Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Wednesday Update: Approved!

Happy Humpday!

Many of you are tracking along with us as we endeavour to plant this church in Brookside.  I've tried to keep up with many of you and let you know whats been happening, but things happen so fast that I can't seem keep everyone in the loop. Thus the birth of the Wednesday Update! (Or Humpday Update?)

Every Wednesday I'll post an update on where we are at in the church plant process and share some prayer requests and praise reports as well.   I hope you enjoy the read and have fun walking with us along the process!

Whats New!(Praise):
    
     -A Name: We finally settled on a name for our church. Rockhill Community Church.  Rockhill is a street that runs through Brookside and the name of an area here.  It also has a great connection to our purpose which is "Helping people find their way back to God." 
     In Matt 5:14 it says "You are the light of the world. A city on a HILL cannot be hidden."  We desire to be a light in this world, build on the solid foundation of Christ that helps people find their way back to God.  It's a great feeling to settle that and move forward.
    
     -We are approved!: Christina and I drove to Springfield yesterday and spent the day being tested and interviewed.  It was the final step in a  six month process to get approved to church plant in the Southern Missouri District. Things went very well and we got the official green light to move forward as church planters!  Thanks to all of you who were praying with us, God's good and we can't wait to see what He has in store!!

Whats Next! (Prayer):
  
     -Now the real work begins. We are currently looking at several different locations to start meeting as a small group in the Brookside area. We've looked at schools, coffee houses, churches, etc.  We have some very good leads, I just want to be careful choose the best local for the growth of this launch team.
    
     -Fundraising:  Whew. I'll be honest, this one is a challenge for me.  My goal is to raise enough funds to pay my salary for one year.  I hope to free our young church of the weight of that cost as we get started and  allow us to really hit the ground running and focus all our giving toward ministry.  If you're interested in helping with this please let me know! (And don't be surprised if I send you a letter asking for support. I don't want to be an annoyance, but I'm trusting God will call people to partner with us.)

     -Recruiting: I believe God has people who he's been calling to be a part of this church.  My prayer is that we would be able to connect with them and help them get involved.  We put together a list of all the areas of ministry we'd like to start with day one and then looked at how many people it would take to staff each of those ministries: The result? 74 people!!! oh Lord. ; )  The point being we have a ton of opportunity for people to serve God and partner with us to pioneer a new faith community.  Pray with us for the workers so we can reach a harvest of hurting and disconnected people with the love of Christ! 

Getting Personal:
    
     -Here's our new family picture! (Special thanks to Jeremy Ellsworth for being an awesome photographer)
As you can see we've got our hands full.  All the boys are doing great.  God has truely blessed us with amazing kids. Christina is a superhero to keep all us boys in line!

(Left to Right: Levi, Christina, Dante, Justus, Me, Judah)

Thanks for reading and thanks for caring! We've been blessed to be a part of such a great family of friends. We love each of you.  

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