Plant a self-replicating, spirit-filled church in every community
Origins
Thanks to the steadfast work of thousands of foreign missionaries over hundreds of years, we were able to birth a new era of missions centered around empowering qualified native workers to spread the gospel to their own people. A native speaks the language, understands the culture and lives comfortably in the same conditions as the people they evangelize.
This concept inspired Larry Stockstill, who was Lead Pastor of Bethany Church in Baton Rouge, LA, to start Surge (then the Global 12 Project) in 2001. He gathering apostolic leaders he was in close relationship with in Switzerland and dividing the world into 12 regions each with an appointed Regional Director. They began equipping spiritual sons to plant churches and provided funds for the pastor’s first-year needs. This strategy has led to exponential growth in advancing the Gospel through church planting in the most cost-effective way possible.
To learn more about the history and vision of Surge, claim your free copy of the informative and inspiration Surge by Larry Stockstill book today.
Today
Surge has consistently grown since its founding year and has planted thousands of churches around the world. In 2020, Larry transitioned the Executive Director leadership role to his son, Joel, to continue the vision into a new era of global technological advancements and next-generation leaders.
Global Leadership Team
-
James Pursifull
Central America
-
Steven Finke
South America
-
Steve Mills
Africa
-
Nikolai Zalutsky
Eastern Europe
-
Morris Yeedoun
Francophone Africa
-
Paulus Wiratno
Southeast Asia
-
Identity Protected
South Asia
-
Philip Murdoch
Advisory Church, Brazil
-
Don Matheny
Advisory Church, Kenya
-
KB Basel
Advisory Church, Nepal
Board of Directors
-
Joel Stockstill
Executive Director & Chairman of the Board
-
Larry Stockstill
Surge Founder & Pastors University Founder
-
Steve Mills
Partnerships Director & Vision International University Director
-
Mike Ware
Founding Pastor of Victory Church in Colorado
Get A Free Copy Of The Surge
Want To Know More About Our History & Vision?
You Only Pay Shipping
Approach
We Only Plant Churches.
Surge is focused exclusively on planting reproducing churches that start Christian communities (see our statement of faith) and train disciples across the globe. We are thankful for the work of other needs-based initiatives that tackle issues like orphan care, water wells, and medical aid. Our network of local churches is helpful in providing these causes the Kingdom infrastructure and network necessary to accomplish their vision, but we have a singular focus.
For church planters around the world, we provide the 3 most essential components necessary to be effective: relationship, training, and coaching.
Relationship - It’s so essential for a pastor to be encouraged in the lonely and difficult task of planting a new church.
Training - The most critical factor that determines whether a pastor will be successful in planting a new church is how well-trained and prepared he is.
Coaching - We believe in imparting foundational principles of faith, fostering leadership skills, and assisting in the development of local community engagement strategies. The aim is to empower these budding churches to be self-sustaining, culturally integrated, and effectively sharing their faith in diverse global contexts.
Fellowship With All, Partner With Some, Build On Sons.
We aren’t affiliated with any denomination. We align with anyone spreading the good news of the redemptive work of Jesus (“fellowship with all”). Sometimes, we help fund pastors planting through trusted leaders, denominations, and networks (“partner with some”). The majority of our work is built on a network of spiritual sons. A spiritual son is a faithful believer that has been discipled by a trusted pastor at one of our existing church plants. This is how churches reproduce and multiply!
Global Reach.
We have a presence in nearly 143 countries and are most actively planting in 25+ nations. Instead of targeting locations on a map, the planting process is far more organic and is heavily dictated by the desire of the planting pastor. We trust the Holy Spirit to call the right planter to a ripe area.
Training Nationals.
We are incredibly thankful for the work of foreign missionaries and recognize the needed contribution they make worldwide. At Surge, our strategy is to train nationals to plant in their home countries. We have observed a higher success rate and greater longevity using locals largely due to being free from the obstacles of language and cultural barriers.