Learn How Surge Church Planting Works In a Simple Story
Everything Surge does happens through relationships. How does that practically look in our church planting efforts? Here is a real example.
In the small town of Chilamatillo, Nicaragua, there is a growing and thriving congregation called Iglesia Bethel, Chilamatillo. It was planted in 2012, but the story begins long before that.
Bethany Church And A Missionary in Mexico
It traces back to Bethany Church, a church founded by Roy Stockstill in his living room in Baker, Louisiana. With a heart for missions and church planting, Bethany grew and began influencing world missions.
Pastor Roy Stockstill began a friendship with missionary Danny Ost who planted several churches in Monterey, Mexico. Danny became a regular visitor at Bethany Church.
Ost was approached by a group of church planters in Mexico to become their “bishop”. This change would require Danny to function in a more apostolic role to spiritual father other church planters rather than spending all his time planting his own.
While praying about the idea to move from actively planting churches to overseeing churches, Ost heard God say, “You are free to do this. And if you do, you will forever have ‘an explainable life.’”
The word pierced his heart, and he began a new church-planting effort in Mexico City. He wanted to live this “unexplainable” life.
As Daniel Ost shared the word of living an “unexplainable life” at Bethany Church during one visit, Don Calvin, an engineer for a large chemical company in Baton Rouge sat in the audience. He too wanted to live an unexplainable life.
Don Calvin felt led to give toward a new church planting project in Mexico. That gift helped plant a church in Mexico City called the Faith, Hope, and Love Center or “Centro do Fe, Esperanza y Amor” (CFEA). CFEA sparked a broader church-planting movement through much of Latin America.
Passing To The Next Generation
Tim Ost, Danny’s son, eventually took over the leadership of the CFEA network from his father. Ps. Roy Stockstill also passed the leadership of Bethany Church to his son, Larry.
Larry and Tim begin a friendship that led to planting churches all over the world. Tim began working with leaders named Victor and Angela Benitez to plant churches with CFEA throughout Nicaragua.
In 2001 Larry Stockstill began Surge (then called the Global 12 Project). The first church Surge planted was in Nicaragua with James Pursifull and Pastor Ovidio Valladares, who had a goal of planting 50 churches in Nicaragua.
Connecting The Dots
In 2012, Don Calvin went to Nicaragua with James to help plant churches with Ovidio. There, they hosted outreaches and organized a rally in Chamatillo, Nicaragua for a new church plant under Pastor Faustino Morales. As a result, Iglesia Bethel in Chilamatillo was born. Today, the church is still growing and thriving under the leadership of Pastor Jahaira López.
Surge provides a way to leave a global and kingdom impact on the world. What role will you play in what God is already doing throughout the earth?
