Hola from Guatemala! I am in my 2nd day of language training here, and loving it. My teacher Julia is very good and gracious, and I think I am learning a lot. It is all bits and pieces, but I feel it coming together, or that it will.
It is Holy Week, and in Antigua that means a week of incredible celebration. I just watched a procession of young boys and girls (pictures after I return, I'm afraid), all in purple and white regalia, waving incense and carrying massive 'floats.' No floating Mighty Mouse or gas powered vehicle. Instead, the faithful carry incredible, elaborate floats of wood and marble and fabric etc. Very beautiful. Each float is followed by a band. Each float was carried on the shoulders of probably 40-50 children. Amazing.
I hope your celebration of Holy Week is also excessive and elaborate. It is good to quietly contemplate the work of Jesus Christ, but on Easter, as we celebrate the fact that He is risen indeed, let's throw a wild and loud party which tells the story of our sharing in the new creation. The kingdom has come and is coming, and that's cause for a celebracion!
31 March 2010
30 March 2010
Connecting Cultures
When you’re compelled to Connect people with God and with one another it leads you to places you never have imagined. Today Scott completed his first day of Spanish language immersion in Antigua Guatemala. In response to God’s call and our vision to connect cultures Scott is doing something he never imagined doing! Just how this vision of connecting cultures is going to become a reality is beyond my imagination. I’m sure that it will require us to do, feel and experience things we never imagined. But I also know that we serve a God who “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20)
25 March 2010
New Pages! Text Vision Values
Look to your right, now look back. Now look to your right. Now look back. Now look to your right. If you are still looking to your right, you will see links to our FHL Project Text, Vision, and Values. If you haven't looked back, you will have missed what I just typed. But it won't matter, you'll have found 3 links which explore the foundational thinking behind the FHL Project.
Have a great day!
(Since there are other posts since this one, now you have to look at the top right part of the page!)
Have a great day!
(Since there are other posts since this one, now you have to look at the top right part of the page!)
11 March 2010
people, not place (or church planting in GREATER Salem)
SHORT VERSION:
LONG VERSION (BACKGROUND):
Carmen and I, as you may already know, are preparing to co-pastor a church plant in the greater Salem area. Since we lived and studied in Chicago for ±4 years, one thing we wanted was an opportunity to reintegrate into Oregon. I'm from Montana, Carmen's from Oregon. MT and OR are actually quite similar (maybe not politically), and both are quite different than Chicago. Our denomination's (Evangelical Covenant Church, covchurch.org) department of Church Growth & Evangelism, and our conference (North Pacific, covchurch-npc.org) agreed a time of residency was appropriate. So, right now, we are preparing to plant. But our preparation is particularly dependent on how the Holy Spirit speaks to us over the next few months.
In our journey towards planting, we have held (okay, I'll be honest) pretty tightly to a particular location (Silverton) for planting. There are lots of good reasons for this, starting with a personal invitation from community residents. We prayed a lot about that, especially after we felt God calling us to church planting in a very particular and powerful way. We began to share what we were hearing, and later had the opportunity to visit 6 locations the NP Conference was exploring for planting and which also fit well with Carmen and I. Again, Silverton stood out. There are many more examples, but the point is that after 2 years of intense prayer and community conversation, considering other options is, well, new! We thought that when we arrived in the area, some of our questions would be answered, and that Silverton would be confirmed.
Instead, we have more questions!
Its not that Silverton is not confirmed. But we have been asked to consider, for example, Keizer, west Salem, and north east Salem. And we have tried hard to honor those requests. Now that we are here, and as we talk with people in the area, we are hearing about needs and places from people who actually live here. (One of our struggles has been balancing our opportunity to house-sit [economically beneficial] with the desire to get into a community [rent/buy] and become part of it [from within it]. How can we explore the options when we continue to travel in from the outside? ) (concludes with SHORT VERSION)
As we were leaving Silverton the other day, a few things occurred to us. Germane to this post was a new understanding that our struggle with place was creating undue stress. We felt that perhaps our time of residency was not a time to focus so much on place, as upon people. Its a subtle but powerful shift. We talked with our church planting coach (Kurt) yesterday, and his experience and wisdom confirmed this approach (which was exciting to us).
So, its people, not place. The FHL Project is working to gather people who are willing to join us in this exciting (and ambiguous) time of seeing where God is working and determining location together. We'd love it if you'd consider joining us.
LONG VERSION (BACKGROUND):
Carmen and I, as you may already know, are preparing to co-pastor a church plant in the greater Salem area. Since we lived and studied in Chicago for ±4 years, one thing we wanted was an opportunity to reintegrate into Oregon. I'm from Montana, Carmen's from Oregon. MT and OR are actually quite similar (maybe not politically), and both are quite different than Chicago. Our denomination's (Evangelical Covenant Church, covchurch.org) department of Church Growth & Evangelism, and our conference (North Pacific, covchurch-npc.org) agreed a time of residency was appropriate. So, right now, we are preparing to plant. But our preparation is particularly dependent on how the Holy Spirit speaks to us over the next few months.
In our journey towards planting, we have held (okay, I'll be honest) pretty tightly to a particular location (Silverton) for planting. There are lots of good reasons for this, starting with a personal invitation from community residents. We prayed a lot about that, especially after we felt God calling us to church planting in a very particular and powerful way. We began to share what we were hearing, and later had the opportunity to visit 6 locations the NP Conference was exploring for planting and which also fit well with Carmen and I. Again, Silverton stood out. There are many more examples, but the point is that after 2 years of intense prayer and community conversation, considering other options is, well, new! We thought that when we arrived in the area, some of our questions would be answered, and that Silverton would be confirmed.
Instead, we have more questions!
Its not that Silverton is not confirmed. But we have been asked to consider, for example, Keizer, west Salem, and north east Salem. And we have tried hard to honor those requests. Now that we are here, and as we talk with people in the area, we are hearing about needs and places from people who actually live here. (One of our struggles has been balancing our opportunity to house-sit [economically beneficial] with the desire to get into a community [rent/buy] and become part of it [from within it]. How can we explore the options when we continue to travel in from the outside? ) (concludes with SHORT VERSION)
09 March 2010
Keeping up with the Blogses
Carmen and I are not super bloggers. This space is not only a great opportunity to let you know what is happening, but also a great opportunity for us to be more attentive at communicating what is happening in our church planting process. For me, part of this is determining what is truly interesting to report. I have come to the conclusion that I can't wait for "big news." So I will work harder at smaller, incremental reports of our process.
So, for starters, we have an official church planting email address!
FHLproject.OR at gmail.com
Please email us here for updates, to let us know what you are thinking, to tell us you are praying for us, and to tell us how God is speaking to you. We'd love to hear from you!
So, for starters, we have an official church planting email address!
FHLproject.OR at gmail.com
Please email us here for updates, to let us know what you are thinking, to tell us you are praying for us, and to tell us how God is speaking to you. We'd love to hear from you!
13 February 2010
We made it!
Its a long drive from Chicago to Salem! Our trip totaled 2355 miles. And all of that driving in an overloaded Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. Pretty near every square inch was filled, and overflow went to the roof rack. Carmen and I could just squeeze in. We filled those remaining square inches when we visited Carmen's family in Pella IA. And then we literally jammed some toys into the remaining space when we got to my hometown of Helena MT. Most of what I added went onto the roof.
It was great to see family and the US as we traveled. Stars came out at night, the air was crisp and clean, and we enjoyed silence. Roads and weather were mostly good the entire journey. We spread the trip out over 7 days, visiting family and friends. My home Evangelical Covenant Church in Helena blessed us with a commissioning service on Sunday the 7th, followed by a luncheon where we were able to visit with many amazing people.
This day was very special for me. My home church was a place where I shared and learned and grew for many years (since 1990). I was blessed with an amazing pastor and church who gave me the nudge needed to pursue seminary. These folks were the ones I have served with in Helena, in Tanzania, and in Mexico. We've traveled together, prayed together, and played together. Great memories, great people.
And now we're in Salem! We have the opportunity to house sit for the next 4 months, which will allow us time to consider where to live and make those arrangements. That is a huge blessing.
We went to Silverton on Wednesday the 10th, and spent about 4 hours driving around and praying. Please help us by continuing to lift up the community and God's will for a church plant here in prayer. Thank You!
It was great to see family and the US as we traveled. Stars came out at night, the air was crisp and clean, and we enjoyed silence. Roads and weather were mostly good the entire journey. We spread the trip out over 7 days, visiting family and friends. My home Evangelical Covenant Church in Helena blessed us with a commissioning service on Sunday the 7th, followed by a luncheon where we were able to visit with many amazing people.
This day was very special for me. My home church was a place where I shared and learned and grew for many years (since 1990). I was blessed with an amazing pastor and church who gave me the nudge needed to pursue seminary. These folks were the ones I have served with in Helena, in Tanzania, and in Mexico. We've traveled together, prayed together, and played together. Great memories, great people.
And now we're in Salem! We have the opportunity to house sit for the next 4 months, which will allow us time to consider where to live and make those arrangements. That is a huge blessing.
We went to Silverton on Wednesday the 10th, and spent about 4 hours driving around and praying. Please help us by continuing to lift up the community and God's will for a church plant here in prayer. Thank You!
18 January 2010
How do you pack an experience?
Believe me, we are soooo ready to leave Chicago!
That has little to do with the relationships we have developed here. We will miss many people, and Lord willing we will stay connected. But we are ready for things that are hard to explain unless you've lived in Montana or Oregon. Its about the air, and the sound, and the space, and the pace. There are experiences there that you just can't have in Chicago.
But our experience in Chicago has been very rich. I called seminary "Bible study on steroids!" and I loved it. My view of the world has expanded. I've learned about people and had experiences which make me a better human being. I met Carmen (can you grasp what I'm saying when I say she's TOTALLY AMAZING!)? and we got married. We saw God developing us and leading us to church planting, and I'm just finishing a very rewarding time of internship at Northwest Covenant Church. We've had a great time, an experience that you just can't have in Montana or Oregon.
We can't pack our experience. But it had better come with us. God prepares us, is always preparing us; helping us grow. Our time here would not have been so vital if we had not brought along Oregon, or Montana, or whatever experience we've had in our lives. And we hope that the experience we brought to Chicago was a blessing to those we encountered.
Chicago is now a part of our experience, a part of who we are. That means that you who have been a part of our time here will always be a part of who we are. And that is a blessing to every one we meet down the road.
That has little to do with the relationships we have developed here. We will miss many people, and Lord willing we will stay connected. But we are ready for things that are hard to explain unless you've lived in Montana or Oregon. Its about the air, and the sound, and the space, and the pace. There are experiences there that you just can't have in Chicago.
But our experience in Chicago has been very rich. I called seminary "Bible study on steroids!" and I loved it. My view of the world has expanded. I've learned about people and had experiences which make me a better human being. I met Carmen (can you grasp what I'm saying when I say she's TOTALLY AMAZING!)? and we got married. We saw God developing us and leading us to church planting, and I'm just finishing a very rewarding time of internship at Northwest Covenant Church. We've had a great time, an experience that you just can't have in Montana or Oregon.
We can't pack our experience. But it had better come with us. God prepares us, is always preparing us; helping us grow. Our time here would not have been so vital if we had not brought along Oregon, or Montana, or whatever experience we've had in our lives. And we hope that the experience we brought to Chicago was a blessing to those we encountered.
Chicago is now a part of our experience, a part of who we are. That means that you who have been a part of our time here will always be a part of who we are. And that is a blessing to every one we meet down the road.
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