December update
Dear Friends,
I think the only way that we can truly understand what is happening in the church in Philadelphia is through relationships. Often when we see the extent of the needs on the street it can seem as though the church has abandoned the community. We read about the disastrous schools, the crime and the broken systems. But as Joyce and I both get out into the neighborhoods we see God at work through His people, amazing people doing amazing things.
Some things I have been blessed to be a part of recently….
Church planting is a hot topic all around the world. In the past month I attended 2 major gatherings on church planting. I was on a panel at the Thrive Summit, with over 100 mostly African American and Latino church planters from around the U.S. discussing ways that we can be planting relevant churches in our urban communities. I was asked to share about strategic connections and understanding our communities. I was also at a gathering of the Simple Church Network. The two groups have different approaches towards church planting, but one major thing in common, which is reaching every person in every community with the Gospel. I was also asked to work with a young church planting team in the Philly metro region as they seek to find where their target people group live and where best to locate their new plant. The 9 county areas around Philadelphia have around 6 million people living here, with tens of thousands of new people coming to the area each year. It is a dynamic and challenging field. Lastly, in a partnership with Youth for Christ, I coordinated a series of interviews in Philadelphia looking at characteristics present in people working in relational urban ministry (it is a national research; I was handling the Philadelphia component). Although I knew all the people interviews, hearing their stories of transformation was incredible. It was the strongest of reminders that God is at work, daily, in the lives of people across the city.
There is no shortage of work to be done. The complex system we are in is in desperate need of transformation. The past few months I have been studying the ways in which Biblical heroes such as Joseph, Daniel, Nehemiah and Esther worked from within oppressive systems to see God’s glory brought about. There is also the incredible model of Jesus developing a team of average people; training them together then having them implement a strategy of Global evangelism. This team approach is something that the churches in Philadelphia have the capacity to do, if we can help them find the ways to come together. No single church in the city has all it needs to fulfill Gods calling, but together we can most definitely have an incredible impact.
As the end of the year approaches, we would ask that you consider this a great time to join our work here in Philly and come onboard as a financial supporter, or to give a special gift. (See the “Support Us” tab at the top right of this page) We have seen our monthly giving slowly rise. We are now at around 68% of our monthly goal. November was a “reconciliation” month for our payroll, and as our support had been lower over the summer we received only $300 as our stipend. Praise God, and thanks to His faithful people and churches, all our bills were met for the month. I am reminded through these times that we will never be left without our daily needs being met by the Father. That being said, it will be great when we are finally at 100% support
