Ethnic Church Movement of the Twenty First Century

     In a dimly lighted living room of a multi-housing apartment unit, a group of refugees gathered to listen to the story of Moses and the children of Israel and their struggles in the land of Egypt. They learned about the Israelites’ condition in a foreign land and about a cruel Pharaoh who took away their dignity and freedom.
     “This is the story of our life,” exclaimed a young Nepali woman about what she just heard. “Nobody wanted us! Not the Bhutan government, not the Indian, not even the Nepali government,…” another person shared.  In this house group however, the refugees hear stories about God who wants them and loves them.
     On the other side of town, another group of international students and immigrants come together in a basement of a local believer’s home to find answers to their questions about the origin of the universe, about sin, and about God. They came from different countries and speak different languages. They have one thing in common however: none of them has any family around. They ended up becoming family to each other.
     Although they use English, or what sounds more like broken English, they make sure to translate what is being shared in other languages so that those who are not fluent in English can follow. “My English was only good enough to have a simple conversation. I didn’t understand anything spiritual until that lady shared the Bible stories with me in Chinese,” said a man in his fifties. Another person was glad someone was there to help explain the “technical” Bible terms and concepts in her mother tongue.
     These groups are representative of a growing number of house groups and house churches that form the International Community Church (ICC).  In just a year and a half, already 10 groups have formed and are led by lay people. They meet weekly throughout the city to pray and study the Bible and help each other whenever a need arises.
     Every first Sunday, all these groups come together to worship God and to fellowship in the spirit of unity and reconciliation. For a couple of hours on that Sunday afternoon, they set aside their cultural differences and worship together in order to find out who is still not represented, what languages are still not spoken within their community.
     This was how the first believers did church two thousand years ago before there were church buildings, seminary trained pastors, or even the rights to assemble and worship. They met in homes, usually in large dining rooms (also called atriums) of more prominent members. Their leaders were lay people anointed by the Holy Spirit with power and passion for all those in their families, communities, and social networks.
     This was the method that Jesus Himself used when He walked among us. His inter-actions with the Gentiles and Samaritans, the ethnic people groups of His day, provide some keys that unlock the ethnic church movement of the 21^st century.
     To many, the first “overseas” mission trip recorded in Luke 8 that took Jesus to Gadara—in the Decapolis area—could look like a failure. He and His disciples almost died during the voyage on the stormy Sea of Galilee (v.22). As soon as they got there, He was distracted by a demon possessed man who required all His attention; He had no time to preach the Good News of the Kingdom (v.26). When people discovered who He was and what He did, they immediately asked Him to leave because they saw in Him a threat to their way of life; He was “kicked out” of the country, leaving the only convert behind without means of discipleship or theological training (v.37).
     The story bears striking resemblance to modern day ethnic church planting and missionary activities. Traditionally, ethnic churches are started in one of two ways: A local church, having a burden for the diverse ethnic community around them, decides to establish a ministry to internationals and begin to reach out to as many internationals as possible through ESL, Bible study, Sunday School class, citizenship, the computer, food pantry, clothes closets, etc. Even though people come to know Jesus and their lives are transformed, one rarely sees an ethnic church established through this type of ministry.
     The second method of ethnic church planting is through sponsorship. An ethnic church planter or a group of believers desiring to start a new church approaches the local association. The association then finds a mother church and calls a pastor to birth the new ethnic mission which will in turn become an autonomous church after a certain number of years. Although there were successes, many ethnic church plants have failed due to lack of support, pastor burnout, miscommunication and misunderstanding between the daughter and mother churches.
     Many more do not survive past the second generation. People get discouraged because the small ethnic mission does not have enough resources and people to support the pastor and have programs and services of their own compared to those of the mother church. The ethnic church feels isolated and neglected.  Being an ethnic pastor is hard, lonely, and frustrating. I have seen this in the life and ministry of my father. Out of the seven churches that he started in Switzerland, Southern Germany, and Holland, only one is left today.
     There must be another way—the way of the Master Himself. Returning to the story above, as Jesus stepped into the boat to leave, the new convert asked to go with Him. Jesus turned around and said: “No, go back to your family, and tell them everything God has done for you.” So the new ethnic believer went all through the town pro-claiming the great things Jesus had done for him (v.39).
     Fast forward a few months later, Jesus came to this same area on His way back from another mission trip to the northern regions of Tyre and Sidon (Matthew 15:29). Instead of meeting an angry and unreceptive group of people such as had been the case previously, a large crowd came to hear Him teach and saw Him perform yet another miracle. He fed 4,000 persons. How did this happen? It happened because the new convert went through all the cities of the Decapolis proclaiming the great things Jesus had done for him. Can you see what one new convert strategically placed can do?
     Jesus knew the new convert could go where He could not go. The former demon possessed man was a member of his people group. It is because of his testimony of what Jesus had done for him that the people opened their hearts and minds to Jesus. A similar event took place among the Samaritans through a woman who, after a life transforming encounter with Jesus, went back to her village and told all her friends and family about what Jesus had taught her.
     Furthermore, even though Jesus had to leave the new convert behind, He did not abandon him. As soon as practical, He went back to lend a hand of support and encouragement, and to perform miracles that would open many more doors to His disciple in that country.
     A few years later, another man came to this area. His name was Saul. He was “breathing out threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord” going from city to city to find and kill all the followers of the Way. He probably heard of the house churches meeting in the Damascus and Decapolis regions so he set out in that direction to kill the believers. On the way, however, he encountered the Lord and his life was radically transformed. He was given a new name, Paul, and a new mission as the apostle to the Gentiles.
     At ICC, we try not to take people to church; rather, we take church to where people are by encouraging lay people in the local churches to go with us. Like the 1^st century churches, ICC groups meet in the houses where people live and feel most secure to discuss spiritual truths.
     We try not to take new converts to church either but start new churches with them. We believe these new converts are the best evangelists among their families, communities, and social networks. Likewise, we encourage lay people in the local churches to go with them to start new faith communities.
     As a former persecutor of the church, Paul understood the needs to protect the believers from persecution. Public places were threatening to them but the homes provide that extra safety ensuring longevity of the Gospel witness in a hostile society.
     Because the ICC groups meet in houses and are led by lay leaders, they remain small. This makes them easier to replicate and multiply. ICC house groups and house churches are highly indigenous and contextual, following not only the language and customs but also the social characteristics of each ethnic group.
     The ICC leadership team is multi-ethnic even though each leader has a calling to a particular people group or affinity group. Just like Paul’s missionary team, the ICC leadership team forms a missional band of brothers and sisters journeying together and shouldering each other in unity of spirit and purpose. We pray, eat, and play together. Because of this, ethnic church planting is fun and exciting again.
     ICC’s vision is for all ethnic people groups in the city to have an opportunity to hear the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ. We believe the best approach to reach all peoples is to start an indigenous house church movement that will provide even the smallest group with the opportunity to worship in their heart language.
     A movement requires the participation of everyone. It is often said that the civil rights movement was not about black and white but about right and wrong. Many white people such as Robert Kennedy, Fred Vinson, and Earl Warren contributed to that cause at the national level.
     The ICC ethnic church movement is a movement of prayer, a movement of the Holy Spirit, and a movement of lay people. In order for it to grow unhindered, it needs the prayer and support of all local churches in the city. In the next article, we will explore how the Master Church Planter started new churches and how He mentored His disciples to follow His footsteps.
    We also invite you to our first "Annual Day of the Open House Churches" on October 2, 2011.  This will be an opportunity for you to see the movement from the inside.  More details will soon be available on our website www.housechurches.org.