update

Spent most of the day contacting folks, finishing up my Galatians series, and putting together a small group leadership guideline. Interesting!! Tomorrow we will prepare to write an update letter to all or our friends and contacts around the country. We desperately need prayer partners to come along side of us as we continue on this journey.

This weekend we hope to travel up to Kristina's parents and visit with them a while. I may get to load a few pictures into the blog from there. We shall see. While in the Tri-cities we plan to connect with some old friends and discuss a church planting venture for that area. Only God knows what will come of that. We are also going to see how we can assist the Hispanic population in that part of the country. As in most places the Latino %'s are growing at a rapid pace.

Next week should be D-week for the Hispanic Ministry here in Columbia. I'm pumped and excited about this opportunity.

Edison is doing well in Venezuela. We are still not sure what the vote results are going to mean to our church planting efforts in Venezuela, but we are praying that if anything it will increase the wind in our sails. There is so much more to be accomplished.

Connor is continuing to do well in his studies. Homeschooling is definitely work, but it is giving us a little bit more freedom to make adjustments in our ministry.

Thanks for your prayers!!

Today

Today I was robbed...I paid almost $300 to get tags in South Carolina. To be honest, I've never really felt this violated before. (lol)

This morning Kristina and I started adjusting the pieces of our life puzzle as we prepare to launch small groups & more leadership training in Pelion, and launch a Latino congregation.

In trying to prepare I spent most of the day studying for the sermon series I'm teaching at CornerStone. I suspect that the next few weeks are going to be extremely busy, so I needed to take some time up front. After all I needed to be reminded of our great the freedom we have in Christ is...sometimes we just forget.

Mateo, a grad student at CIU emailed today and is interested in assisting with the Hispanic plant. God just keeps bringing people together. Part of today was scheduling coffee meetings and get togethers for the various contacts that God has put in our path. I stand amazed as his workings.

Please continue to pray for us as we launch this new ministry, I've done this before, but it still causes some anxiety. I suppose I'm just being reminded that I can do nothing without Christ.

Prep Week!!!

Well, this is prep week. Kristina and I will be working hard to get all of our stuff in order as the week after Labor Day, we intend to hit the ground running hard. CornerStone church in Pelion is getting ready to launch its small groups, and the Spanish plant is going to begin the initial steps of its journey.

As we continue to work and lead these projects, please keep us in your prayers.

For our Tri-cities friends, we hope to be up in that area Labor Day, if anyone is free give me a shout.

Peace

St. Augustine

If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject
what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but
yourself.
... St. Augustine (354-430)

I always did like Augustine

Burning Man

Randy Bohlender, a friend of mine is own his way to Burning Man to minister through random (well organized) acts of kindness. I believe that this is Randy's 3rd trip and God has given him favor with the organizers, so please pray that his time there will be fruitful. Check out Randy's blog in the links on the right side of this blog.

Interesting Quote

Among our own people also the church sorely needs clergy
in close touch with the ordinary life of the laity, living the
life of ordinary men, sharing their difficulties and
understanding their trials by close personal experience.
Stipendiary clergy cut off by training and life from that
common experience are constantly struggling to get close to
the laity by wearing lay clothing, sharing in lay amusements,
and organizing lay clubs; but they never quite succeed. To get
close to men, it is necessary really to share their
experience, and to share their experience is to share it by
being in it, not merely to come as near to it as possible
without being in it.
... Roland Allen (1869-1947), The Case for Voluntary
Clergy [1930]

Neighbors

Just spent the last couple of hours sitting on my neighbors front porch, along with another set of neighbors. We enjoyed some cold pizza,cheetos,cold drinks and some fun conversation. Tim, one of my neighbors boyfriend (just met him tonight) invited me to start joining him and some of his buddies in sand volleyball on Thursday nights. Kristina, and I have been praying for God to open up doors for us to plug into some of our neighbors lives...seems like he is answering.

It is amazing the transformation that is taking place on our cul-de-sac. 2 months ago nobody hardly ever hung out, and now people are chatting in the driveways after work, loaning each other gardening tools, sitting on their front porches and chatting till late hours of the night. I hate to brag (yea right!!), but my wife is the instigator of this whole awakening. She has prayed and worked hard at developing relationships and getting connected to people in our neighborhood. What excites me even more, is that we've now expanded beyond our cul-de-sac and are starting to meet people who live around the corner. It is truly amazing.

Sowing the seeds of friendship and community takes a lot of extra work and time, but when you see the fruit of your labor it is worth it all. Maybe that book I often read that says "love your neighbor" really is worth paying attention to.

Good Night

Kristina spent a couple of hours tonight with a few motivate individuals who are interested in starting house churches in their homes. We only (really) expected one person to show up, but ended up with five. That was nice. Hopefully we can keep the blog updated on the results of the meeting.

Phil, the young man who is coming to assist us in planting the Hispanic church should be here in the next few weeks. It is exciting to know that I'm going to get a chance to work with the Hispanic community again.

A third project seems to be picking up some steam. We shall see what God does with it. In the next 2-3 weeks we will be meeting with another group of people about starting a network of house churches in a local area. So...life is getting interesting.

Of course, Kristina and I are trying to make some long-term decisions as well so please continue to pray.

Thanks for praying for Connor's homeschooling. So far, the boy is doing an amazing job...thanks.

Dinner & a Show

Wow! What a night. We had dinner with Jeff and Allison Shipman. Jeff is the lead guy at Crossroads, the point church for Mission Columbia.

There youngest boy has CF, but he is a ball of energy. He can crawl at nascar speeds, and has a wonderful attitude. It was so cool having them over to enjoy some of my wife's awesome fajitas.

Jeff was an encouragement to Kristina and I and he challenged us as well.

Thanks Jeff!!

Once again...Prayer

I'd like to thank those who have been praying for my family and I, as well as the requests mentioned in the previous post. THANKS!

However, Kristina and I would like to ask our friends to join us in prayer far a couple of tough situations that we will be facing in the next couple of months. No need for long stories (and yes we are OK for all of those who think the worst), there are just some tough decisions ahead, and probably a few stressful days. It is a priviledge to have some of you who read this blog pray for us...

Your thoughts and prayers are deeply appreciated.

Peace to you all!!

3 big prayer requests

1. Venezuela is voting tomorrow whether or not to oust the current president, Hugo Chavez. There is a high potential for violence, and if Chavez wins Venezuela could possible become the next Cuba. Please pray for my parents safety, and for the work that Edison is doing in Maracaibo.

2. Connor, our son, started home-schooling this week. It has been a good adjustment, but I'm sure he would appreciate your prayers. I love this kid!!!!!

3. After months of hinting around and dragging our feet, Kristina and I are going to start raising some support for the various projects that God has placed at our feet. Please pray for wisdom and guidance.

More Updates

Thursday night, I had the pleasure to meet Phil Drake. Phil is a local seminary student who is interested in assisting in outreach efforts with the Hispanic church plant. His ultimate goal is to become a church-planting missionary in Costa Rica. It blows me away at how God keeps putting people in our path.

Our new neighbor across the street introduced us to her sister who happens to be a professional clown. She is insisting that we use her in some of our outreach events with the Hispanics. That is just way to cool.

Kristina and I checked out a local gourmet store, I'm looking for a place to get some "real" coffee. To my surprise the owner of the store is from Bolivia. There is no escape from the Hispanic culture for me...lol.

It seems that the week after labor day we will be starting a small group in our home for all of the friends we have made on our cul-de-sac. Kristina is really using her gifts to connect with all of our neighbors. Now we are starting to meet people around the corner on the next street. God is good!

Next week the pace is going to pick up as I start contacting more of our potential Hispanic contacts, and start meeting one-on-one with a variety of people that are connected to our ministry.

See ya around

Play by Play

My friend, John Reeves and I connected for lunch this week. John is the founder of Xpansion, my band of brothers. At times since I've known John it has seemed that we've had conflicting visions, but every time we hook up, it is obvious that our hearts beat a similar rhythm. The sad part of all this is that we only live about 10 miles from each other and we've only connected for lunch twice. I need to work on that.

Rick Parks another local trouble maker and I are getting together this Sunday night. Rick, and his wife Angie, has been exploring where their next stop in ministry is going to be. There are only a handful of people I would go out of my way to work with , and Rick and Angie are at the top of that list. Kristina and I are honored to be called their friends.

Pete Murphy and I have been discussing what a church plant on the Red Bank side of Lexington might look like. It has been a pleasure developing a friendship with the Murphy family, and seeing God stir similar visions in our hearts. Later this month, we are hoping to have a cookout aimed at bringing some potential ministry partners for this project together. Please pray.

Well, that about sums up the last few days and some of the things that are happening and who they are happening with.

Peace to you!!

Please Pray...

Last night at my house we enjoyed the presence of our friends Greg & Becky Davis. They are missionaries with Proclaim. Currently they have around 70% of their support and are hoping to raise the rest by September so they can go ahead and move to Germany.

Germany would be their launching pad to serving Christ throughout Europe. Please pray for these friends of mine, and check out their ministry site.

Venezuela

The Venezuelan project is starting to move forward. It appears that a young pastor by the name of Edison is willing to take point for this project. Edison can do much more on much less than what it would take to move our whole family and set up shop in Venezuela.

As of right now, my role will be chief cheerleader, and coach. Wow, now that is a bad mental picture! Starting around the 1st of the year (once we get the funds raised), Kristina and I will probably be conducting some training venues (1-3 times per year). We hope that the Hispanic plant(s) here in the U.S. can take an active role in the evangelization of Central & South America.

Please pray for Edison. He has planted 2-4 churches already, and is exciting about seeing God move in mighty ways across Venezuela.

Columbia, S.C.

Phil Biddulph, a MK from Spain, is going to be moving up from Naples, Florida to assist in the planting of a Hispanic church in Columbia, South Carolina. This will be a hands-on experience in preperation for returning to Spain a few years down the road.

It appears that Esteban and Danielle Cevallos (Esteban is my friend from Ecuador) will also be joining the adventure...this is way to cool.

Last night I met a local pastor and a MK from Peru who recently took a missions trip to Venezuela. They are hoping to bring some of the Venezuelan leaders they worked with up here to the U.S. for a couple of weeks and they may partner with us in doing some evangelistic activities to assist in the church plant.

All in all, this project has been picking up some steam and seems to be moving forward at a rapid pace. I will attempt to keep the expedition log up-to-date and maybe have some of you guys join in on the fun.

The adventure is starting to gain some focus as we begin to lay the groundwork for a Latino ministry/church plant in Columbia, S.C. Columbia is home to more than 30,000 Latinos and we believe that it will be the first of multiple projects designed to encourage, equip, and empower the Latino community.

We will be posting more contact and project info in the next few days so please check back frequently.