HERE'S THE DEAL

Some of you are probably wondering what's going on (I am too, so don't feel left out:)) Last week I had several really good meetings with pastors. The frustrating thing is wanting to start seeing people saved, the church growing (or even started for that matter). The reality is that I've got a huge learning curve. I'm trying to rely on the insights of others who have been here longer to help me understand the city, people, some of the openings and opportunities they see, and the like. There have been several great contacts with other leaders, etc. who have a similar mindset and approach to ministry as I do. I'm trying to stay patient as I try and prepare the foundation for the church God is building. It's tedious and slow, but necessary as well.

I have started to find one good place of contacts with others - a local coffee shop here. It's becoming my new "office." Once I'm able to get a new laptop with wireless access, I'll be ready to roll! I'll be working to develop more points of contact in the coming weeks.

As for the location, I'm thinking a little differently about it than everyone else (i know nobody's surprised by that). There have been some contacts in various different places. I'm really thinking of trying to have several Bible studies in various locations where these leads are coming up. I'm hoping to develop leadership among these, progressing up to a public launch. Once that's in place, we can draw all of them together and develop the church in a central location. That would be phase one. After things settle down a bit, we can go back to those areas with the hopes of starting a church at each one - that would be phase two.

We had a really good meeting with a couple last night. They share some of the same ideas as J and I. They also have 4 kids (9, 7, 3, 1), so when we pulled into the driveway, Andrew said "Wow, there's kids here!" Most of our excursions have been with adults and I guess they've gotten a little tired of that. They had a blast playing while we ate and talked.

Praises:
We found out that we've been approved for insurance (they wanted to deny J).
Home schooling has been going pretty well.

Prayer Needs:
Wisdom as I do all the foundational stuff for the church.
Persons of peace to begin Bible studies, etc.
God to raise up leadership for the work.
The Spirit to move in the Bible study I'm leading beginning Thursday night.