Mission: Introducing the Boston Initiative Part 3

What is the your timeline in moving to Boston and what will the first year be comprised of?

Currently we have five people joining us – two couples and one single gal. Additionally, we’ve been encouraged by native Bostonians who are interested in partnering with us. As for the goal of the first year, we are seeking to gather together all those committed to partnering with us in order to get everyone on the same page regarding the gospel, our values, our community, and our mission. Basically we want to develop who we are, what we want to accomplish, and how we will accomplish those things. First and foremost, We want everyone rejoicing in the gospel and allowing that to knit us together as a community. We really want to develop relationships and get to the point where we trust one another, love one another, confess sin to one another and grow together. Part and parcel to our community is building relationships with the people of Boston. I’m looking to equip our folks with the skills to identify with the people, culture, and context of Boston so that they can clearly present and demonstrate the Gospel of Jesus. Through these relationships, our prayer is that people will identify themselves with Jesus and our community, and will begin living lives on mission that reach those in their own sphere of influence with the Gospel. Additionally, in the first year will be completing our fund raising process. The first year is one of the most critical years for a church plant and at the end of the day without money it is hard to get anything done. We need money to purchase books, purchase materials, get things rolling, process communication, websites, internet and all sorts of different things. Simply put, that’s going to be our first year. Ideally, We’d like to do a launch a regular service that first year. If not, we are looking to launch early 2012.

In former conversations you’ve mentioned to me that some local boston folks have already taken interest in the church plant. Could you share some things God is already doing?

A few months back I hosted a vision meeting in Boston for those interested in the church plant. While we were up there the Lord gave the believers great interest and unity. The people that are willing to partner with us are excited about the vision. Its encouraging to see that our core team is embracing the vision as their own and are committing themselves to it. Our core knows that it's going to take sacrifice on our end but they want to see a church flourish that can bless people with the gospel. Overall, I don’t sense any push back from anyone in the team or anyone doubting our efforts in that area. It is encouraging to see people giving themselves to this work and I hope more join us.

In additional to our core team, we have had several people from the area email me and some even came to the vision meeting. Through various ways, many found out about our church plant and asked if they could tag along. Our group of 9 ended up being a group of 17. We had a time of discussion and everyone shared their story. One believing couple were really interested in this new work, since they have come out of a cult that oppresses people and practices unbiblical authority over people’s lives. Secondly, we met a young gal who also left the cult and previously lived in a homosexual relationship for 8 years. She shared that the relationship is over and she now repenting and coming to the gospel for change. It was an amazing time as she and others opened up and expressed that they had been to different church groups but never were comfortable among them to share openly as they did with us. There is obviously the need for a Gospel community that can talk openly of our issues and how the gospel brings real change. We believe this is just the beginning of the type of people God will bring for us to minister to. We are really thankful for them and are building relationships with them. They are not fully committed but I think they really like what they are hearing. We shared with them the vision and they didn’t seem to push back on it. We told them what we believe about: church planting, qualified men leading the church (men and women are equal yet there are different roles), expository preaching, etc. They were holding on to all these things. This was encouraging because these things are normally not accepted in Boston. Overall, there has been a rising interest both with folks in Louisville and Boston. We are expecting great things.