"The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:37-38
Most local churches aren't training leaders or planting new churches. We help churches apprentice competent marketplace missionaries, so that the church in Europe can live out its mission in the world.
This is our mission and our method. Aquila exists to make the church the hero of church-planting. So please pray for us as we assist two partner churches at different stages of the church-planting process.
Church-planting must begin with and be sustained by prayer. Prayer is the perfect way for a team of church-planters to be united with one another in Christ as they pursue the will of God.
Please join us in prayer for these efforts. Pray for the churches, their pastors and elders, and for the Lord's will to be done.
Ehrenfeld (Köln)
Planting Church: IBC Cologne
Pastor: David Martin
Location: Ehrenfeld neighborhood in west Cologne
About Ehrenfeld: Located in west Cologne, Ehrenfeld is home to several large companies, the University of Cologne, and the Cologne Central Mosque. Accordingly, the area has a young and international population, but remains predominantly German-speaking.
About the church planting effort: Pastor David and a group of German-speaking members of IBC Cologne have faithfully maintained a weekly German language prayer meeting for nearly a year. That has recently turned into a conscious effort to lay a foundation for a German-language congregation that will meet weekly as a part of IBC Cologne.
Aquila's Involvement: Aquila is committed to helping IBC Cologne train its church-planting team. Several individuals from the team will participate in a preaching workshop. Several others will join the Aquila Institute as apprentices to receive competency-based and contextualized training.
Prayer needs: 1) Wisdom and direction as the elders of IBC Cologne pray about and oversee the church's second church-planting efforts; 2) That the Lord would provide competent and passionate leaders to engage in the work.
Bonn
Planting Church: IBC Cologne
Planting Pastor: David Martin
Current Pastor: Dr. Stephen Campbell
Location: Bonn
About Bonn: Prior to WWII Bonn was considered a small and largely insignificant city. But after the war ended it was named the capital of West Germany. From that time until now, Bonn has maintained its international significance. It retained several key offices for the German national government, and was made the European headquarters from the United Nations. It has a large university that attracts many international students, and also has many internationally significant organizations and companies. All of this makes Bonn a very vibrant and noticeably international city. And yet prior to the planting of IBC Bonn it had only one English-speaking church.
About the church planting effort: IBC Bonn was officially launched in September 2018. Its pastor was installed on the one-year anniversary. The church is now working toward establishing autonomy as a local body.
Aquila's Involvement: Over the last two years, Aquila has assisted IBC Cologne in the planting of this church through finances, equipment, and personnel.
Prayer needs: 1) Elders' efforts to raise up more faithful leaders; 2) Continued development of the church's own constitution; 3) God would lead and direct the church as it prays about the possibility of planting a German-speaking church across the Rhine River in Königswinter.
Königswinter
Planting Church: IBC Bonn
Pastor: Dr. Stephen Campbell
Location: Königswinter
About Königswinter: Across the river for
About the church planting effort: The history of church planting in Königswinter confirms the dire need for a conservative church on the east side of the Rhine River. But these efforts have also shown that the difficulty of planting in this area. At this point the elders are aware of the need and desire to fulfill the need as best they can. For now, this means prayer and the continued training of leaders and building up of a German-speaking Bible study in Königswinter.
Aquila's Involvement: Aquila is committed to helping IBC Bonn train individuals who may become apart of a future church-planting team.
Prayer needs: 1) Wisdom and direction as the elders of IBC Bonn pray about how to meet the need of a biblically conservative, German-speaking church on the east side of the Rhine River; 2) That the Lord would provide competent and passionate leaders to engage in the first stages of church planting; 3) That IBC Bonn will be eager to plant its first church.
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