Simbalay

This is the title of our new book designed to equip our house church leaders. More like a leadership manual, it has been 3 years in the making and testing. “Simba” is the Ilonggo word for worship, and “balay” is the word for house. But as we explain to others, it’s much more than about having church in your home.

New Testament churches were led by common people who had an extra common level of spiritual yieldedness. Of our 25+ house churches, only 2 are led by a leader with any Bible school training. The majority are led by farmers, carpenters, business people, and even students who have demonstrated an added measure of maturity and a higher level of obedience to the Lord.

Our Simbalay book contains a list of 100 stories from the life of Jesus, with about a dozen questions for each story that our house church leaders use in leading their simbalay to dig out life-changing truths from God’s Word. Their worship style is simple: fellowship, prayer, one or two songs in the local dialect, then discovery time as everyone participates in exploring God’s Word.

Since there are no buildings to pay for, pastor to support, or programs to fund, all giving is done to help others in need. Years ago, we missionaries would spend lots of time leading seminars on how to make a church budget, develop a stewardship campaign, organize associations, or learning to preach. Now my training is single-focused: how to evangelize your family, friends, and neighbors, then group them into a nurturing ‘simbalay’.

Our Simbalay book is like an instruction manual for our house church leaders on how to evangelize, form a simbalay, lead its worship, and make disciples of every member so that they, too, will one day start their own simbalay among their family and friends. For example, of the 200 people we have seen baptized in the past couple of years, I have baptized less than 10% of them. Instead, parents are baptizing their children and friends are baptizing their friends.

We explain to others that there is nothing wrong with our western style traditional churches with their buildings, staff, and programs. It’s just that they are hard to reproduce. Our goal here is to see a rapid multiplication of dynamic churches that are bringing in more believers into God’s kingdom. For that, we need churches that are simple enough to be easily reproduced, and mature enough to “make disciples of all people.” Please pause now and pray for us, that me and our leaders will have the vision of seeing “every knee bow, and every tongue confess” that Jesus Christ is Lord!