From Persecution to Prayer - Mike olive

Here is the video replay of our February, 2024 Lunch and Learn event at the Marion Baptist Association Missionary Resource Center.  Mike Olive is a church planter and pastor of Common Ground Church in Lake Worth Beach, Florida.  At our February Lunch and Learn, Pastor Mike shared some of his struggles of planting a church in an anti-church environment in South Florida and how that experience has led him to develop a prayer cottage and retreat cabin for people in ministry. in Hawthorne, FL. 

The Come Away Cottage is a free place for pastors & missionaries to “Come Away and Rest awhile”. The Come  The stress of ministry is great and the need for rest is greater. Pastors and missionaries are invited to "Come Away and sit by the lake, enjoy a camp fire, rest, be refreshed, be renewed, and be redeployed into our Father’s harvest." For more information about Come Away Cottage, visit www.comeawaycottage.com .

Starting Church Planting Movements in the USA

In 2020, while serving on the staff of Greater Orlando Baptist Association, I hosted an online training event with Dr. David Garrison on starting Church Planting Movements in the United States.

CPM's focus on starting small, rapidly reproducing churches with little to no money. They usually meet in places that do not require the church to own a building or pay rent. Their pastors are often volunteers who take care of their own living expenses through employment in jobs outside of the church. 

This video is a part of our online curriculum on Becoming a Multiplying Church Leader, which is a free online course that anyone can take to learn how to multiply disciples, leaders, small groups and churches. 

Training for Reaching People who Live in Apartment Communities

As Marion County continues to grow in population, the demand for housing is increasing as well. We are seeing historic increases in both single-family and multi-family development. However, the Florida Apartment Association estimates that there is currently a shortage of 3,391 apartments in the Ocala-Marion Metro and that by 2030 the housing unit gap will increase to 12,815. That is why there has been a significant increase in apartment building construction in recent months. 

When it comes to church attendance there appears to be a gap between single-family residents and multi-family residents who attend church worship services on a regular basis. According to a 2010 article in Baptist Press, while 57% of the people in North America live in multi-housing communities, an estimated 95% of them are considered to be "lost without Christ." 

There are numerous reasons for these differences and there are multiple ways churches can bridge the gap. At MBA, we are offering training that will help churches to build outreach, evangelism and discipleship strategies for people who live in apartments and other types of multi-housing communities. For more information about this training and helpful resources available to churches, visit www.reach.mba/apartments. 

Become a Multiplying Church leader

Here is the recording of my interview with Dr. David Nelms, Founder and President of The Timothy Initiative.  In this video, we talk about the need for Micro Churches to reach people who are currently being missed by Legacy Churches.  We are offering free TTI training through our website.   Go to reach.mba/cpmx2 to sign up for the online course. 

Micro churches start out small and multiply quickly. They can meet virtually anywhere and they typically have unpaid leaders. In reality it costs absolutely nothing to start a micro church. On the other hand, it can cost ¼ to ½ million dollars to start a legacy church where paid staff and rented facilities are needed.

Legacy churches are currently reaching less than 20% of the American population. If we could increase that to 50%, that would leave half of our population without a local expression of church that they are willing to attend. 

Tony and Felicity Dale compare micro churches to rabbits, they start small and multiply quickly. The gestation period for rabbits is approximately three months while the gestation period for elephants is 18-22 months. Two elephants can multiply to 4 elephants in about four years. Two rabbits can multiply to nearly four million rabbits in that same four year period.

To learn more about how to make disciples who, make disciples, who make disciples that plant churches, that plant churches, that plant churches sign up for our free online Church Planting Movement Leader course.