Church planting

Gary Blanchard writes in the ILink...
The Illinois District welcomed six new church plants in 2008:

Chicago Tamil Church, Mt. Prospecta, at Northwest Assembly of God. Austin Albertraj, pastor. (4/08)a
Living Grace Church, Sunnyland (suburb of Peoria). Andy Brown, pastor. (4/08)
Hilltop Campus Church, Peoria. Led by Kip Perhay. (4/08)
Christ Center of Hope, Chicago.Leeford Boohene, pastor. (9/08) This church was planted in cooperation with the African Assemblies of God.
Bethesda Assemblee du Dieu Haitienne, Mt. Prospect. Seeking a pastor. (9/08)
Living Word Assembly of God, Washington Park. Tommy Smith, pastor. (10/08) This church plant is the result of outreach efforts by Urban Outreach in East St. Louis, IL, where Jay Covert is the lead pastor.

The 2008 Illinois church plants are not only reaching multiple communities and ethnic groups, but also represent a wide variety of church planting efforts. Over the next few months, we’ll highlight each of these new churches. This month we focus on the efforts of one established church to encourage and partner in church planting efforts.

On any given Sunday afternoon, you can walk through the facility of Northwest Assembly of God in Mount Prospect and hear a little bit of heaven. Sunday afternoon at Northwest is similar to what happens in many churches ? the building is filled with the sounds of various ministry groups worshiping and working together. But at Northwest, you’ll also hear the sounds of individuals worshiping in their native Tamil language or in their native Haitian language.

“I love spending Sunday afternoons with these groups,” says Gary Blanchard, Assistant Superintendent. “It’s like being on the mission field. I’ve shared in both services…on the same day…and it’s quite an experience. Both congregations allowed me to speak in English, but in the Haitian service I was also able to bring greetings in French. Obviously the worship and style are different, but you can sense the presence of God.”

Rich Weller is the lead pastor at Northwest Assembly of God. In the past nine years, Rich has helped the church develop a heart and passion for missions that ranks the church as one of the District’s top missions-giving churches. It was a natural response for the church to open their doors to both of these congregations. Both meet on Sunday afternoon, with one meeting in the children’s worship area and the other in the youth area. From time to time, both churches hold special services in the sanctuary.

Austin Albertraj, a native of India, learned all about church planting while working for Dr. David Mohan. This congregation of more than 50 is passionate about evangelism. During their brief time as a church, they have invited many guest speakers who are well known in the Indian community. In addition to their weekly service at the church, they also hold Friday night prayer meetings in homes.

The Haitian church is currently led by a layman who has a burden to reach the nearly 50,000 Haitians in the greater Chicago suburbs. This church is already averaging more than 70 without a pastor. Keep them in prayer as they seek God for a Haitian-speaking pastor.