Getting Started

I just recently did a triathlon, and right before the race they typically let people swim a bit in the water to get used to the temperature—in the icy waters of New England this experience normally isn’t pleasant. However, it struck me how similar this pre-race warm-up is to where we are right now in our progress towards France. We have entered the water, so to speak, and are about to get underway, but right now we’re still holding, waiting, and anticipating the start. Raising financial support is like those frigid moments before the start of a race when you’d much rather just get going already. We want to move to France. We want to start ministering to the French. We feel ready. But God, in his wisdom, knows we need this time in the water to adjust, to acclimate ourselves to trusting him in a deeper way. It’s tough, but we need it. The shock of trusting Him in a foreign country is made slightly easier by beginning to trust Him radically here. We feel ready to go, but He knows better. A lot of things need to happen first, not least of which is being fully financially supported, before we can begin. We trust the Lord to know when the time is right, but the water can be really cold.

Our Story

The first thing I want to mention is that we believe there is something way more significant than our story, and that is God’s story. We are just a pair of tiny specks and hopefully instruments in the grand scope of God’s amazing and redemptive plan. We praise God that He invites us, and each of His followers, to play a role in this plan.

Ryan and I have been married since August, 2007. We were recently invited to join an organization called World Team as church planters in France, and we are now developing financial and prayer partnerships so that we can get to the field. When it comes to Christian ministry, I mostly knew what I was getting into (at least in theory) when Ryan and I were married in 2007. I knew that Ryan felt called by God to go into full-time ministry, I also knew that he had an adventurous spirit and wanted to live overseas. He had proved this when, during our year engagement, he spent ten months doing ministry in Turkey. While he was in Turkey we began to think and pray about church planting and also about Europe. Eventually we landed on France, and the Paris area because that seemed to be where things happen in France. Then we started searching for organizations that did church planting in Paris and eventually discovered World Team. We wanted to go and see the work that was happening there, and had an amazing opportunity to do just that the summer of 2010. We spent 7 weeks in Paris visiting the World Team church plants and helping in any ways we could. This was huge for me personally because as I mentioned, ministry seemed nice in theory, but I really needed some practical experience and to hear from God that He was calling me to this too. I believe God spoke loud and clear, and I am so excited not just to be a supportive wife but also to be a key player, approved by God to minister to the French.

Now for a little more background. Ryan and I are both from Springfield, Ohio. Ryan grew up in a Christian home with loving parents Steve and Marcie and two brothers Michael and Chris. Ryan is very intelligent, even as a toddler he would memorize books and scare passers-by who thought some baby was reading books. In addition to his love of learning he also loved to play basketball, watch the Simpsons and listen to rock music. Throughout childhood and into adulthood, Ryan did not always believe God existed. He had many questions and doubts that he wanted to discuss with Christians, but was always told that he just needed to believe. He went to The Ohio State University for college and began getting to know several guys that were involved with Campus Crusade for Christ (mostly because they were always dropping by his room and inviting him to things). These guys welcomed Ryan’s doubts and questions and encouraged him as he wrestled to decide if he believed God existed or not. For Ryan one thing was clear, either God existed and it had huge implications for his life, or God did not exist and that was that. After a year or so of pouring over his Bible, other books, and discussing it with many people, Ryan truly believed that God existed, that Jesus is Lord, and that he should alter the course of his life and go into ministry.

I (Erin) also have loving parents Rob and Carol Mercer, and an older brother Nick. As a kid I loved to draw and paint and to play soccer and softball. I attended Southgate Baptist Church with my mom every Sunday and prayed to accept Jesus into my heart in a Sunday school class in second grade. I continued to be a part of the youth group in middle school and high school, but I never realized that I needed to have a personal relationship with God. My first couple years of college I was not connected to a church body and as a result of this isolation the gaps in my faith bubbled to the surface. I felt like I was following all the rules but I had lost sight of God and couldn’t remember what the point of being a Christian really was. So I walked away from God and began drinking, serial dating and generally doing whatever I felt like doing. It was fun at first, but after a while I began to feel more empty and lost than ever. I still knew that God existed and that He was challenging my way of life. God used some friends to challenge and to encourage me. One friend sent me an email with two bible references in the subject line (Romans 12:2 and Philippians 1:9-10). Two or three days later, the Romans verse showed up in a book I was reading. I was mildly annoyed by this slight coincidence. Another few days later, I went out for a friend’s birthday and drank more than ever before. The next morning (Sunday) not only was I physically sick but I was spiritually sick. I decided to go to church that evening with a friend and wouldn’t you know the sermon was all about (Philippians 1:9-10). The message cut straight to my heart and I re-dedicated my life to Jesus Christ that night. Afterwards, I began to attend the Village Vineyard Church in Columbus, Ohio. The people were transparent in their lives and their faith. I learned that being a Christian was so much more than believing in Jesus as my Savior, it was about Jesus being my Lord, and serving Him with every aspect of my life.

Now we are in the process of trusting God to get to France, and to continue to lead and use us once there. We’re excited, nervous, giddy at times, and more than a little overwhelmed. But we couldn’t imagine anything better than following the Lord where he is leading us, even when the way looks long and unfamiliar.

How you can help

Our desire is to begin communities of believers in France, but there is no way we can do it on our own. We need partners. We need people to cheer us on, to pray for us, and invest in the work that God is doing. We are simply parts of the Body of Christ, and we can’t function unless others work together with us. So here are three very tangible ways you can help.

1) Pray. There is a passage in the book of Acts where Peter is in jail and it seems more than certain that he is going to be executed, but despite what looks like a certain death there is a simple line that says, “but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.” God miraculously frees Peter from prison, and he escapes execution. The lesson we can draw from this story is that prayer is powerful. Prayer can bring about what is seemingly impossible. We need people earnestly praying to God for us, for our journey to France, and for the work there. You can check our blog for prayer updates or email us to be put on our prayer letter. Whatever way you choose, we would treasure and value your earnest prayer on our behalf.

2) Give. I read about a pastor once who encouraged people to “diversify their Kingdom portfolio.” There are a host of good things we should be giving to: relief efforts, our own churches, individual missionaries, etc. Why not consider giving to see the Gospel brought to a place of spiritual darkness? Who knows how far your investment could go, and how many people’s lives could be transformed by your giving? If you want to invest in bringing the Gospel to France by supporting us financially, go to the giving page, and choose the way of giving that you prefer. Make checks payable to World Team, and plug in our names as the people you would like to support. That you would want to partner with us by giving, not only humbles us but encourages us that much more to be faithful to God’s mission.

3) Advocate. Spread the word. Tell people about the need in France, and about the work that is taking place. We often think of the mission field as places like Africa, Asia, or South America. But the truth is all three of those regions are much better off, spiritually speaking, than France. The Church in Africa, South America, and Asia is growing by leaps and bounds, while the French Church has been in decline for almost one hundred years. It is time to see France and the rest of Europe as a region in need of missionaries. If you can open someone’s eyes to the need for the Gospel in France, then who knows how God could use them?

So, you could help by praying, giving, and advocating. As the Body of Christ we all must work together to help accomplish God’s purposes in the world. We’d love for you to work together with us.

Why Plant Churches?

From the very beginning of the Bible God wanted to create a people for himself through which he would work in the world. In Genesis 12 God called Abraham and said to him, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” God chose Abraham so that through Abraham’s descendants God could bless all the peoples on earth. Abraham’s descendants become the nation of Israel, and their entire history is the up and down journey of God attempting to fulfill his promise to Abraham.

At the end of the Old Testament these promises looked stalled. The prophets had been predicting great things for the people of Israel, but the reality was that they had just recently come back to their ancestral home-land and were facing a host of challenges and set backs. It’s into this world that Jesus steps. His mission is to carry out God’s will by taking the plan of blessing forward. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection are the climax of the story that started back in Genesis. Through his death and resurrection Jesus defeated sin and death allowing God’s blessing to move out into the wider world. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to his followers so that they could carry on the mission that he began, which was to bring God’s reign and rule to bear on earth, extending his blessing to the nations.

In Matthew 28 Jesus tells his disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus gives his mission over to his followers and continues to work through them by his Spirit even now. Planting churches is about establishing communities of people who follow Jesus. We plant churches because in so doing we multiply the people who are working to accomplish Jesus’ mission. We multiply people who can share the good news with others, care for the poor, and live out the lifestyle that Jesus lived. We plant churches because in so doing we plant “colonies of heaven” that can extend God’s love, grace and care to the world around them.

This is why we want to plant churches.

What is this blog about?

This blog was created by Ryan and Erin Bennett and is a chronicle of our journey to become missionary church planters with World Team in France. Since 2007, we have felt God leading us to France to help begin and train communities of believers. We want to partner with the French to accomplish God’s plans. We are still at the beginning of our journey but we are excited to share what happens along the way.

To learn how to partner with us, go here. To read our story, go here.