Rural or Urban Focus?

I have been having a sometimes lively discussion with some friends about where to focus church multiplication efforts. The vast majority of contemporary mission articles and literature, suggests that mission workers should focus on cities. The idea is that hopes that once movements are started in urban areas then they progress out to the countryside. Promoters of this view point the example of Paul and how he focused on cities. The reply that I have to this is that the movement did not start with Paul but with Christ. George Patterson points out that Christ did not chose to begin His movement in the city. It most likely would have lead to the premature end to the disciples. Patterson writes, "Christ centered His work up river from Jerusalem, where folks spoke with a backward accent." Throughout Church History great people movements for Christ have started in rural areas. For example one of the largest and earliest movements in Southeast Asia started among the rural Sgaw Karen. The apostle of this movement, Ko Tha Byu, evangelized in his native river delta area of southern Burma back in the mid 1800s. This movement later spread into the capital city. This has been my experience as well. The one hundred and fifty churches that
we have seen first started in villages and only two years later made its way down to the capital where I have been living. Jesus focused on the poor rednecks first! Only later did the peoples of the upper/educated class start to come to Him in large nu bers.