A Holistic Approach to Church Planting: Doctor of Ministry Alumnus Deploys Ministry in Sierra Leone

Jerry McIntosh, the founder of Willamette International, restores life and hope to Sierra Leone, Africa, through a holistic approach to church planting. Willamette International is an evangelical, Christian not-for-profit organization that provides leadership training, discipleship, and humanitarian assistance to communities in Sierra Leone, West Africa. With Grace’s Deploy program, McIntosh is providing a way for Sierra Leone to be self-sufficient, not just economically, but spiritually.

Why Sierra Leone?

Sierra Leone is a West African country with a population of 6 million people. Between 1989 and 2001, the country was involved in a civil war that has significantly influenced the country’s culture. 

“Many of the people did not receive an education during that decade,” McIntosh explains. “So it seems like anything they start with, they’re already behind in.”

Despite these challenges, McIntosh has found that the people of Sierra Leone are very receptive to the Gospel, making it an ideal area for church planting.

“The people that we meet love the Scriptures, even some of the Muslims,” McIntosh said. “We can reach these people based on our approach of cultivating a relationship, meeting a need, and then sharing our faith,” said McIntosh.

Holistic church planting — why not?

A major goal for Willamette is to provide a holistic approach to church planting. It has been involved in Sierra Leone since 2003. After a scouting trip, the organization began to run medical teams in Sierra Leone. 

They sent medical professionals to work in a church, therefore serving as a witness for that church in the community. The people of Sierra Leone jumped at the opportunity for medical help, even though some of them didn’t need to receive services.

“We did a lot of treatment for malaria and iron deficiencies,” said McIntosh. 

This gave Willamette a unique opportunity, as the team could minister and pray for the people. 

While medical help was the start of ministry in Sierra Leone, it opened a gateway for many other ministries. Through founding Willamette, a ministry dedicated to providing a holistic approach to church planting. Willamette strives to help Sierra Leoneans stand on their own two feet by providing medical teams, education, business, and churches. McIntosh gives thanks to God for how his ministry has been able to bless Sierra Leone.

“We started with medicine,” said McIntosh. “That advanced to water, which has advanced to an orphanage. We’ve included a Bible institute there, and we have about 25 churches, most of which have a school, a well, and some type of business development.”

McIntosh’s motto in life is “Why not?”. When asked if he wanted to run medical teams to West Africa, he responded with “Why not?” As more and more opportunities came McIntosh’s way, he would answer the same way every time: “Why not?”

McIntosh decided to lean into wherever God was calling him. Whether it was providing medical assistance, creating a school, building a well, planting a church, or initiating a variety of other projects, he was ready for the challenge.

How has Deploy played a role in Sierra Leone?

The next big task was setting up a program for Sierra Leoneans to learn sound doctrine. The leaders of Willamette ultimately decided to establish a Deploy site through Grace Theological Seminary’s Deploy program. Deploy is a competency-based program that focuses on one–on–one mentorship and earning a seminary education while working in the church.

“Most of our faculty, as it happens, are Grace Seminary alumni,” said McIntosh. “It was a natural fit for us to consider Deploy, and I was intrigued by the competency-based education.” 

McIntosh recognized early on that the Bible teaching from the pulpits was inadequate. Instead of being educated in biblical doctrine, Sierra Leonean pastors were getting their information from other resources.  

“Our pastors were not trained,” said McIntosh. ”They were getting their doctrine from the radio and TV preachers.”Through Deploy, McIntosh launched Grace Bible Institute to effectively train pastors in the Word and expand their church-planting efforts. 

Grace Bible Institute is an essential step to becoming accredited in Sierra Leone. The Bible Institute has an extensive library, both physical and online. “This will be a safe space for pastors to come to study the Word of God,” said McIntosh.

At Grace Bible Institute, students are studying through Deploy. “Deploy has proven to be an effective model for our students,” said McIntosh. “They are taught a skill and put it to practice until they learn how to do it properly.”

Sierra Leonean students have unique struggles that many of the Deploy students in the U.S. do not. That’s why the program’s flexibility has been perfect for McIntosh and his students.

While educating others in the Bible is an important goal for McIntosh and his team, he doesn’t want it to stop there. 

“It’s my hope that as we use the Deploy curriculum, we will be able to engage learning at a level where they will not only hear it, do it, or see it, but that they will teach it to somebody else,” said McIntosh.

What’s in store for Sierra Leone?

“Through our affiliation with Grace Theological Seminary, I hope to create a generation of leaders who will take Sierra Leone into the future,” said McIntosh.

How will Sierra Leoneans take the first step into independence? According to McIntosh, it’s through economic growth in addition to church planting and development. 

“We have 10 medical students we’re sponsoring to go to medical school so they can be doctors and be economic leaders in their country and church,” said McIntosh

Many leaders of Willamette are missionaries sent from the U.S. However, McIntosh believes it should not stay this way. 

“I want the future leadership of the country to be Sierra Leonean, and the Deploy program will make that possible,” said McIntosh. “It will give people the competency and skills they need to not only learn the Truth in their ministry, but also lead others to do the same thing.”

“The day will come when you will be the teacher and instruct other countries in Central and West Africa about how to build a church in their own countries,” McIntosh tells his students. “That’s the goal.”

Are you interested in advancing the Gospel? Learn more about Grace Seminary and Deploy.