Church Planting: Community-Based Mercy Centers

What is a Community-Based Mercy Center (CBMC)? It is an organization through which God’s mercy is ministered to those in need all with the goal of sharing the gospel effectively. In other words, a CBMC is a local church. And we want to see such churches all over Ghana.

It is our belief that God makes some promises to his children when they are involved in extending mercy. Isaiah 58 is the cornerstone passage of scripture upon which WAMM was founded. These verses are addressed, not to individuals, but to a corporate worship community, a category into which churches surely fall.

The worship community in Isaiah’s day was doing things by the book as far as their formal worship was concerned. However, they seemed to have missed the point. What God was looking for from his worshipers was mercy shown to the hungry, naked, homeless, oppressed, etc. In fact, James 1:27 tells us that this is what God calls pure religion (worship).

God has great things in store for those that worship him purely. As worshipers involve themselves in mercy ministry God indicates that it will benefit their worship, their witness and their walk with Christ (Isaiah 58). And we believe these three things are what churches should be all about.

This is why we are excited about planting new churches in Ghana. We long for believers to gather together to extend God’s mercy so that others will come to know, to worship, and to walk closely and intimately with our Merciful God.

Church Planting in Odeikrom

James 1:8 warns us that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. So why, with a church plant being planed for the village of Pakro, are Pastor Paul and the people of Hope Community Baptist Church beginning a work in Odeikrom? Let me explain

The roads to Pakro are terrible. And though there have recently been some indications that this problem was going to be resolve (pre-election promises), the roads have worsened, making travel almost impossible. This has given reason for Pastor Paul and the leadership of HCBC to think outside the box.

Enter a church plant in Odeikrom, one village closer to Nsawam. Though Nsawam (the home of HCBC) is too far for the people of Pakro to travel, Odeikrom is closer. And though not ideal for the people of Pakro, the team from HCBC have decided to travel to Odeikrom where people from Pakro can walk to meet them. So Odeikrom isn’t a change in plan but a short-term strategy in their long-term goal of church planting in Pakro.

Besides, Odeikrom needs a church too. As the Lord makes Pakro more accessible, the idea is that those from Pakro would move part of the church to their hometown leaving those from the Odeikrom are with a church in their community (win/win). Couple this with the fact that Odeikrom sits on the junction of two roads, one leading to Pakro and another leading to a second nearby village which also is in need of a church, and you can see the potential for this new approach.

The plan is for the church in Odeikrom to hold their first public service on Easter Sunday, 2025.

What is now a weeknight Bible study with a dozen adults and about 15 children will, God willing, begin meeting as a church that Sunday morning.

Church Planting in Pakro

“It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 19:23b—NASB)

Scripture records this astonishing truth from the mouth of Jesus three different times (See also Mark 10:23 & Luke 18:24). It was astonishing because, just like today, it flies in the face of conventional wisdom, at least in the practice of church planting.

After all, wouldn’t trying to reach the wealthy provide more resources to reach the masses? Shouldn’t our goal be to establish financially independent church[1]es—churches that have people with means to support the ministry?

The problem with this kind of logic is that it flies in the face of Jesus’ teaching. It encourages a target for ministry that he assesses to be dubious. Jesus’ brother James agrees. He asks, “Did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” (Jas 2:5—NASB77). Paul also concurred (see 1 Cor. 1:26-29).

That is why I was delighted to see Pastor Paul Adin targeting Pakro, Ghana for a church plant. One of his primary reasons for choosing this area is because of the poverty that exists which has caused other churches to avoid this area. Pakro is a farming and hunting community but the road conditions to this community of just over 2000 people have made it next to impossible for them to get their goods to market impoverishing this village.

But if I am understanding Jesus correctly, this poverty might be a key to maximizing the potential for success in reaching people who need Jesus so desperately. That is the way Jesus set it up. Evangelism, partnered with God’s mercy to those in need can open unimaginable possibilities.