The mission of Living Hope International Ministries is to make disciples of all nations. To arrive at this mission statement, we did not hold a vote, consult experts, or run focus groups. No, we have a higher authority than public opinion—a direct command from our Lord Jesus. It was the Messiah himself who gave us our marching orders.

Matthew 28:18-20. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

As a result of his ascension into heaven and exaltation to God’s right hand, our Lord now has all authority in heaven and earth
with respect to the church—his body. He exercised that authority by commanding us to go and make disciples of all nations. This was not a suggestion or a mere wish, but a command from the one whom God has made both Lord and Messiah (Acts 2:36). An advantage of this is that we don’t need to spend a lot of time trying to figure out what we should do. We have clarity of purpose. Everything we do as a ministry is in the service of making disciples of all nations.

Making disciples includes both evangelism and growth in Christ. There are many ways to do this, including pitching the gospel to strangers, engaging online through social media, or going on mission trips. However, the most effective way we’ve seen, especially over the last few years, is inviting friends, acquaintances, neighbors, and family members to come to a church service where they can hear a clear and compelling gospel presentation. Furthermore, loving, biblically faithful, and spirit-led churches are excellent environments for new believers to begin their journey of discipleship—learning to follow Christ and live out their faith. Lastly, local churches provide excellent support for experienced Christians to continue in their faith, serve, mentor, and give.

In light of these considerations, we have increasingly come to see the incredible benefits of starting new churches around the world. We believe God has called our ministry to facilitate the planting of locally run, self-sustainable, emotionally healthy churches. To do this important work, we need your help. We’ve outlined four major ways you can get involved in this exciting initiative: (1) start a church, (2) join a core team, (3) assist remotely, and (4) fund the work. In what follows, I’ll go through each of these four to explain what we mean. Please prayerfully consider participating.

1. Start a Church

We believe God is calling and preparing future pastors from a variety of backgrounds to begin and grow new churches. Has God called you to start a church? We’re looking for courageous Christian leaders of home fellowships or Bible studies with a minimum of twenty attendees who are ready to take the next step and establish a weekly Sunday service in a public space. If that’s you, fill out our church planting application. Please note, this application should be filled out by the prospective lead pastor. Please check our statement of faith to make sure Living Hope is a good fit.

2. Join a Core Team

Starting a church is hard work. Beyond a qualified pastor, churches typically need volunteers to help run worship, children’s ministry, audio, video, slides, and a team of greeters. Many churches serve refreshments before or after the service. Someone needs to purchase those items, set them out, and clean them up. Then there’s the need for spiritually mature elders and deacons to make decisions and serve the needs of the community of faith. Beyond that, there’s outreach. New churches need to grow, which means they have a great need for courageous individuals willing to relentlessly invite people to come.

Do you think you can help with any of this? If so, you may want to join the core team of a church plant. This involves moving to a location where a church is currently being planted or about to begin in the near future. Your commitment will be for one year of service, and you will need to support yourself during that time. Essentially, you will serve as a missionary for a year—whether in the US or abroad. This experience will inevitably provide you with many opportunities for growth as you walk with God by faith. If you’re interested, fill out our core team questionnaire.

3. Assist Remotely

Another way you can help us start churches is by volunteering to help remotely. Thanks to modern technology, churches have quite a number of needs that can be done by people who live elsewhere. We are looking for volunteers to pray for these new churches, to help with administration, legal assistance, fundraising, accounting, children’s curriculum, graphic design, and more. If you have skills that you are blessed to put to use for this effort, fill out this remote volunteer questionnaire. We will send our church-planting pastors your information, and they can get in touch with you if they have a need that you would be a good fit to fill.

4. Fund the Work

Our largest limiting factor currently for starting new churches is funding. Just like starting a business, getting a church going takes considerable investment. Living Hope offers a range of funding options depending on the needs of the church plant and what we have available. If you would like to empower this movement to grow, please consider donating to our church planting fund online. Alternatively, you can make a check out to LHIM and send it to us at 458 Old Niskayuna Road, Latham, NY 12110. All donations are tax-deductible. (You can get more information about giving on our website at lhim.org/giving.) Thanks so much to those who have already donated. Without you we would never have been able to get started on this exciting work!

Living Hope may not be a huge ministry with millions of dollars, but we are young and willing to try new things in service to God. We don’t have cumbersome bureaucracy or complex procedures. We don’t know what can’t be done. We’re trusting in God to lead this effort, and we’ve already seen wild results. There’s now a stable church in Louisville, Kentucky of like precious faith. This month (August 2025) will see the official launch of a brand-new church in Cambridge, New Zealand. We are hoping to announce a third in Tallahassee, Florida in the next few months. God is moving in our time. Please pray about it and—if God is leading you—get involved!