The Empart Story
In 1995, while on his honeymoon in North India, Jossy Chacko, Empart's Founder and President, met an 8 year old slum boy, who ended up sharing Jossy and Jenni's 3 week honeymoon. After this encounter, Jossy could not stop asking the question, 'Why has God placed me here on earth?' Two years of searching brought him to the unshakable conclusion that the only reason for him to exist as a disciple of Christ on earth was to fulfil the Great Commission.
After being rejected by several mission organisations he and Jenni felt that the Lord was calling them to start Empart. In 1997 they incorporated in Australia and then in November 1998 they started with a team of 5 in North India and set the goal to plant 100,000 churches by the year 2030.
From the first Transformation Centre for Church Planters in 1999, there are now hundreds of national Church Planters trained every year. They are planting churches in states all across India and Nepal - always where the name of Jesus is not known.
Jossy Chacko is the Founder and International Director of Empart.
Jossy left India at the age of 17, with $20 in his pocket, a one way ticket to Australia and a big dream to become a business success. After early struggles with no money, friends or family, he started at the bottom of a small logistics company which later grew to be listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.
Busy climbing the corporate ladder and chasing success, Jossy's life was changed forever by an encounter with an eight year old homeless boy from the slums of Delhi, culminating in the establishment of Empart in 1998. (Jossy's recent book, Madness!, describes this and other critical encounters in Jossy's journey - from being a ridiculed boy, with a mentally ill Dad, to becoming internationally recognised as a spiritual and social transformer. Purchase a copy.)
Under Jossy's visionary leadership, Empart grew from the spare bedroom of the Chacko's home to become a prolific church planting movement, bringing both spiritual and social transformation to unreached communities. Empart now averages about 3 new church plants every day, reaching about 6.5 million people every week through its various activities. With more than 2,000 full-time workers and offices in 7 countries, Empart is well positioned and on track to achieve its objectives.
Jossy has been called a modern-day Apostle Paul; he has a recognised apostolic calling and is an anointed communicator with a unique depth of wisdom. His passion and convictions challenge, motivate and inspire listeners. God's favour upon him continues to open many doors to influence and mentor political, business and church leaders around the world.
Jossy is married to Jenni; they live in Melbourne, Australia, with their four children. Jenni was born in Brisbane and spent her childhood years travelling through various countries with her missionary pilot family. She returned to Australia for tertiary study – looking like an Aussie, sounding like one most of the time and having no idea how to negotiate life here! She studied nursing and then a theological degree.
Jenni has a passion for abused and neglected women. She started Empart4Women to inform women here and around the world of the injustices that women face. The defining moment that made Jenni realise that she wanted to create change for these women was when she learnt first hand about the beheading of a woman because of her failure to give more dowry money to her in-laws.
To have Jossy or Jenni speak, contact the Empart office.
Vision
Empart exists to ignite church planting movements among unreached people in Asia.
Mission:
Our mission is to reach the unreached, restoring, releasing and resourcing them to fulfil the Great Commission, through partnership with the global body of Christ.
Primary Goal:
Our primary goal is to see 100,000 churches planted and established among unreached people in Asia by 2030.
Empart's ministry is in Asia, particularly in the region known as South Asia. Our mission countries include India, Nepal and Bhutan.
The Indian sub-continent is home to the single largest concentration of unreached people in the world.
The communities our Church Planters work amongst range from city dwellers to jungle villages and remote tribes. The one thing they have in common is their need to hear about a Saviour who loves them.
In addition to our workers in Asia, Partner Countries throughout the world help to raise funds and support. These offices are located in Australia, the USA, Switzerland, Germany and France.
If we are serious about fulfilling the Great Commission, we must focus our efforts and resources on areas with the greatest need.
The red dots on the map (above) represent people groups that have not yet heard the Gospel message. Where is the greatest concentration of unreached people groups in the world? India.
North India is home to the single largest concentration of unreached people groups in the world.
Only 0.14% of the 800 million people in North India claim to be Christians (including nominal Christians).
As a church planting movement, Empart is passionate about reaching and restoring the lives of those who have never heard about the love of Jesus.
India, and surrounding nations including Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan, are hungry for salvation. They are waiting to hear the good news of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
How will they hear if we do not take the effort to reach them and tell them?
No one person can do this alone.
However, when we partner together, we can see eternal transformation as a result.
- Bible-based and Kingdom focussed - Our first priority is always to reach the unreached.
- Empowering - it is critical to empower national leaders and workers
- Partnering (as opposed to sending) - Empart provides opportunities for churches, businesses and individuals to partner with national Christians.
- Leading - God is still raising up people with the apostolic gifts in the planting of churches.
- Leadership Training - practical, hands-on leadership training and mentoring.
- Rapid multiplication - that every believer should produce a believer, every pastor should produce a pastor, and every church should produce another church.
- Indigenous leadership - the field ministries are governed and managed by local leaders.
- Compassion ministry through church planting - every beneficiary of our compassion and care must have opportunity to hear the message of salvation. The best place for this to take place is the local church where adequate follow up and on-going encouragement and support can be given.
- Financial faith walk - encouraging workers to live by faith and to serve voluntarily with the confidence that the Lord will provide, rather than rely on a guaranteed salary.
- Contextualisation - striving to communicate the Gospel in a culturally relevant way.
- Cooperative (as opposed to competitive) - Empart does not seek to create a new denomination, the aim is to cooperate with like-minded organisations.
- Movement rather than a denomination - Empart does not intend to take people out of their churches but rather to create momentum through the Church.
We believe the Bible to be the inspired, infallible and authoritative Word of God
- 2 Tim.3:16; 1 Cor. 2:13.
We believe that there is only one God, eternally existent in the three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14.
We believe that all people are created in the image of God and are equal in His eyes. Although all human beings have wonderful potential for good, they are influenced by sin. Sin separates people from God and there is no human solution for reconciliation - Rom. 5:12, 18.
We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His death and resurrection, in His ascension, and in His return - Lk.1:26-35; Jn.1:18; Is. 7:14; 9:6; Rom. 4:25;
1 Cor. 15:1-4; Jn. 14: 2, 3; 1 Thess. 4:13-18.
We believe that redemption from guilt and sin is only through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. Only through appropriating God's offer of forgiveness through Christ can people be saved from sin's penalty. Eph.2:8, 9; Heb. 9:12, 22; Rom. 5:11
Those who believe in Jesus Christ receive eternal life - Jn. 5:24; 3:16 - while those who refuse to believe in Jesus Christ will receive eternal punishment - Mk. 9:43-48; 2 Thess. 1:8-9; Rev. 20: 10-15.
We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a Godly life - Acts 2:1-4;8:14-17; 10:44-46; Gal. 3:14,15; 5:22; 1 Cor. 14:1-4, 15; Jude 20.
We believe in the one true universal church made up of genuine believers and comprising many churches in various localities each expressing its uniqueness under the headship of Jesus Christ. We believe in the spiritual unity of all believers in Christ. Each local congregation exists for the purpose of worship, prayer, teaching, encouraging, mutual accountability and community with each other - Col 1:18-23; 1 Cor. 12:12-26.
We believe that it is the responsibility of every Christian to work towards the fulfilment of the Great Commission - reaching the lost with the light of the Gospel, to restore them as disciples of Christ and release them to bring others into the Light - Acts 15:22; Matt. 28:18-20.