People often ask me, “How did you find the courage and conviction to plant a church?”
Each time I hear that question, I pause—because those words don’t quite capture my story.
Truthfully, church planting was not something I pursued out of personal desire. It was simply a step of faith—taken in obedience to God through prayer.
In 2023, while I was immersed in ministry, I sensed God speaking to me—quietly, yet unmistakably: “Stop what you are doing.” Obeying that voice was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Yet I trusted in His faithfulness. I laid down the ministry I had been carrying and began seeking where He was leading me next.
Several opportunities opened up—doors that, by all appearances, seemed promising. But each time I prayed, God gently closed them, one by one. “Not here.”
For about six months, I found myself in a season marked by stillness and closed doors. It would not be honest to say I was without anxiety. Yet in that place, God impressed one consistent message upon my heart: Prepare to plant. It came again and again, each time I prayed. Eventually, I surrendered to that prompting. And in time, God opened the way—leading me to join the BUV Mission Catalyst Team and begin the journey of intercultural church planting.
Looking back, every step in this journey was not shaped by my own plans, but by God’s leading—each one discerned through prayer. Prayer was never merely a preparation tool; it became our team’s foundation, direction, and our strength.
Because of this, we have never stopped praying—not even during the preparation phase. For a full year leading up to our first Sunday service in March this year, we gathered weekly in prayer. In addition, we have been sharing a Monday Psalm Prayer—a weekly video devotion based on the Psalms—for the past nine months, cultivating a rhythm of prayerful living. When we complete the first book of Psalms, we will begin another. Because prayer is not just how a church begins—it is the very breath of a living church.
Even now, I cannot see the full picture of what lies ahead. But as we continue in prayer, we keep moving forward—even when we cannot see. Each day, we are reminded that what God has begun, He will bring to completion.
Prayer is not a privilege reserved for the bold. It is the path given to those who recognise they cannot move forward in their own strength. And along that path, the steps of faith continue—today, and every day.