U-Haul, We Pray

This Is William

So, I’m out doing servant evangelism at the traffic light on the corner of Peachtree and N. Druid Hills Road on a Wednesday night with eight other people from the church, when suddenly a man driving a U-haul moving van passes us on the street, slams on the brakes and parks right in the middle of the intersection where we’re passing out free cold bottles of water and cokes.

There I was, busy attempting to do random acts of kindness, when this guy comes up to me on the sidewalk and asks me what we’re doing. I simply told him that God loves our neighbors and so do we, and that we wanted to express the kindness of God with a free coke or water. He was blown away!

He introduced himself to us as William. He was the guy from the U-haul! He had read the signs “Free Cokes”, “Absolutely Free”, “No Kidding” that people were holding up as he drove by and wanted to check us out. We handed him a cold coke and he read the card that we had placed under the tab of each coke that read “It’s a simple way to show you the kindness of God-no strings attached!” William couldn’t believe there was no “catch” to our kindness. He stared at that card for what seemed like five minutes while we kept passing out drinks. He wanted to know when we have Bible study at our church and wanted to know what our church is about. William stated that He is a Christian who “got away from church”. He had just been thinking about his life when He saw our signs.

Before William left us, I asked if I could pray for him or his family. He had me pray for a niece, Levita, who suffered a minor stroke shortly after delivering a baby. He is really concerned for her health. In front of our neighbors sitting in their cars at one of the busiest intersections in Atlanta, we prayed. In the midst of our busy outreach, I felt it was important to take the time to focus on Williams need for prayer and hope.

William was driving his U-haul searching for God when he found Him in a random act of kindness from a bunch of crazy Christians giving away free water and cokes to show the kindness of God-no strings attached!

Duane and Roscoe

I met Duane while walking my dog in the neighborhood Wednesday night. He was walking his dog Roscoe. He is a resident of Brookhaven near our church.

Duane is an interesting guy. He’s 60, retired and living on social security. He admitted to me that he had been drinking beer most of the night (and it was obvious). Duane was a member of a Baptist church most of his life but had not been attending services for several years. Duane revealed that he has been struggling with addictions for most of his adult life. He’s been attending AA meetings and other support groups to help him to break free from vices such as drugs (specifically cocaine) and co-dependent relationships with women/prostitutes. He has a son that was murdered a few years back. Duane blames his addiction on being lonely and needing a substance or outside vice to release him of the pain of loneliness.

Spiritually, Duane is very knowledgeable about the Scriptures. He has been attending a Unitarian church with a male friend from his AA group. He claims to be a Christian. He was able to share with me his understanding of salvation through Jesus Christ.

I encouraged Duane to pay me a visit at my office at the church during the week so we could get to know each other better. He asked about our Sunday Bible study and worship service schedule.

I asked if I could pray with him before we parted ways. I explained that I wasn’t going to close my eyes or do anything weird, but just talk to God on Duane’s behalf. On the side walk in front of our church, God met with us, and we met with Him. I prayed that God would help Duane to have the courage to connect with other Christians this Sunday in worship and that he would allow Christ to give him freedom from his addiction and loneliness.

I’m glad God is at work in Duane’s life.

His Name Is Ramel

I now know his name.  It’s Ramel, a non-married, 38 yr. old business owner from Ethiopia.  His religious affiliation is Orthodox.  I’ve seen him at Starbucks several times working diligently on his laptop computer.  I struck up a conversation with him today.  I told him that my wife and I recently moved from Louisville, KY to start a new church in the community with Brookhaven Baptist church.  Surprisingly, he told me that he attended high school at Oneida Baptist Institute in eastern Kentucky and graduated from University of the Cumberlands, a Kentucky Baptist affiliated college in south central Kentucky.  What a small world!

I’m glad I met Ramel.  I know God is going to use our new acquaintance for His glory.

Finding Our “Ant Hill”

I began a one-year church planting residency today with Tim Wolfe, lead pastor of 1027Church in Atlanta. Tim has a wealth of church planting and pastoral leadership experience to pass on. The next twelve months are going to be intense.

One of the things Tim shared today was that I need to find our “ant hill”.  What!? Essentially, if you follow one ant, they will always lead you to their ant hill where there are hundreds, even thousands of others like them. Tim’s understanding is that it is common for church planter’s to meet someone in the community and then immediately look for ways to connect that one person with our ant hill – the church. Tim’s thoughts are that if we meet one person, say at Starbucks, we should build a long-term relationship with that person to learn about and enter their world. Eventually they will lead us to their “ant hill” where we can meet hundreds, even thousands like them.

A good word, Tim.

Here We Grow Again

Ashley and I arrived safely in Brookhaven Saturday, June 28, 2008. Our ministry at Brookhaven Church began on Sunday, June 29. We’re finally moved into our house. We’re experiencing normality of life again. The move from Louisville was not all pleasant, but worth it.

We started a new Young Adult Fellowship with one other couple on Sunday, July 6. There are now six couples and four singles participating in our group on Sunday mornings at 9:45. God is at work and we’re growing. I’ve been meeting with community officials, real estate agents, event planners, etc. to find portals of entry to connect with our neighbors.

Last week was Vacation Bible School. The number of kids attending doubled the second day! I was in charge of recreation and Ashley was over music. The kids really enjoyed Ashley’s music class. She will begin a children’s choir and music program on Wednesday nights after the baby is born in November. We’re planning to host dinner parties at our home on Wednesday nights, a few music nights, hosting art galleries with the local arts alliance, indoor volleyball in the winter, and having a booth at the Brookhaven Arts Festival in October, which draws over 10,000 people. Our neighbors are really into recreation, social events that include food, and anything that involves their dogs. Our plan is to partner with a popular local running store and new pet store to provide volunteers for their upcoming events. Servant evangelism projects will also be a large part of our ministry in the community.

So, pack up your bags, move to Atlanta and grow with us!

Until next time….

It’s Official!

Today I dive head first into the infinite world of bloggers, self chroniclers, online journalists, blog masters, etc. I swore I would never do this. It takes a lot of nerve to assume there is a demand from family, friends, and strangers to communicate my life online frequently.

With that said, I thought it might be a good idea to have a way to share with others our new journey into the land of church planting in Atlanta. So in the days to come I will do my best to post as regularly as possible. Mondays will be the day I commit to communication.

My goal is to submit thoughts, ideas, experiences, stories, resources and prayer requests related to starting new churches. Comments and feedback are always welcome.

Atlanta Bound!

I will begin my ministry as church planting missionary at Brookhaven Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA Sunday, June 29. Brookhaven is neighbor’s with the infamous Buckhead community and both are booming in growth in every way. The average age in our zip code is 32. There are 27 nationalities in our zip code! Brookhaven Church is in the process of launching four international congregations since January.

My primary role is assisting the development of new congregations while preparing to start a church of our own in the next 18 to 24 months. Ashley will be contributing musically at Brookhaven Church and the church plants.

My passion is to see the city of Atlanta transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the glory of God. Ashley and I look forward to establishing new relationships with 5 million of our newest friends.

Continue praying for us as we begin our new ministry. We are praying that God will show us how to love our neighbors as ourselves as we share the life and love of Jesus Christ.