Mission USA

ETHNIC MINISTRIES:
We must never forget that the great harvest of Rev. 5:9 includes believers from every kindred, tongue, people, and nation. To do ethnic ministry we no longer have to travel around the world. The uttermost parts of the world have moved next door. The frontier of missions has moved from geography to culture. We can find great encouragement in the fact that ethnic persons are responding to the gospel in unprecedented numbers. There is a growing awareness in each Open Bible region of this harvest. The sign, “You are entering the mission field,” is seen above the doors as you walk out of some churches I have visited. To each of us, it is a call to the Harvest!

Ethnic and Multicultural Ministry Directory
Assembling this directory was an early project to enable us to see our OBC ethnic mosaic. It provides a region-by-region listing of Ethnic and Multicultural Churches. There are 62 Ethnic and 23 Multicultural Churches, a total of 85. Together they represent 27 percent of our churches based on a recent national statistic. The updated third edition of this directory will be available soon. These are the ethnic groups listed:

African American
First Nation People
Hispanic
Liberian
Southeast Asian
    – Cambodian
    – Tai Dam
Trinidadian
Jamaican
Chinese
South Asia
    – India
Korean
Hungarian
Romanian

Leadership and Structure Developments
The Hispanics are our largest group with 41 churches. Our National Hispanic Ministries is a result of this growth. It has developed leadership, policies and structure that consist of a National Coordinator, National Committee, Regional Committees, District Councils, Regional and District Coordinators. It is a vital ministry within the national structure of Open Bible. They meet biennially in a National Convention. In alternative years some Regional Conferences are held. A Leadership Training Center in Southern California is conducting quarterly training events open to any Hispanic minister wanting to attend. These are the present Hispanic Coordinators:

National Coordinator: Joaquin Ramos
      Regional Coordinators:
      Central – Don Smith
      Eastern – Richard Vedilago
      Mt. Plains – Open
      Pacific – Joaquin Ramos
      Southeast – Jose Vera

The newly created National Ethnic Council, under the leadership of Don Bryan,
consists of:

Central Region – Mike Rasavanh
Eastern Region – Dennis Campbell
Mt. Plains – Sam Bullshows
Pacific – Joaquin Ramos
Southeast – Dwight Rodgers
INSTE Representative – Nick Venditti

Significant Firsts
In 2003 the first First Nation ministers in the history of Open Bible recieved credentials. Sam Bullshows of the Crow Nation and Albert La Rance of the Northern Cheyenne Nation who is planting a church in Lame Deer, Montana. In Sacramento, California, George Ratiu planted the Metanoia Romanian Open Bible Church, our first Romanian Church. We joyously welcome them to our Open Bible family.

Your ongoing prayers and involvement will enable us to continue together to reap a harvest among the more than 89 million ethnic people in our nation.

CHURCH PLANTING:
Church planting is a primary Great Commission strategy of Open Bible Churches. Each of our five regions are making positive progress in developing their church planting strategies. The recently adopted Open Bible Church Planting Process Guide was developed to provide basic guidelines each region will follow to cast vision and mobilize their resources. This valued tool is included in the new issue of the District Superintendents Manual and is available upon request.

Open Bible planted 39 churches during 2000-2003, subsequently closing three of them, giving a net gain of 36, or an average of nine per year. The chart below gives an annual and regional breakdown. Nine of these churches were birthed by a Mother Church, which is 25 percent of the total. The nine Ethnic and Multicultural Churches also represent 25 percent. Four Hispanic and one Romanian are in the Pacific, one Hispanic in Central, one First Nation in Mountain Plains, and one Multicultural in Eastern. Church adoptions and fellowshipping churches are not included.

MISSION USA
CHURCH PLANTING REPORT
YEARS 2000-2003

REGIONS

2000

2001

2002

2003

TOTALS

NET GAIN

Open

Closed

Open
Closed
Open

Closed

Open
Closed
Open

Closed

CENTRAL

1

–

2

–

2

–

5

–

10

–

10

EASTERN

1

–

–

–

–

–

2

–

3

–

3

MOUNTAIN PLAINS

1

–

2

–

3

–

2

1

8

1

7

PACIFIC

2

–

10

–

4

–

2

2

18

2

16

SOUTHEAST
–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

No Data

TOTALS

5     –

14     –

9      –

11     3

39     3

36

ETHNIC
(Included above)

2000

2001

2002

2003

TOTALS

NET GAIN

Open

Closed

Open
Closed
Open

Closed

Open
Closed
Open

Closed

CENTRAL

–

–

1

–

1

–

5

–

2

–

2

EASTERN

–

–

–

–

–

–

2

1

1

–

1

MOUNTAIN PLAINS

–

–

1

–

–

–

2

1

2

–

2

PACIFIC

1

–

4

–

–

–

2

–

5

1

4

SOUTHEAST
–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

No Data

TOTALS

1    –

6     –

2      –

2     1

10     1

9

Central
Randy Loescher is the region’s Church Planting Director. Among the sources he uses to recruit church planters is through the Internet service of Church Planters Paradise (CPP) from which two church planters have been gleaned. He has developed Partnering Church Networks (PCN) for churches and individuals to partner with planters. He participates in New Church Incubators (NCI) for the ongoing training of planters. He leads prospective planters through the assessment, boot camp, proposal and deployment processes and is valued among our Open Bible church planting leaders.

Eastern
Brian Ehlers is the region’s Church Planting Director. The region’s current thrust is to provide resources for ministers and churches to educate them toward a more robust church planting effort. The region is catching the vision and passion of Brian and Regional Superintendent Randall Bach.

Mountain Plains
Blends of different church planting models are being experienced: community church types like mother church plants, home church networks and missional communities. The latter two are relatively new to Open Bible. This region is reaping the fruit of relational seeds planted as long as ten years ago and now are at the deployment stage of thrusting leaders into the Harvest! The region is to be commended for their venture to involve planting models that connect with the unchurched. Commendation to pastor Les Potts and Open Bible Christian Center in Rapid City, South Dakota, for the several churches they have mothered.

Pacific
Ross Adelmann is the region’s Church Planting Director. Their main emphasis is toward churches mothering churches. In three years Calvary Open Bible, Springfield, Oregon, has mothered two healthy churches in that city. Our Hispanic church in Eugene mothered two Hispanic churches in two years, one in Springfield, the other in Salem, Oregon. Presently this region leads in the number of mother churches who have birthed new churches. Ross is a qualified, experienced presenter at church planting boot camps.

Southeast
New superintendent, Jim Beaird, is himself a former church planter, and has a passion in his heart for church multiplication. He writes: “Each district is poised for new growth. The North Dixie District is making plans for Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and has contacts for new development with pastors in this district from India, Korea, and Nigeria. Central Dixie District has a new church plant in Brandon, Florida, and the South Dixie District is praying about Ft. Lauderdale, Margate, Port St. Lucie, and Cutler Ridge, all cities in southern Florida.”