Church Planting International

The Story of Church Planting International

   Church Planting International grew out of our missionary work in Mexicali, Mexico.  I met my wife Christy at theology school in Anaheim, California, and we were married in 1978. During those years we participated in “street evangelism” and in short evangelistic trips to Mexicali, five hours away.  I was deeply moved by both the openness of the Mexican people and by the shortage of laborers. As Jesus said in Matthew 9:37, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”  I also became increasingly grieved by the superficiality of the evangelistic methods then commonly used. Often people were pressed for quick decisions and then forgotten. I began to see that the work of the Great Commission can only be effectively done by local churches. God’s work done through local churches is not short-term, haphazard, or superficial. It has an enduring impact on the community. Each church becomes a beachhead of the Kingdom from which the Gospel is preached, disciples taught, and the needy helped. But as I looked around Mexicali in the late 1970s, I found no churches where I felt comfortable sending the people. So much was happening on these short Mexicali trips. Crowds listened eagerly to the Gospel and many seemed to respond. Yet there was no opportunity for follow-up. I wondered, “What might happen if we could live down here full-time?”

   As a result, with the blessing of our own local church, Christy and I moved down to Mexicali in 1982. We had two small children with another one on the way and only $15 a month pledged in monthly support. (A food ministry also sent down portions for us.) I did not realize at the time how reckless or bold my actions appeared to others. I was convinced that there was a great opportunity to reach people for Christ and, as we put God first, He would provide. This is not the ideal way to go to the mission field, but God used our unique experience to build a faith necessary for our calling.

   Our goal was to start a church. I know now that this is not a task that human beings can do. Jesus said, “I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” (Matt 16:18) I worked very hard and tried a lot of things. Yet the work always seemed to be hanging by a thin thread. Often I felt like giving up. Then God showed me that I needed to stop all activities that made the work dependent on me. The key was to work toward a self-sufficient church dependent entirely on God and led by national leaders. All I can say is that God had mercy and formed a work which is still going strong to this day. During our four and a half years in Mexicali, we saw the supernatural provision of God. He not only provided for our personal needs, but also for the construction of a two building church facility. Many of the people who attended this church were among the poorest of the poor, sometimes living in cardboard shacks or even in the city dump.

   In 1985, Doyle Claxton heard me speak at his church in California and offered to start a tax-exempt organization for the support of our ministry. He asked me to write a statement of purpose, give the organization a name, and he would do the rest. Though I barely knew Doyle, we decided to go forward. By the time the organizational work was done in 1986, Christy and I had concluded it was time to return to the States and had moved our growing family to Ohio. Still, I felt that the Lord had a purpose for this organization. During those first few years, my involvement with CPI was only part-time. I worked as a painter and pastored a small church. CPI was used only for our church plant in Toledo, occasional projects, and short-term mission trips.

   In 1996, I began to devote myself full-time to the work of CPI and we established our current office in Bowling Green, Ohio. Initially we did mostly short-term mission trips. These developed gradually over time out of my love for the church in Mexicali. I made periodic trips to visit them, and enjoying company, often invited others to come with me. Interest in the mission trips spread rapidly. Soon we were doing numerous trips a year. We could have easily become exclusively a short-term mission trip agency, but I realized that I needed to return to my original vision and passion which is church planting. Through the years, God has performed a deeper work in our hearts by imparting to us a fuller understanding of the biblical Gospel. This revelation has transformed our lives.  What motivates us can be summed up in the message of the Gospel. We believe that there is transforming power in Christ and that this transforming power will come to any person who accurately understands and embraces the Gospel.

   CPI has continued to work in Mexico and in 1999 began to work in Peru. We currently work with numerous native workers who are touching many villages that have no other churches. CPI’s projects have included training pastors in the Amazon jungles, reprinting New Testaments in the language of a Mexican tribal group, church construction, leadership training conferences, the support of a children’s home in Mexico, and helping to build homes for the needy. Each year CPI takes mission teams to serve in churches and orphanages.

   We believe that God has given us a biblical message, a clear vision, a comprehensive plan, and sound missionary methods. CPI is now poised to go into all the world to proclaim the Gospel and to aid in the planting and multiplying of churches wherever God calls.