Have any AFF'ers started a church from zero?

[n david]

Bumping again . . .

[Amanah]

My former Pastor was an unusual man. He spent hours in fasting and intercessions. He was a great soul winner in the church he was a part of before he started one of his own. When he received a call from God to start his own church, his pastor gave him confirmation, prayed for him and sent him off. (independent churches)

He came to the city he was called to and began the church with street outreach and home bible studies, He taught others how to teach and reach, fast and pray.

They would go to the beach, Pastor would play his guitar to attract people, and talk to them about Jesus.

When the church grew, they rented the women's club. That is where I met them, when they had about 20 people. Pastor would always spend Sat in prayer fasting and praying and seeking God for a message for us. He wrote his own songs and sang them to us from the pulpit.

Our order of the service was this:
-pre service prayer (an hour before each service)
-worship & praise (God inhabits the praise of his people)
-Word (soul piercing, anointed preaching)
-response (you responded to the message by going to the altar to pray)

It was rare to have a service that people were not getting the Holy Ghost and/or getting baptized.

eventually, we bought a building, we took turns opening it for early morning prayer, we often had corporate fasts, and all night prayer meetings with signup sheets for when we could fast and when we could pray to make sure that prayer was covered.

We knocked doors, had bus ministry, street outreach in drug infested neighborhoods, and projects. We had to bring food to Sunday school because some of the kids picked up by the bus were hungry, they smelled bad, had lice in their hair, their parents were in prison.

we had visitation follow up, to thank people for coming and teach them a home bible study.

we were trained for outreach.

[consapente89]

Originally Posted by Amanah

My former Pastor was an unusual man. He spent hours in fasting and intercessions. He was a great soul winner in the church he was a part of before he started one of his own. When he received a call from God to start his own church, his pastor gave him confirmation, prayed for him and sent him off. (independent churches)

He came to the city he was called to and began the church with street outreach and home bible studies, He taught others how to teach and reach, fast and pray.

They would go to the beach, Pastor would play his guitar to attract people, and talk to them about Jesus.

When the church grew, they rented the women's club. That is where I met them, when they had about 20 people. Pastor would always spend Sat in prayer fasting and praying and seeking God for a message for us. He wrote his own songs and sang them to us from the pulpit.

Our order of the service was this:
-pre service prayer (an hour before each service)
-worship & praise (God inhabits the praise of his people)
-Word (soul piercing, anointed preaching)
-response (you responded to the message by going to the altar to pray)

It was rare to have a service that people were not getting the Holy Ghost and/or getting baptized.

eventually, we bought a building, we took turns opening it for early morning prayer, we often had corporate fasts, and all night prayer meetings with signup sheets for when we could fast and when we could pray to make sure that prayer was covered.

We knocked doors, had bus ministry, street outreach in drug infested neighborhoods, and projects. We had to bring food to Sunday school because some of the kids picked up by the bus were hungry, they smelled bad, had lice in their hair, their parents were in prison.

we had visitation follow up, to thank people for coming and teach them a home bible study.

we were trained for outreach.

This is great!

[LOVE JESUS]

Amanah, where is this church you are talking about? Just wondering if you don't mind.

[Amanah]

Originally Posted by LOVE JESUS

Amanah, where is this church you are talking about? Just wondering if you don't mind.

my former Pastor is deceased.

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by Amanah

my former Pastor is deceased.

Did the church roll on?

(Roll on, roll on, roll on!)

[Amanah]

Originally Posted by Esaias

Did the church roll on?

(Roll on, roll on, roll on!)

it's not the same church

[votivesoul]

When I was 26, I was working for a painter, a brother in the church I was a member of.

It wasn't really what I wanted to do with my life. God saved me when I was 24. I didn't have a very good work history. I only stayed at a job for a few months to a year, then moved on.

One day, I though to myself, that if I really want a career, I'm going to have to go to college.

I wasn't sure about the commitment, the cost and debt, knowing I'd be 30 before I graduated, what if I married, etc?

Finally, after many weeks of thinking and wondering and praying about it, I took a drive to the university (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater) that I was thinking of attending, praying along the way about what the right thing to do was. I got to the campus, and as I was praying, I felt led to pull into a parking lot. I shrugged it off at first, but then decided I needed to submit, and so I pulled in and parked.

I sat in my truck, watching students criss-cross the campus. I began praying for the people I saw walking past, and the Spirit descended upon me and suddenly God spoke to me in what I would describe as an inwardly, or interior, audible voice.

He said "Aaron".

I replied "Yes, Lord"?

"They have never known Me. Who will go"?

"Amen" I whispered, beginning to weep. "Here am I. Send me."

That was fall of 2004. I soon applied for funding and for admission to the university. I didn't hear anything for a long time. Finally I went to see the admissions office. They had misplaced my application (it was accidentally filed with someone else who shared my exact name, first and last). The admissions officer profusely apologized, fast tracked me to admittance, and bought me lunch to apologize.

So, I started university in January of 2005. I lived in a dorm, and began evangelizing as many as I could. I met a lot of new people, and ended up teaching Bible studies pretty much at least once or twice a week to someone new.

There's a lot more to share of how it all began, and what happened, including something quite incredible/hard to believe, but the campus ministry I started led to a church plant. Lots of folks heard the Gospel. Many came into the faith. Found some other Apostolics and brought them onboard. Not all whom God saved are currently serving Christ, but there are those who are, too. Quite a bit of persecution, as well.

I graduated in 2009 with a B.A. in Spanish, 3.625 G.P.A.. I married in between sophomore and junior years. We had our first child the next year, and life goes on...