our training base, and recruited and trained our Honduran team. They launched into the ...

About 30 years ago there was a bestselling book called "The Battle for the Bible" by Harold Lindsell. It was a powerful defense of Inerrancy. Let me state my position on this....I believe in an inerrant and infallible Bible as the Word of God and if any other in- words are invented that suggest a strong position on the authority of the Word of God, I will believe in that too! I agree with Jack Taylor, who in one of his books said that he held the strongest view of the authority of scripture that he knew of. The enemy of our souls has been fighting the Bible for many years, but has completely failed to stop the unstoppable Word of God. However the Battle for the Bible is not just a theological battle concerning inerrancy or infallibility. The main Battle for the Bible has to do with its effect in our lives and in the Kingdom of God's advance on the earth. In CPM, and in reality in all aspects of the Christian Life, the Bible's authority is critical. Last Sunday,...

Mark 9:41- "For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward." Reading this passage the other day was very enlightening. I had always looked at this saying (and the parallel saying in Matthew 10:42) as showing how the smallest ministry to someone would be rewarded by the Lord. I am not denying the truth of that concept by any means. However, for the first time, I looked at the context of this saying of Jesus in Mark. Here is what was happening. The disciples of Jesus noticed someone casting out demons in Jesus' name and this person was not part of their group. He was an "outsider" to the 12 disciples. John came and reported to Jesus that they had told this man to stop doing that, "because he does not follow us". (Ironically, just a little earlier in verse 28 of this same chapter, the disciples asked "Why could we not cast it out?") Jesus replie...

Dear Friends, Prayer is critical to the success of every Church Planting Movement. Once again, I want to encourage all our readers to become a part of the HCPM intercessory team by connecting directly with our prayer coordinator, Tom Geerdes. You can join the prayer team by sending an email to : geerdestom@yahoo.com and telling him that you would like to be a part of the WME online prayer chain. Thanks so much for your prayers. It seems like September becomes a time of travel for our team members each year. Please remember us all for traveling mercies in the next few weeks especially. Here are our plans at present. Randy, Linda, Keith, and Juanita Travis have driven from Honduras to South Mexico in the last few days where they will be involved in giving more training in cpm principles to the folks there. Then on the 16th of this month, Randy, Linda, and Keith will be flying to the US for a month in order to rest a bit and handle some business, as well as a time of strategic plann...

John 7: 17- "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority." Jesus was teaching in the temple at the Feast of Tabernacles and some people marveled at His teaching and were wondering if he really had the authority to say what he was teaching. His response was that if anyone was willing to actually do God's will, they would have the insight into the teaching itself. I have found that that principle is true today as well. I think that one thing that has happened in my life, which has been a pleasant surprise since I began to focus on becoming an Obedience Based Disciple, is that I have come to actually Understand parts of Scripture that I previously did not, or perhaps have gained a deeper understanding of some parts that I may have only had an inkling of earlier. Especially the 3 Column Bible study method has impacted not only my actions (the ultimate goal) but also my understanding. I ha...

This is one of the most important announcements we have made with respect to the Honduras Church Planting Movement Project. We are asking for people to join the prayer team for the HCPM. In every Church Planting Movement in the world, prayer is the most fundamental critical element. I have stated in other blogs that prayer is the first critical element on every list I have ever seen. As our team works diligently in Honduras, they are in need of intense prayer cover. Here is how you can be a direct part of what is happening. I have appointed Tom Geerdes, one of WME's board members, to be our Prayer Coordinator. He will be in contact with Randy Travis, our Strategy Coordinator on the ground in Honduras. He will be receiving prayer requests from the team and passing them on to our prayer network members via email and in other ways. Tom hopes to find local prayer coordinators in partnering churches as well. These local church prayer coordinators can help mobilize their church ...

The book of Romans ends with these words: "Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith--to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen." (Romans 16:25-27) The epistle of Paul to the Romans may be the richest vein of Gold in the whole Bible. Rediscovery of its truth has been the cause of Revival and Reform throughout the history of Christianity. But in my study of this book over the years, I have not spent near as much time in the 2nd half of the book as in the first half. And even in the 2nd half, I have tended to ignore the last chapter (mostly greetings etc.). But not long ago, as I read the last 3 verses of the book, I began to realize what a powerful statement of God...

At this time, there are 3 things that we are focusing on in the HCPM project. They are Multiplication, Mentoring,and Sustainability. MULTIPLICATION Our first priority is multiplication of Discovery Bible studies in Honduras and Latin America. We are doing this in 2 ways. First we are focusing primary attention on the primary project area in Western Honduras. Here is where our team is located and doing the work. We have studies in 6 Departments (states) of Honduras. We have somewhere around 85 studies here. Most are first and second generation studies, and some are third generation studies. Our team consists of a Strategy Coordination team (Randy and Linda Travis, Keith and Juanita Travis), and 9 full time Honduran workers. The Honduran workers are Church Planting Coaches, who are engaging in access ministries, finding persons of peace, beginning first generation studies, and mentoring leaders to begin 2nd gen studies and beyond. The 2nd way we are multiplying is that we are catalyzing ...

Finally....back to the blog. I just returned from Honduras and saw a very encouraging picture as I met with our team there. The last year has been a time of ups and downs, breakthrough and warfare in the Honduras Church Planting Movement project. Currently we have a direct, Commissioned project that our team is leading in Western Honduras, and 3 other groups that we are attempting to indirectly Catalyze in both Eastern Honduras and Southern Mexico. Numbers are constantly in a flux, but we believe that there may be as many as 239 Discovery Bible studies happening in all 4 groups. That is about 83 groups (either begun or about to begin) in our primary project, about 14 groups with the Olancho full gospel churches, about 70 groups with the Christian Reformed churches, and about 72 groups (some are training groups with believers) in Southern Mexico. (Remember, numbers are constantly subject to change. Sometimes a study begins but does not endure, meanwhile more studies are being birthed co...

To the readers of the blog, apologies for the delay in an update. I have been traveling a lot and actually am in between trips right now. Here is what is happening. On June 4, Eric (one of our WME missionaries focused on our project in Indonesia) and I traveled to the Atlanta area to attend a conference on Islam. We were powerfully impacted with reports and information about what God is doing to reach people of Muslim background. I travelled from there to California on June 5 and was there until June 19. Here about 30 people focused on church planting movement strategy worldwide gathered for 2 weeks of strategy, Bible study, and prayer. This meeting represented partnering organizations who are focused on cpm in the nations and reported amazing things from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and even the United States. Altogether, the group reported over 12,000 churches planted in the last 5 years. Praises to God and celebration for what He has done abounded. The meetings and individual discus...

Jerry Rankin and Ed Stetzer have come out with an outstanding book called "Spiritual Warfare and Missions". This book fills a real need in the Missions community. It is published by B&H BOOKS and is a sequel to "Spiritual Warfare" by Rankin. Rankin's first book on this subject is an outstanding look at the warfare of every believer, filled with examples from the mission field. In this new book, Rankin and Stetzer are focusing on the areas of warfare that are specifically related to Missions. They identify 8 strategies of Satan to undermine the World Mission enterprise. 1. Keep Nations Closed to the Gospel 2. Keep People Groups Hidden from Our Awareness 3. Persecution of Believers and the Church 4. Convince Christians Missions Is Optional 5. Erode the Authority of God's Word 6. Distort the Call of God 7. Erode the Faith of God's People 8. Destroy the Spiritual Vitality of the Church I am still reading this book and am being enlightened and inspired by...

In the works that God is doing worldwide that are resulting in church planting movements, there are 2 characteristics that I think are very prominent. They comprise one of the critical elements of cpm, namely, the authority of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit are all that are needed to begin. I have called this the 1:8 factor and based it on Joshua 1:8 and Acts 1:8 which demonstrate the vital importance of the Word and the Spirit respectively. The Word (Scripture) and the Spirit of God are the source of authority and power in every church planting movement (and according to a new video, The unreached: Did you know? that can be accessed on Youtube, there are 20 plus cpms in India, 20 plus cpms in China, and 16 plus cpms in Africa). By focusing on the Word and the Spirit we are looking at the principle from God's side: it's His Word and His Spirit. But let's look at it from the human side. From our perspective, we need attitudes of Absolute Confidence and Total Dependence....

The Honduras church planting movement project is moving forward this year with much work and activity of our Honduran team. I called it "boots on the ground" work in a blog in April. A team of 4 will be going down to visit the project in July. It will include myself in order to do on the ground strategy work with Randy Travis, our team leader. Also, Ben Holloway will be making his 2nd trip to our Honduran project. Ben is an evangelist who does much international work and is helping us network and connect with other churches and groups in the US and abroad. Brian Shelton will be coming from Oasis Christian Center in Paducah, KY. Oasis is one of our partnering churches, and is the leading supporter of the Honduras project to date. Finally the team will be rounded out by Larry Hardin, who is a WME missionary to Kenya. Larry and his wife Barbara, have a tremendous ministry there which leads a multi-campus Bible training center. It was with them that we helped conduct a ...

Here is a preview of some of the things we'll be involved in this spring and summer as the year 2010 progresses. I will be doing a lot of traveling relative to church planting movement work in the next several months. May 1-3 I will be in the Minneapolis area to speak at a church about WME's mission work with a dear friend who I have known for many years, Pastor Gary Palermo. I am looking forward to visiting with he and his family and meeting the people at the church where he pastors. May 17-18 I will be in Denver with the board of directors of UEMI on which I serve. UEMI is the ministry of John Peter Kirubagaran who has been a longtime partner with WME and with whom we have worked together in various projects over the years, resulting in the planting of nearly 200 churches. We are looking forward to being with Cornerstone Bible Church for a missions service on May 23. This wonderful church in Crofton, KY and its pastor, Kris Page, is a great encouragement to me and a bles...

In this blog, I want to give a quick update to our readers on the Honduras project and the situation in Honduras. As you know, last year was a very trying time for the nation of Honduras. For 5 months, Honduras passed through a political crisis that at times looked as if it would take the country to the brink of civil war. Meanwhile, the work of the Honduras CPM project continued. So here is a report on the state of the nation and the state of the HCPM project. The National Situation. The following report is from our friends in the Cornerstone foundation, another tremendous ministry in Honduras. They have explained the situation is a very succinct way. "On the 27th of January (2010) the day agreed to in the Tegucigalpa Accord, Porfirio Lobo Sosa was inaugurated as president of Honduras. He granted amnesty to Mel Zelaya and others for their political crimes (e.g. treason). The criminal charges (fraud, corruption, etc.), however, still stand. But the day of the inauguration...

Occasionally I teach one of the classes in the Perspectives course. To my readers I would like to highly recommend the Perspectives Class that is sponsored by the U. S. Center For World Mission in Pasadena California. It is really the most life changing class I have ever taken, and it is a privilege to be able to teach one of the lessons. The lesson that I have taught several times is lesson 7 that concerns missions history in the last 2 centuries. I am both inspired and fascinated by the history of the Church and especially by missions history. There is much to be gained from the study of history and in this blog I want to take a generalized look at the entire history of the Church in terms of the structural elements that determine the capacity of the church to multiply. In March, I wrote about the "Obstacles to Church Planting Movements". In that series of 3 blogs we were addressing the hindrances to CPM in the western context, specifically in the USA. I identified 3...

In this week's blog, we want to highlight a new outreach that is in the preparation stages. As our work in Honduras continues, we are now looking at a future project for the advancement of the gospel. We are calling this Project Indonesia. The focus of this project is a people group that is majority Muslim and which we will call the “B” people. Let me give a bit of history about how WME has become involved in this project along with what has been accomplished and the plans for the future. Phase I: Adoption In the early 1990’s, we became aware of an organization called the Adopt A People Clearing House. The focus of the Clearing House was to get churches or mission agencies to adopt one of the over 9,000 unreached people groups in the world today. In very general terms, there are over 13,000 people groups on planet earth. While there are only a few hundred nations on our planet (for example United States, India, etc.) there are multiplied thousands of tribes, ethnic groups, or ...