Missions was not an option.

“Right off we knew we wanted to take part in church planting and taking the Gospel to the nations,” said Johnny Grimes, a pastor and church planter. “There was no debate in it. We knew that is who we are.”

Branch Life in Birmingham, Ala., is a church plant that grew from a group of non-believers seeking truth. While serving on a local church staff, Grimes led a few men in a Bible study. When some of them became believers and hungered for a deeper knowledge of what it means to follow Christ, Grimes agreed to lead them in examining systematic theology.

Four years later this core group became a church of seven. Within four weeks they grew to about 25 people. Today, 1 1/2 years later, about 75 people–a mixture of punk and indie rockers, hipsters and an “older generation,” all ranging in age from their 20s to their 60s–meet in a two-story building in the heart of Birmingham’s business district. Even though their members make up a variety of demographics, Grimes said they’re on the same page–they have a passion for telling the world about Jesus.

Grimes said he’s always been fascinated with London. He learned more about its lostness while at an Upstream Collective conference hosted by a Branch Life sponsoring church, Hunter Street Baptist Church. Here Grimes started asking questions and taking steps toward international involvement.

“We didn’t know what to do or how to do it. We just started talking to people who maybe had an awareness of what was going on there.

“I think people get discouraged with missions, wondering, ‘How can you plant a church and already be passionate about going to the nations?’ We just started doing it,” Grimes said. “We want to do so much more than just give money. We want to give money–yes, that’s vitally important–but we want to give time, money and resources sacrificially.”

With these goals in mind Grimes and other church members prayed and felt God confirming their desire to be involved in London. They joined a Hunter Street group that had already been planning on visiting the city, and went on a vision trip. There they identified partnerships and existing needs, and ruled out a few ideas.

Focused on the London borough of Camden–the punk rock capital of the world, according to Grimes–Branch Life’s next trip this May will include bringing musicians to play in pubs and at King’s Cross Baptist Church with the goal of developing relationships.

Grimes said Branch Life members originally thought they would commit to a few years of missional involvement in London. Then they visited the city and knew that wouldn’t be enough.

“We realized three to five years wouldn’t knock a dent in it, and it would take years and years of prayer, resources and planning,” Grimes said.

Branch Life since has committed to focus 10-15 years of sharing the Gospel in the U.K. capital, but Grimes thinks their presence will extend beyond that.

“Probably as long as we’re alive we’ll have a partnership with London,” he said. “A lasting impact in cities like (this) requires lifetime commitment on behalf of churches like us. It takes people committing their lives to sharing the Gospel.”

Grimes has no regrets when reflecting on Branch Life’s evangelistic core.

“I don’t think churches have to get to a certain amount of people, programs or finances before they need to become passionate about the nations,” he said. “Whether (your church size is) 5, 50 or 1,000, you should be passionate about taking Gospel to the nations from the start.”

Grimes said with evangelism as a part of a church’s DNA, members and visitors know that’s what Branch Life is passionate about. Missions isn’t an idea that sneaks up on them.

“It’s strategic, and it’s good stewardship of what God’s entrusted to us.”

Written by Natalie Kaspar. Natalie is a freelance writer for The Upstream Collective and lives in Texas. She served as a missionary writer based out of Prague, Czech Republic, from 2007-2009, and plans to return to full-time international mission work in a few years.