PIONEER CHURCH PLANTING
“It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.” – Romans 15:20
SOS Ministries is a pioneer church planting ministry that seeks to follow the example of the Apostle Paul in Romans 15:20 – to preach Christ where He is not already known, because there is no other hope for mankind.
By God’s grace we have planted churches in many countries as we follow Jesus’ example of preaching His gospel and showing compassion to those who are in need.
Our aim is to see people drink from the river of Living Waters and to see that they have physical water. We desire to feed people spiritually – and physically, and most importantly, we desire to see the name of Jesus made famous in every country where the Lord calls us and to be faithful to His calling.
We have planted churches in El Salvador, Honduras, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Guatemala, and are continuing to be a part of their growth.
The biblical model of missions is to preach the gospel publicly and house to house, plant a church, train up indigenous leaders, and to encourage them to remain faithful. God has shown this again and again to be His wisdom as He raises up faithful men and women in the church to continue the work.
Indigenous leaders understand their language, their culture, and their own people. They don’t require extensive cultural training, and they’re already known to the communities where they serve.
It is our mission to encourage our leaders to remain faithful to the Lord, to build up the brothers and sisters in the Lord, and to spur them on to continue the work of church planting in their own lands. We desire to support them in this work both spiritually and materially.
Indigenous Leadership
“This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you” – Titus 1:5
Compassion
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. – Matthew 9:36
“When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” – Matthew 14:14
Peter reminded Paul, to “remember the poor”, and our Master told us to minster to the least of these, so we do this:
- By feeding the hungry
- By providing clean drinking water in communities in West Africa
- Coming alongside local schools and ministering to the children and teachers alike
- Providing education
- Running medical clinics in rural communities without access to medicine
- Ministering to at-risk youth
Through these things, we aim to glorify God and to make Him famous by sharing the physical love of Christ along with the good news of His gospel.
SHORT TERM MISSIONS TRIPS
And according to Paul’s custom, he visited them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas – Acts 17
Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. – 1 Thess 2
Just like the Apostle Paul planted churches in a matter of weeks, and went back to visit them, we believe that the scriptures give the example of both long and short term missions trips. Notice that Paul seldom traveled without a team! He was joined by those he had met along the way and members of the local church, all working together for the cause of the gospel.
Likewise, missions teams are at the heart of SOS – encouraging the saints and sharing good news with the hopeless. We don’t go it alone either – we serve alongside our brothers and sisters from the countries we visit. As most who have served will tell you – it is a life changing experience. Some of our team members have gone on to start their own ministries or to preach the gospel full time in places where Christ is not already known.
Our teams come from five as many as five different countries and many different church cultures, yet we come together as one for the Name of Jesus Christ and the love of our neighbors.