What I Learned About Church Planting From Rich DeVos

Henry Reyenga

Try Or Cry

Give church planting a try! 

You can make excuses about not having the right education or experience, not coming from the right background, being afraid to attempt something new or a challenge that appears too daunting. You can sit around and cry about what you perceive as a life stacked against you, or you can try. Just try, and if you fail, try again. In my experience, trying always beats crying.

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (pp. 68-70). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Be A Positive Dad Or Mom To Your Church Planter Children

Make it a joy to be in a church planter’s home.

My father was a very positive man. He believed in the power of positive thinking, and he preached it even though his own life wasn’t as successful as he would have hoped…He would always tell me, “You’re going to do great things. You’re going to do better than I’ve ever done. You’re going to go farther than I’ve ever gone. You’re going to see things I’ve never seen.”

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (pp. 12-13). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Facing Challenges With Great Attitude

Church planting is about keeping going.

But for reasons I cannot explain, we simply took rejection and any negativity in stride and kept going. Perhaps experience had ingrained this positive attitude within us. Whatever it was, we simply had the capacity or personalities to do whatever it took to brush off objections and just keep going. And I think we also had the distinct advantage of being able to encourage each other through the setbacks.

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (p. 76). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Husband And Wife Together

The best church planters include their spouses.

I introduced him first and, separately, I introduced his wife. Joe later pulled me aside and said, “You’re doing the introduction wrong. It’s Joe and Helyne Victor. We need to recognize Helyne as an equal partner in this business.” That was a sound piece of advice. And that’s how we refer in spoken introductions and print to all married couples in the business to this day.

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (p. 118). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Walk Narrative Communications

Church planting message that flows out of your walk with God daily. 

They taught me that the key to public speaking is to use illustrations. Tell stories, preferably from your own experiences. If you talk about something that happened in your own life, you don’t need notes, because you lived it. So stories from personal experience are usually the best.

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (p. 156). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Develop A Great Work Ethic! 

Church planting is hard work and responsibility.

Those experiences and lessons from my paper route and household chores were the foundation for becoming, at a young age, a diligent worker with a sense of responsibility, an eye toward detail, and an appreciation for pleasing customers.

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (pp. 17-18). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Walk Based Life And Church

Connection relationships important in church planting.

Honor your parents, set aside money for the Lord’s work, give to others, be honest, work hard, and strive for good mental attitudes. We did not share a meal before first giving thanks for it in prayer, and when the meal was over we’d read a portion of scripture.

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (p. 11). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Be A Mentor And Encourager

See potential in young people.

When I graduated, my gentle, scholarly Bible teacher, Dr. Leonard Greenway, wrote a line in my yearbook that I never forgot— just one simple line of encouragement: “To a clean-cut young man with talents for leadership in God’s kingdom.” His line was simple but a great source of inspiration to a young man who was not a good student and had been told he was not college material. But a teacher whom I admired had seen me as a leader! Wow! I’d never thought of myself in that way before.

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (pp. 23-24). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Be A Cheerleader

A church planter Is Encourager-in-Chief.

I still refer to myself as a “cheerleader” because I keep encouraging others to have confidence and to use their talents to follow their dreams. It’s been one of the most important reasons for my success and my helping others succeed.

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (p. 22). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Facing Opposition 

Secular experts have discredited salvation from God. 

Doctors, especially, were opposed to us. Some told patients who were our customers, “You don’t need any of that stuff; it’s phony.” Today, of course, daily vitamins and mineral supplements are accepted within the medical community. But in those days supplemental nutrition was frowned upon, not always because doctors doubted their value, but because we were intruding into their world.

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (p. 83). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Organize Others To Help You

Raise up leaders to help you reach people.

We also would ask people to host meetings in their homes and invite as many people as they could think of— friends, relatives, neighbors, church members, coworkers, whomever.

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (p. 82). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Make The Point Deeply

Church planters keep improving their public communication.

The Carnegie method also taught a speech formula. First, make sure you always tell your audience the subject of your speech. I’ve heard too many speakers talk but never tell me what they were really talking about. They talked about a lot of things, but I wanted to know , “What is the subject today? What are we going to be talking about? What’s the point of this?” Second, tell the audience why we’re going to talk about the subject. Why is the topic important? And third, illustrate the point of the speech. Illustrate, illustrate, illustrate!

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (p. 156). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Keep Your Word

Keep your promises to your church and leaders.

So I’m charging you to remember what you have promised people you will do and make sure you keep on doing it. This thing is rolling so fast and is going to be so big that the things you do today and the things you set in place today are going to be very important. God has blessed you and you’re going to be held accountable for your promises.” That was a precious time for me— hearing my dad’s wise and caring words.

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (p. 111). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Lead Out Of Respect

The church planter must lead. 

I think this was a key lesson for us about the true meaning of leadership. For one thing, Jay and I decided that it was essential for us to lead, and we must have the courage to lead. The fact that everyone followed also was meaningful. I believe they followed not only because they respected Jay and me, but because our asking them to join us showed that we respected them. To this day, I firmly believe that effective leaders only truly gain respect by showing respect.

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (p. 95). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Help Leaders Keep Proclaiming The Gospel

The gospel is central in church planting.

AS STRONGLY AS I believe in free enterprise, optimism, and other principles I’ve shared in this book, I believe in one thing even more strongly: a personal God, in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the mission of His church. I’ve never tried to force my personal faith on others but I am willing to declare my faith publicly. If my faith has been such a rewarding and fulfilling part of my life, how could I not share such good news with others?

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (p. 218). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Stay In The Building Stage

Church planters think like builders.

I once even shared “The Four Stages” with President Gerald Ford. The speech covers four stages in the development of any organization: building, management, defending, and blaming. I had known Gerald Ford since he was our U.S. congressman from Grand Rapids. I was visiting him in the Oval Office one day, and was told I would have ten minutes to spend chatting with him.

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (p. 158). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Learning To Be Cross-Cultural

A church planter leader learns how to get the message across appropriately.

The first time I tried to use a joke in China I got no reaction from the audience. The same joke that usually got a laugh from English-speaking audiences resulted in dead silence from the Chinese. While speaking in foreign countries I also avoid anything related to politics, because I’m not in my own country, and I’m not authorized by Amway to express my opinions. So I find something else to talk about.

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (p. 161). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Never Forget Who You Are

 Church planters need to freely connect their testimony narratives.

Standing at the podium and looking out over the crowd after my grand introduction, I thanked the man for his generous words, but added, “That introduction really doesn’t describe me. Let me tell you who I really am. I’m a sinner, saved by grace— a Christian, saved by Jesus Christ. That’s who I really am.” This all happened more than twenty years ago, and I’ve often introduced myself that way since, even with non-Christian groups of people.

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (p. 212). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Handling Recognition Well

Recognition will encourage or kill a church planter.

Standing backstage in an arena seating tens of thousands, listening to your glowing introduction, and then hearing thunderous applause as you step into the spotlight can be a very heady experience. But I have tried to not let it go to my head. For one thing, I know I’m just a sinner saved by grace— not a rock star, even if some people may have treated me as one. I believe the response I feel in those moments has been one of gratitude.

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (pp. 189-190). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Cultivate Stages For Others

Church planters cultivate stages for others.

Honoring people who have done things that are worthy of being covered by the media, or are applauded and receive a standing ovation, is something we need to cultivate. 

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (p. 194). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Person To Person Business

Person to person church planting.

WE EVENTUALLY STOPPED GOING door -to-door and making cold calls, because we had come to understand that ours was a person-to-person business. Instead we made lists of everyone we knew and asked them to refer people they knew, and started seeing customers by appointment.

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (p. 82). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Church Planting Is About Growth

Get good at reaching out.

Many leaders in the church see the numbers dwindling and say they are not good at bringing in new members. I tell them, “You’d better become good at it or the church will die.” If an Amway group didn’t continue to add members, I would tell them they were going to fail. That’s the same challenge facing our churches.

DeVos, Rich (2014-04-01). Simply Rich: Life and Lessons from the Cofounder of Amway: A Memoir (p. 279). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. 

Last modified: Monday, January 25, 2021, 10:30 AM