Whether you are a follower of Christ or not, there is no denying that Jesus is a famous man. He is known across this world for his radical living, his convincing knowledge, his insane beating, his incredible death, and most importantly his incomprehensible rising from the dead. He is famous, whether we believe the stories to be true or not. He changed the world and he started it all from a manger. He didn't start at the top and work his way to the lowly. He hung out with the poor, the broken, the homeless, the crippled, and the forgotten...and this affected the rich, the elite, and even entire governments. He shook the foundations of the world and he started from the bottom.
The Pathway is fighting the same battle with incredible passion and drive. They are working on The Hilltop of Tacoma (which as we said in our last blog is a pretty rough area). This is a church who is starting from the bottom of Tacoma, trusting that from there they can reach the entire city. They are trying to disciple, train, and love at all costs....and they are doing it all with hardly any leadership. The pastor is shepherding a church full of people who are ready to grow...and he only has minimum hands and feet to help him. The harvest truly is plentiful and the workers really are few. The church envisions the love of Christ spreading across this entire city...starting from the Hilltop. They have incredible God-sized dreams and they trust that God will provide the workers.
God has given Bobby a desire to see The Pathway grow in numerous ways within the next few months. We have spent some serious time in prayer and feel like we need to stay for the next 6ish months. Though this is still considered short term for most people, this will be our longest stay so far on the trip. We are trying to figure out all of the unknowns and are still in a lot of prayer about it all. Please join us.
Prayer thingys:
1) We are in the northwest...where it is stupid cold and rains lots and lots. We are not prepared. So, we are praying for cheap Apartments (Because we might die in the winters of Washington in our van...literally..Plus, it would be a great chance to minister to people who would live around us).
2) Jobs. We are praying that for the next 6 months we can find part-time jobs to provide the dollars to get an apartment and etc.
3) Our roles within this church while we are here. Where can we be best used? How can we we be most effective? All of that stuff...
As we flip through scripture, it is like both the disciples and Jesus were always going...but always staying at the same time. They stayed as long as needed...and they left whenever it was time to go even if it hurt people's feelings (like Jesus being "late" for Lazarus). Paul traveled everywhere...all the time...but he was also willing to spend chunks of time in cities if it was necessary for the Kingdom.
Then Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian." Paul replied, "Short time or long time - I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains."
Whether short time or long time...we will follow the spirit, going when needed..and staying when needed...until this country becomes as we are, Christ followers.
(These are our super excited/super nervous faces)
I will be praying for you girls. I'm glad the Lord is giving you both such clear direction!
ReplyDeletePraying for you gals! It's awesome to see God's timing and how perfect it is on so many different levels to so many different people.
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