Trip Update

Greetings everyone,

I hope your holidays have been enjoyable, relaxing and reflective. It’s hard to believe that the break will be coming to a close shortly, but I’m feeling excited for the upcoming semester. It seems like God will have plenty of opportunities to do big things in my life if I can stay the course and seek His face.

I wanted to give you some brief updates on the recent trips to Kent State and University of Pittsburgh along with a few thoughts I’ve had lately. We will still try to plan a church plant meeting in January to discuss these things further and pray together. Here’s the quick version:

Kent State:
- met with 5 different ministry/church leaders in less than 24 hours (very exhausting but helpful). All ministry leaders were extremely excited about the possibility of a church plant on campus (this is rare for all leaders to agree)
- found out that the need at Kent is considerably greater than we originally thought – no churches on campus, Christian student groups are relatively small, etc.
- also found out that Kent has a “suitcase college” feel – meaning that many of the students live on campus during the week but go home on weekends (this could be a tough quality to overcome as a campus church)
- there is a potential church plant coming to campus from a “mega” church in one of the suburbs

Pittsburgh:
- we got lost in the city several times L
- Matt McClure uses the restroom at an extremely high frequency
- Only one church/student group has a major impact on campus (about 200 students)
- Campus Crusade, Intervarsity, etc. have had very minimal success on this campus
- Given the “downtown” feel of campus, our ministry would most likely need to look much different than ministry at BG
- Several “emerging” churches in the city are doing very well and drawing some students
- Housing is relatively inexpensive
- Finding room reservation space on campus is very difficult

Overall, the trips were beneficial, but inconclusive. I find myself starting to feel some of the weight of this decision. Until now there was always something to look forward to (ie: these trips). But now there seems to be no events scheduled before the decision deadline of March 1st. No foreseeable major factor is before me – it is left to my time with the Lord and any counsel I may receive from my co-leaders. I’m still excited about all that God is and will teach me through this decision-making process, but the weight of the decision is growing. Please continue to pray for me through this. I begin counseling/coaching with Greg VanNada next Friday. I will be driving about 2.5 hours one-way up to East Lansing to begin a series of counseling sessions with Greg. Our goal is not necessarily to talk about church plant issues, but to dig into my own issues relating to my family and my past. My hope is to grow in balance and health from an emotional standpoint as I make a decision on church plant (free from insecurities and other emotional barriers). I’m looking forward to updating you all more in the weeks to come. Until then, here are some things you can do:
1. pray for Lindsay and me as we continue to seek God
2. pray for the Franks as they do the same
3. continue to seek God for yourself – specifically asking Him to reveal your own issues that He will refine in this process and your potential church plant roles
4. fast – a few of us will collectively be fasting every Thursday until March 1st. Consider joining us in this spiritual discipline

I guess that’s all for now. I’ll be sure to update you soon when we pick a good date for January’s meeting. Feel free to email or post a comment on h2ochurchplant.blogspot.com if you have any updates on your own situation.

In Christ,

Jason