Start Something New:
Answering God’s Call to Plant a Church
One month after getting married, we stepped out in faith to evangelize full-time. God called us to preach the gospel to all nations. My husband and I traveled throughout the United States and many other countries, evangelizing for the past decade. After we began traveling, God gave me a burden for altar working, and it became my passion. After our son, James Asher, was born, we continued to travel. I dedicated myself to teaching Spanish while also homeschooling our son. For seven years, we boarded about two hundred and twenty flights a year, preaching the gospel and ministering to the body of Christ as a family. It has been an amazing journey in obedience to God’s Word and His will!
In March 2020, the world shut down due to COVID-19. During that time, turmoil and chaos erupted after the death of George Floyd. There was so much division, pain, and anger. God told my husband to go to Minneapolis to preach the gospel, love, and unity amid chaos, confusion, and division. When my husband told me he was leaving to go to Minneapolis, I immediately began to weep and pray for his safety. As I asked God to intervene, my husband stopped me and said, “We have already prayed in preparation for months. Now is not time to pray; it is time to act.” He was right, and I felt peace. There is a time to prepare and a time to act. It was uncomfortable, but we believed God would do something through his obedience. God did amazing things in Minneapolis, and my husband was able to meet many needs.
After seeing Minneapolis as a microcosm of the world’s condition, God challenged us to do more. We waited for His Word and direction. It was then that God spoke to us about planting a church in the city we had traveled to most in the last ten years—Orlando, Florida. He told us to plant a church and fulfill the call to preach the gospel to all nations. Initially, leaving a successful evangelistic ministry did not make sense, but we were excited to obey God’s voice.
We moved to Orlando and began to teach Bible studies. The church launched on January 9, 2022, and we have continually stepped out of our comfort zone ever since. I am taking piano and singing lessons. The needs around me pushed something out of me that I didn’t even realize was there. I started using gifts and abilities previously undeveloped to meet the present needs of God’s people. I sing, teach Sunday school, translate for bilingual Bible studies, and serve our community. I have learned that God gives you the grace to fulfill your calling.
Every time I took an uncomfortable and scary step in obedience, I saw the power of God!
Since we launched the church, around thirty different nationalities have visited. They are being touched and changed by the power of God. I didn’t recognize the oceans of possibilities until we planted a church. The possibilities are endless! There are so many opportunities that God has placed before us. We must be open and willing to reach more people with this life-changing gospel.
God has prepared you for something new! It might be uncomfortable and scary, but you must step out of your comfort zone, take the risk, and trust God. God is not asking for perfection, but He does ask you to yield in obedience to His plan.
God is the God of new beginnings. He is the source and author of all things. Anywhere that there is a beginning, there is a blessing.
God is interested in planting; He planted the first garden (Genesis 2:8). The Scripture mentions over one hundred different plants, trees, and herbs. A successful crop requires good soil, seed, water, sun, and the right environment to thrive and yield fruit.
Every new beginning requires yielding, but there are two sides to yielding. The first yielding is surrender. We give way for God to do something. The second yielding is the production of fruit. The soil must yield to the seed, water, and sun to produce fruit. It is the same for the church plant; we must continually yield to God’s Word and His Spirit so the church can bear much fruit.
Don’t be afraid of the yielding process. Yielding is simply submitting the next step to God. He is with you. He has gone before you. I encourage you to yield to His Word and allow the Spirit of God to move. There is no telling what God can do with a yielded vessel. Yield to God; the possibilities are endless.
Luisa Jackson and her husband, Victor, traveled across the country speaking and preaching for a decade. They have a son named James Asher. The Jacksons recently started Bible Center of Orlando, Florida.
