by Thad Decker and Craig Waddell

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“This isn’t about sending money and boasting of all the good we are doing—it’s about actually being in ministry together!”

Rev. Thad Decker, pastor of Beth Car Baptist Church, Halifax, is passionate about their partnership with Pastor Youssef in the country of Lebanon. Pastor Youssef and his family are planting Kherbet Kanafar Baptist Church.

“When we chose to support a church in the Middle East, our goal was not to find a church that we could just send money to and boast of our great works. In fact, while the first thought many of us had was indeed, ‘We need to help those folks over there,’ it wasn’t long before we realized that we are all in ministry together,” Decker explained.

“At first we may have wanted to teach them how we do church and share all the great ideas we had, but it wasn’t long before we realized that we were the learners,” Decker recalled. “When talking to Youssef once, he made the comment, ‘Thad, we don’t need your money. We need your support.’ What a moment of realization!”

Over the last several months, the two congregations have had the chance to actually get to know one another and to share in the need for prayer and support. “It especially hit home to us when the recent bombing began over there,” said Decker. “Immediately our church members began asking, almost daily: How are Youssef and his family? and how are the members of Kherbet Kanafar Baptist Church? We weren’t just sending money. We were connected by a bond even greater.”

Supporting a church planter overseas has become, for Beth Car Baptist, a way of strengthening their ministry alongside brothers and sisters in Christ. “We have come to the point that we truly see ourselves in ministry together,” Decker explained. “Not us sending money, not us preparing them, not us and them, but the body of Christ at work together for the glory of the kingdom.”

Through the Mission Partnerships of the European Baptist Federation, BGAV has partnered with more than 40 indigenous church planters since 2002, including Pastor Youssef. Beth Car Baptist has taken on part of his financial support, but more importantly they have joined with Kherbet Kanafar Baptist in a relationship that serves God’s kingdom worldwide.

Your church also can become personally involved and help plant a church with one of our indigenous church planters who currently are in Lebanon, Jordan, Poland, Moldova, and Latvia. To learn more, contact Craig Waddell at craig.waddell@bgav.org.

Rev. K. Thad Decker, Jr. is pastor of Beth Car Baptist Church in Halifax, VA. Rev. Craig Waddell, who also contributed to this article, is BGAV’s partnership coordinator for Impact Missions.

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