Grace London is part of a global family of churches called Advance. The network extends from Thailand to Tanzania to Texas and beyond. One fellow Advance church closer to home is Hope Church Rhondda, located in South Wales. The founding pastor, Ben Franks, preached at Grace last summer, so we asked him to update us on how the church is doing.
Tell us about yourself.
My name is Ben. I am married to Lois, and we have four kids: Evan (8), Caleb (6), and Ioan and Ivy – our twins who arrived in January! Lois and I grew up in Cardiff, but we now live in the Rhondda Valley in South Wales, a post-industrial mining area 20 miles northwest of Cardiff.
Why did you decide to plant Hope Church Rhondda?
When Lois and I were 16, a preacher came to our church from the Rhondda Valley. He shared that only 0.9% of people from the area regularly attended church. All I can say is that the Holy Spirit kicked me in the gut (and Lois too). From that day on, we knew God had called us to be involved in church planting in the Rhondda Valley.
In 2012, after we had both gone to uni, the Lord told us it was time to go. So we went. We bought a house in a town called Tonypandy, moved Lois’ business to the high street, and started meeting for church in our home with another couple. Hope Church Rhondda had been born.
What’s been happening in the life of the church since your visit to London last summer?
It has been an exciting season for Hope Church Rhondda. In January, we took a step of faith and multiplied from one congregation to three. Our valley contains many small villages, and we long to see a vibrant, gospel-centred, and spirit-filled church in each community.
The craziest thing has been that our twins arrived six weeks premature on the Tuesday after our Sunday church launch. It somewhat threw our well-made plans into chaos. But God has been so faithful, and our team has been incredible. Sometimes, it is helpful to be reminded that you are not in control, but God is!
Ben Franks preaching to us last summer
Ben also recently started a church planting initiative across Wales. Please tell us more.
I had a dream in March 2021. I am not one for having prophetic dreams, but on this occasion, I saw a website with the domain name www.100.cymru and a title in bold: What would it take to see 100 healthy churches planted in Wales in the next ten years? Along with the question were five tabs (Pray, Inspire, Equip, Send, Support), and in the dream, I clicked on each tab for instruction on how we might start a church planting initiative. It was a bit crazy!
This September, we launched a church planting initiative called 'Cant i Gymru – ‘100 for Wales’ in Welsh. Since then, we have seen five churches planted and expect at least two more this year.
How can we pray for you?
Please pray for capacity and leadership wisdom. Life can feel hectic with two newborns, two young church plants, and the church-planting initiative. We are very aware of how much we need his help, strength and guidance in this season.
Let's pray for Ben & Lois and the rest of the team at Hope Church Rhondda. Let’s pray too for 100 gospel-centred churches to be planted across Wales!