Often K & T could afford the petrol to attend church, a 30 minute drive away. T was frequently ill and all their money went to medical bills. As they led family members and friends to Christ it was difficult to get them to church – it was far away and they didn’t know people there.

When K & T first heard of the idea of starting a house church, they thought it was impossible. They lived with 10 other people. One of these people, M, was very opposed to K & T’sr new faith. However, within a few weeks, M had made a profession of faith and they’d destroyed their spirit altar. While it’s not clear whether M really has repented and believed, she is at least now sympathetic to Christianity.

So K & T excitedly planned the first house church meeting and invited all their family for a meal. They then studied the Bible together, sang and prayed. People came to a meeting in a private home who would never have gone to the official church across town. K & T asked the village headman for permission to meet and remarkably he agreed so long as they didn’t do anything on too big a scale or make a lot noise. He said he’d seen the dramatic transformation in their lives and hoped that they could positively influence M who was acting in a way that was an embarrassment to the community.

If every person in the country is to have ready access to the Gospel in a form that they can understand, it is vital that hundreds and hundreds of house churches like this are started. In order for this nation to be reached quickly people must understand that churches do not need special buildings and church leaders do not need to be paid or have been trained in a Bible college. Meeting in a home setting provides great opportunities for reaching those who would never normally enter a church building. Furthermore, it is far more resistant to persecution as people are not being gathered in large groups that attract attention. And in a context where decision-making is collective it makes sense to do things in the family unit.

To date many church plants like this one have been hampered by persecution from government or family. In other cases, Christians have themselves stopped churches from flourishing. Sometime there’s insufficient support and appropriate help in casting the vision and training in how to plant and lead a church. Sometimes strong leaders have squashed young churches by pulling the church back to the traditional model of hierarchical church leadership which gives little room for all members to exercise their gifts and tends to propagate the idea that you need a special building to be a church. Sadly, many in the official church have strongly warned believers not to join house churches. This is understandable as there are false teachers around and church leaders rightly want to protect the flock.

      -Pray for K & T’s relatives to hunger and thirst for righteousness; that they will be        equipped and well supported in leading a house church. Pray that this group will        multiply into other groups that multiply that…

·     -Pray for greater maturity that all believers can discern false from true teaching.        Ask for greater unity and understanding between Christian groups.