Why we need people for church plants in hard places?

The word translated "church" in the Bible (ekklēsia) has as its more general meaning assembly. So, for example, people like to point out that the same word is used in Acts 19:32-40 where it refers to a rioting mob. Now, you may go to a church that feels a little like that - especially in the Sunday School - but beyond that, it is a simple and useful reminder that church is about a gathering together of people. It's more than tricky to do church on your own!

Now that's one of the things that's been both difficult and controversial about shutting churches down in the current coronavirus crisis and going online. But it's also probably the most difficult thing about planting churches in hard places.

There are two reasons for that.

1. If you're planting a church somewhere then it's often because there aren't many Christians. Many of the more socially deprived areas in our country have also been spiritually deprived for a long time (which is why we want to plant faithful churches there) and that means that hard places are often even less likely to have many Christians already there to help - especially clear and faithful Christians. So, it's pretty difficult to pull together a church or even a team that is aiming to reach people to make a church.
2. It's hard to get people to move to hard places - even Christians. It's not unusual to hear of churches in hard places losing people to better places. Sometimes, because becoming a Christian helps them to sort their lives out, they do better and can live somewhere better and so they do. Even more common is for a second generation to now in a more stable Christian family to do well enough at school to go to university and never come back. That's a pattern you find more generally in society as well. If you can move to somewhere better, then why wouldn't you? Church plants in hard places are asking people to do the opposite - to move from nicer places to harder places. It goes against the grain!

So it's hard to start new churches, new assemblies of Christians, in hard places, because it's hard to get the people. That's why we need people for church plants in hard places.

There are three possible solutions to this I can see:

1. Don't plant churches is hard places. I'm not so keen on this one!
2. Start plants with very small teams - perhaps of only one person. This will probably also mean some kind of tent-making. If it was good enough for Paul...although most of us aren't Paul so...
3. Christians in the UK (or from beyond the UK of course!) start to buck the culture and come to hard places to help.

If I knew how to make solution 3 happen, I would. I'm writing blogs to try and get it to happen I guess, but I haven't honestly been very effective for the last few years. It seems like most of us trying to get it to happen aren't. Maybe you could help change that?