Are you part of a house church? Are you living multiplicative discipleship? No - if this is still unknown to you, then you will soon be part of the minority in Christianity. The commission “Make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28,19:13,33) now covers the entire world. It is as Jesus describes: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and secretly mixed into three bushels of flour until the whole was leavened” (Matthew XNUMX:XNUMX).
This description applies so perfectly to what is currently happening in the kingdom of God: secretly mixing it with the flour until the whole thing was leavened. Over the last 30 years, God has planted the DNA (leaven) of multiplicative movements (DMM, CPM, Jesus movements or Kingdom of God movements) among the unreached. It happened mostly in secret (secretly) and now we are seeing how the whole thing is being leavened.
| 1'966 Movements | 21 million House Churches | 300 million Believers |
Not a trend, but church history
In January 2024 I was invited to a global meeting of movement leaders. Around 150-200 people came from different nations and continents (Asia, Africa, America and Europe). They didn't just start a movement, but their movement has already reproduced itself. This means that the movement gave rise to further movements. A 2023 study reports over 1 movements worldwide. In these movements there are a total of around 966 million house churches and around 9 million believers. A previous study from 115 reported approximately 2021 million house churches and 21 million believers worldwide (this also includes house churches that are not part of a movement). These numbers are growing rapidly. If you look at the approximately 300 million evangelical Christians* worldwide, this means that Soon more believers will live in house churches and be part of a movement than in traditional churches. It is not just a trend, but rather a change as relevant to church history as the church last experienced with the Reformation in the 16th century.
| *Evangelical Christians refers to people who share the following beliefs: Salvation through faith alone in Jesus as Lord and Savior; personal faith and biblical conversion through the Holy Spirit; recognition of the inspired Word of God as the only basis for faith and life; Commitment to biblical preaching and evangelism that brings others to faith in Jesus. |
Simba, a general of God
In addition to some facts, I would like to share with you a testimony that encouraged me during my days in Kenya. Since the testimony comes from a heavily persecuted region, I will refrain from naming people and countries. If it is important to you, you are welcome to write to me and I will tell you personally in confidence.
A man, let's call him Simba, from an African country was under heavy pressure from rebel groups. Nevertheless, he continued to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God and also criticized the rebels' actions. This provoked and angered the rebel commanders. One day when he came to a rebel checkpoint, one of the commanders recognized him. He had him arrested immediately. They tied his arms so tightly behind his back that his shoulder was injured and to this day he can no longer move it properly. Then the commander threatened him with his pistol and said: “You are a dead man”. He then replied: “Yes, I know, but please let me tell you something else…”. The commander laughed and said: “Say what you want, you’re already dead anyway!”. So he told him about the love of God and the gospel. The commander was unimpressed, but said: “Let this man go, he is crazy!”. So the rebels let him go. A few days later the commander came to his house. The man thought he was going to kill him now, but the commander told him that no one had ever spoken to him like that. Would he like to have him as a friend?!? So the man started meeting the commander regularly. Later he converted to Jesus and so did several of his soldiers. Today, the former commander is one of the most prolific disciple-makers in the region. And Simba is now traveling as a missionary among Muslims. He and his team repeatedly experience how entire villages come to faith, but also great resistance and persecution. Several times they have found villages that had chosen Jesus destroyed by the Muslims days later. The people were massacred. In one village the only survivor was a 5-year-old boy. Simba adopted this boy, as well as two others with similar stories. God gave him a big heart for people's needs. His dedication, humility and faith is inspiring. Thank you for keeping him and his family in your prayers too.
I was also able to hear many stories from Asia, South America, the Caribbean, etc. It is true that God is working a great transformation worldwide with the result that the discipleship mission is happening in all people groups. We can experience and write church history here. Hallelujah! All glory Jesus!
