Piece of the Puzzle

4:30am. June 19 (wide awake)

“Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” - Genesis 12:1-3

I wish that it could look more glamorous than it really is: Faith. There was no fanfare the day Abraham stepped out in obedience in response to God’s divine interruption and promise, that God would bless him and he would be a blessing to the nations. Some days faith has a confident declaration with an attached vision, but on most days, it is getting out of bed in response to the “call of God,” consistently day after day, going deeper in our trust and knowing of Him. It is the “raw and the ready,” and the older we get, the more we understand how little we know and that the safety we tend to cling to is actually holding us back from what God has for us! Often God gives us those BIG PICTURE moments, only to have us take several steps backwards to focus on just one piece of the puzzle.

4:45am. June 19 (still wide awake)

Much of the past months have led to THIS moment. Today, June 19, is when Jenny and I get to focus our FULL attention on what it means to be in “full-time” ministry together! Sure, we have discussed it and dabbled in it, but up to this point, we have been on a journey of testing the waters of relationship, getting to know each other, getting married, blending families, Jenny finishing up her five years working as Communications Director at Woodland Community Church in Florida, and moving house (which involved several moves).

Instead of painting for you a picture of perfectly understood vision, we invite you into our journey, not unlike Abraham and his. For years he wandered through the Negev region within the Promised Land seeking out the Promise Giver and His promises, growing and learning and being prepared. His life of faith accomplished much more than what he ever saw in his lifetime, deeply impacting every one of us who call ourselves a follower of Jesus.

We all have dreams and promises we sense that God has given us. A bigger picture. A God-sized dream that encompasses not only our lives, but we see it as spanning generations. Something bigger than just us. To read ours, click here, and you will see the vision God has given us over the past months that we sense will define the ministry of Grassroots International Ministries. So where do we start? We sense it is church planting.

Our vision for church planting is to plant communities that disciple followers of Jesus to know Him passionately, live out their faith practically, and commit to multiplying locally and globally. It is going to look a little different than perhaps what most people are familiar with. We are passionate about seeing a new wave of church planters, particularly amongst the younger generations coming up. For us, this is primarily in the context of micro churches (not just for one church but for churches). You may ask, “What is a micro church?” Micro churches are small, intentional communities of believers that emphasize community, intimacy, and disciple-making in often non-traditional church settings (such as homes, storefront, or online digital communities). A significant focus of the vision is on equiping the saints (Ephesians 4:11-12), multiplication of and the planting of other similar Jesus-centered discipleship communities. That is a lot like what the apostle Paul did. He planted churches; discipled, taught, and encouraged; raised up leaders; and moved on, supporting those in leadership and returning to help keep them healthy and strong.

The next questions is going to be: Where? And perhaps followed by: What about Ireland?

First, we still have a heart for Ireland. God has not yet made it clear how Ireland and Europe fit into the overall vision God has given us. In all honesty, Ireland and Europe is where we would love to be, but in this season we are here in the United States, based in Colorado, and the Lord has made it clear to us time and again to be faithful where we are at. To offer ourselves unto Him, like the boy whose lunch Jesus multiplied to feed the masses, the five loaves and few fish we have, and that if we do that, He will do the same with our own lives and this ministry (as with yours as well).

As for the “where,” we cannot say for certain, but that God has been speaking to us about an unusual community called Manitou Springs. Manitou Springs is tucked on the edge of the mountains, on the border of Colorado Springs, is about 20 minutes down the pass from where we now live in Woodland Park, which is where Charis Bible College is located. It is an artistic town, heavily influenced by the New Age. Rumors speculate that Anton LaVey (founder of the Church of Satan), wrote the Satanic Bible there (while there is no hard evidence to support that). Talk show host Geraldo Rivera onced called Manitou Spirings the “devil worshipping capital of the world.” We are feeling the Lord’s heart for this community specifically.

Jenny and I speak time and again, specifically after going through deep loss, we have an even greater compounded longing to have our lives matter. As our spouses, Robb and Rachel, lives were cut short, we want to see the enemy pay! Not by an act of our own strength, but through a deeper surrender and bringing of the life and love of Jesus to those difficult places (those places that we as the church have often tried to avoid). Life looks different when you face death in such close proximity, and you view life more from the vantage point of eternity and wanting to see as many here set free with the hope of Jesus!

As we turn the page to the next chapter of our lives, it is both vulnerable and exciting. This is what faith often looks like—fear present as you step into the unknown—BUT fear does not need to define our obedience or our passion in following Him! We want to encourage you as well to continue to step into the uncertainty and unknown as you seek to follow Jesus and know Him more!

So many of you have walked along with us through the years! We are so thankful for you! We continue to need you, and want to emphasize three areas we need help:

1. Prayer. Nothing happens without prayer. We are looking to establish a family of prayer warriors who will regularly intercede for us and with us as we seek to fulfill the mandate God has given us (BIG DREAM), as well as the “piece of the puzzle” that is before us, which is church planting. people around the who will help us pray through this church planting movement!

2. We need people who will donate one-time donations to this project. In 1 Chronicles 29, King David organziaed a campaign to collect materials and finances for the building of the Temple, a project that his son Solomon would do. In the New Testmant, we read how we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinithians 3:16-17). It is for that Temple, that we are asking you to be part!

3. We need monthly partners. You can read more about Partnership towards the bottom of the Home Page of our website: www.grassrootsim.com.

Grassroots International Ministries is a registered 501(c)3

Thank you for being part of this journey! We are excited for what God is about to do! There is a fresh wind of His Spirit blowing across the world, and we can hear His invitation to be part of this next wave of revival! That invitation is for you as well! Let’s run after Him and what He is doing together, that we can serve faithfully in our generation and lay a foundation for generations to come of His Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven!

These next few months will involve a bit of travel. Besides visiting and connecting with people, we have a few speaking engagments, and appreciate your prayers as we step into this new and next season of God’s Redemption in our lives:

• June 25: Brookside Church

• June 28: New Life Church (Seminar on Loss & Redemption)

• June 29: New Life Church

• July 20: Life Church Portlaoise (Ireland)

• July 27: Kilkenny Community Church (Ireland)