‘Any town, no matter how many churches they have, needs more’

God’s eternal longing for everyone to find new life in Christ motivates Ben Cloud to drive hours to make disciples in small Southwest towns. 

Cloud and his wife Mandy, based an hour south of Phoenix, creatively plant Converge churches in isolated communities. They were on sabbatical in 2020 when a coffee shop owner suggested they plant a church in Pinetop, Arizona, a small town in the White Mountains.

“We started to gain the heart for small-town America,” Cloud said of God’s work in his family. “You have to fall in love with the town because the Holy Spirit’s given you love for it.” 

Since 2006, they’ve increasingly been a part of launching Amadeo churches with redemptive Sunday services for communities who need missional, biblical and Spirit-led endeavors. These churches need leaders with grit, creativity and an ability to build genuine relationships.

That approach is essential because God’s message to Cloud, now 52, has been simple: be the love of God. Amadeo became the church’s name because the Latin word means lover of God or the love of God.

Cloud said he is seeking to help communities become places that demonstrate the love of God in their service, words and actions.

The Clouds started a used bookstore two years ago in Pinetop-Lakeside, population 4030, to engage locals through practical and felt needs. That bookstore on Main Street is also where the church worships on Sunday evenings.

Out of that church came another church an hour north of Pinetop in Taylor/Snowflake, a town of 6104 people. A man who helped start the Pinetop church grew up in Snowflake, so he and his wife sold everything to launch the Taylor/Snowflake church. 

More recently, Ben Cloud has been driving four hours to Silver City, New Mexico, population 9704. Silver City residents who visited the Pinetop church asked Cloud to consider planting in that community.

“I’m in love with all the small towns in between,” his Queen Creek home and the other communities, he said. “Each of these towns seems like a new town for the gospel. Any town, no matter how many churches they have, needs more.”

Converge’s 10 U.S. regions have committed to deploying 312 church planters before 2026. Read more inspiring church planting stories and learn about the goal to send out 312 church planters before 2026.