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time pastor within the next few months. For
the years that I had support and then partial
support as part of Reseeding America with
BIMI, I learned some valuable lessons about
the importance of supporting church planters
and reestablishing old churches.

When one supports a church planter, there
is a great underestimated value of their
contribution to missions. In the years following
the restart of this struggling work, our church
has been able to give about $70,000 to missions.

Our 2019 missions commitment is just over
$14,000. It is not a huge amount, but one of the
first things Reseeding America church planters
do is teach their people to support missions.

Hundreds of these churches start from the
beginning with a burden for missions. Some
argue it is not good for a struggling or young
work to give to missions. I have several
arguments to refute that reasoning, but the
greatest reason is “When is it right to disobey
the Great Commission?” “Never!” Whether
it is a large established church, a struggling
church with a bi-vocational pastor, or a church
plant, all must fulfill the Great Commission.

When one supports a church planter, the
restarting church has an opportunity to
establish itself physically in the area or to make
repairs to the old building they could not
otherwise afford. Maineville Baptist Church
has invested over $150,000 in the property
itself (maintenance and remodels). This could
not have been done if the church had to support
me in those early days. Several people told me:
“I thought that building was not inhabited!”
I was shocked, but I counted 28 broken or
cracked windows, most of which would not
open or if they were open, they would not
close. The front of the building was covered
with some kind of mold. We invested $23,000
in the window project alone. The outside of
the building was professionally cleaned for just
over $1,000. None of these things were possible
without the support of churches giving to the
church planters.

Mark & Stephanie Sage
Our church has had help with remodels from
supporting churches, help with supporting
meetings, and especially help with outreach.

Mount Vernon Baptist Temple, Greater
Cumberland Baptist Church, and Ashland
Baptist Temple have all come to help with our
outreach efforts to restart Maineville Baptist
Church. We have had help with remodels from
people from Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, and
Alabama. What an encouragement all of these
have been!
We held our Friendship Sunday on April 14.

Dr. Shelton Smith of the “Sword of the Lord”
was our speaker. It was a great day. All of this
is the result of the giving, prayers, and helpful
support of many churches who have a burden
to plant churches in America. Thank you for
your sacrifice. W
When one supports a church planter, his church
has a mission field they can give to and pray
for and contribute to with their physical labors.

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