Brandon Maddux
Story
Leslie Newbigin called North America “the most vital missionary frontier of our time.”
Part 1: The Need
Around the world, God is using ordinary people to live as missionaries and through their lives we are seeing disciple-making movements take place. In some nations we are seeing hundreds of thousands of people come to Christ in these movements. Disciples are making disciples and as new disciples are made churches are emerging. However, as we read those stories of what God is doing around the world we can’t help but feel the contrast between that and the church in America.
For many of us, and definitely for me, we have watched many people that we know walk away from traditional church. Fewer and fewer of our neighbors have any interest in church-as-they-know-it. In fact, for many they simply don’t see the church as a helpful addition to their lives.
What do we do? How do we respond?
Part 2: More of the Same
Over the past 25 years, the church in America has largely responded to the decline in faith with more of the same: planting more churches and becoming more excellent.
We celebrate every healthy church expression and believe that the traditional church still has a key role in the body of Christ in America. However, we can also look at the statistics and see that despite all of our best efforts to plant more churches and begin more excellent programs, faith in Southern California and around America has continued to decline at a rapidly increasing pace.
“Another common misperception is that religiously unaffiliated Americans are “seekers” who haven’t yet found the right church for them. In fact, very few are in the market. Leaving aside atheists or agnostics, just 10% of those who describe their current religion as “nothing in particular” say they are looking for a religion that is right for them; 88% say they are not.”
(Paul Taylor, The Next America)
Unchurched individuals are not sitting around waiting for a new church to be opened. Even if we increase the excellence of our worship, preaching and programs there are not a large number of unchurched individuals waiting to walk in the doors of the church.
Back when I was the Kids Pastor on staff at a local church, this reality began to weigh heavy on me. I was pouring out my heart into the lives of families inside and outside our church. However, I knew that if the church in our city continued “as is” we would not reach our city with the good news of Jesus. We would miss at least 60% of our city.
Are we okay with that? Are you okay with that?
Part 3: Hope
While the picture of disciple-making movements around the world and the state of church in America could not be more of a stark contrast, there is hope.
God’s church will not fail. There are movements across North America that are returning to Jesus for direction and strategy, learning from movements across the world, applying what they are learning, and seeing significant fruit.
Every day more and more ordinary men and women in North America are saying YES to Jesus’ mission. They are viewing themselves as local missionaries who are sent by God to bring the Gospel to the contexts where God has intentionally placed them… and we believe that this Spirit empowered Gospel Movement will transform our city, state and nation.
One movement in Kansas City has seen 124 micro-churches planted and 60-70% of those people were unchurched before joining that network. A friend is leading another micro-church network where they estimate 80-90% of the people in their network were unchurched before joining.
What if we could see that in Southern California? What if we could see that begin in Santa Clarita (a suburb of LA) and multiply throughout the region?
Part 4: Ministry Vision
That’s why I stepped out in faith and joined a missions organization. I am serving in Santa Clarita, Ca as a full-time missionary.
My personal mission statement is to mobilize believers and multiply disciples, often in the margins of culture. My heart is for the lost, for reaching those far from God and for stirring up the Body of Christ to go and reach them.
In Santa Clarita, my hope is to plant the seed of the gospel, water it, and see it grow. To see the good news of Jesus spreading contagiously, disciples multiplying, and seeing new micro-churches emerge as new disciples are made.
And as that happens, I believe that peoples lives, neighborhoods and even the city itself will be transformed by the good news of Jesus.
I believe the end result will be church movements that formed out of the harvest (not just transfer growth from other churches) and that spill over into the surrounding cities and that send people to plant ministry in other cities, states and nations. As we see in disciple-making movements around the world, I think most or all of those churches that emerge will be micro-churches.
Part 5: Initial Fruit
Movement starts small and it is often slow. However, in Santa Clarita we are seeing new disciples, new baptisms, believers being equipped to make disciples, micro-churches emerging, and we have seen a Discovery Bible Study in our living room lead to multiplying groups in another nation.
A friendship with a homeless individual turned into a Discovery Bible Study, that Discovery Bible Study turned into Street Church and from Street Church we have now seen a Christ-centered recovery group begin. We are praying for this group to continue to multiply!
In an apartment complex, we have seen new disciples, baptisms, and Discovery Bible Studies begin. We are also serving with compassion in order to see a part of our city that I was told to avoid growing up transformed by the good news of Jesus. We run Soccer Clinics, English Classes, and there are weekly Discovery Bible Studies that meet in the neighborhood.
In one of our team members workplaces, he has launched multiple Discovery Bible Studies that are reaching not only his clients but their families as well.
In addition to personally serving as an everyday missionary, I am serving as a catalyst to the city. My long term goal is to build out an eco-system that could support and serve everyday missionaries serving in our city, in order to make disciples and plant micro-churches all throughout our city.
Part 6: Your Invitation
I realize that I can’t do this alone. We need a team of partners who are praying for and giving toward the ministry that we are doing. And I want to invite you to join that team.
Being a full-time missionary allows me to be a catalyst to Gospel Movement in the region. It frees me up to be able to be the one who wakes up thinking about Gospel Movement and who falls asleep thinking about it. And to then come alongside everyday missionaries throughout our city.
Practically speaking, there are two primary ways that you can come alongside the work that we are doing. First, you can pray with us. This vision is not possible in our own strength, we need God to move. Below you can subscribe to our email newsletter in order to get updates that can also help remind you to pray. Second, you can give. As a full-time missionary, I fundraise my living expenses and the ministry expenses for each of the contexts where our team serves. Your giving helps fuel the fire of the ministry that we are beginning in Santa Clarita, and that is already reaching other cities and nations.
Every gift is helpful, but we are specifically in need of adding new monthly donors to our team.
Would you consider praying for us and/or giving toward the ministry that we do?
(scroll below to subscribe and give)
That’s me (Brandon) and my wife (Lindsey)
Giving
Partner with Brandon to see Gospel Movement in Santa Clarita, Ca
*All gifts are made to NOVO Mission and all gifts are tax-deductible.
