HodosProject

24 Hours of Prayer

September approaches…and so do our first gatherings as a new church community. As we draw closer to the birth of this new church, our prayers intensify for what is to come. On September 6-7, we would like to offer up 24 hours of continuous prayer for this new church community. As this 24 hour window is wrapping up, we will be welcoming people into our home for our first gathering.

Would you join us in these prayers? We are scheduling half hour windows of time, so it will take up to 48 people praying to make this happen. (Of course, if we have more than 48 people, that is okay too!)

You can see a schedule of the times that are available on our 24 Hours of Prayer page. Once you find a time or two that work, drop me a line to let me know.

Thanks again for you interest and support of our family’s new adventure. And if you are praying for us before or after this 24 hours…that is good too!

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The Hodos Project Facebook Group

A few weeks ago, I added a Facebook icon to the sidebar of our blog. It links to the Hodos Project Facebook group. If you are on Facebook, you are welcome to join us. If you’re not on Facebook, what a perfect excuse to join!

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Heading Into August

Wow. Where did the last two months go? They transpired somewhere between all of the packing, cleaning, loading, driving, looking, finding, applying, waiting, looking more, finding, applying, unloading, unpacking and settling. Of course, those last two are still in progress…

We are settling into a rented home in Northwest Austin. It is good to be finding a little normalcy again, although every room still has at least a few boxes that are waiting to be unpacked. August is going to be keeping us busy too. Here are some things you can be praying for:

• We are very thankful for the home we found. It has a very welcoming feel which we thought was important as we want it to be a place for new friends to feel comfortable as we begin our first church gatherings. Unlike many homes we looked at, it also has a fourth bedroom so that I can have an office to work from home in. (I’m sitting in it right now!)
• One of our main focuses this month is to make connections. Over the past few months, we have been in contact with a number people here in Austin who have expressed interest in joining this adventure with us. Many of them we have met through mutual friends, so thank you for spreading the word. We hope to begin a regular gathering in our home as soon as next month, so pray that we can develop ties with those who can be a part of the start-up of this new church community.
• Since we arrived, I have had several meetings regarding a partnership with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Austin Baptist Association. They seem very keen on what we are doing and could offer about 30% of our monthly budget. Our proposal will go before a finance committee later this month, so please be in prayer for provision.
• I am surrounded by piles of envelopes and freshly printed letters as we get ready to send out another mailing to family and friends. Factoring in the proposal mentioned above, we have covered about 2/3 of our monthly budget. Pray that even in a tight economy, friends like you will be able to partner with us to cover the remaining 1/3 that is needed. If you would like more information on financially supporting this new church, please visit the Giving page.
• We have submitted paperwork to the state so that we can be officially recognized. Once we get that back, we will be able to roll out the name and the website for this new church community. Look for that later this month.
• Oh yeah…our house in Washington sold and it should close next week. Woohoo!

We’d love to hear from you. Please drop us a line on the contact page if:

• You want to receive the prayer email we send out every 2-4 weeks. This includes more updates and prayer requests that are more personal in nature.
• You didn’t receive our first mailing in the spring and you want to make sure we have your current address.
• You just want to say hello!

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And We Have An Address…

Our new church community has a mailing address! Yesterday, I had some time to slip in and rent a mailbox before a meeting. It’s nice to finally be here so that we can be making progress even on small steps like this. Here’s the address:

3800 N Lamar Blvd., Suite 730-218
Austin, TX 78756

I have also updated this address on our Giving page. For those of you who are monthly supporters, I will send some updated envelopes your way in the next week or so.

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Housing Update

For those who have been praying for us as far as housing goes, I’ve chronicled the last few weeks on my personal blog.

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Hopes and Farewells

Last Sunday, I had the privilege of sharing some final words with the Pathways church community that we helped start three years ago.

Here’s a link to the MP3 if you’d like to eavesdrop: A Mustard Seed Church.
(This audio was also posted to the Pathways podcast if you are a subscriber.)

It was a bittersweet morning, but we were thankful to have one last opportunity to be with the Pathways Church community and share more about our hopes for Austin with them. Thank you to everyone who walked with us through our season in the Pacific Northwest.

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June Prayers

Somehow, between packing and nurturing three children, Sherri pieced together enough time to write an update for this month. So, ladies and gentlemen, I give you Sherri:

Thank you so much for anytime that you have lifted up our family, my health, our church, or our kids in prayer to God. He really has answered many prayers despite me often wondering why we’ve been here in Seattle!

I’m asking for a small favor - pray. The funny thing is that prayer is so small at times. It can take minutes and can be done anywhere. It’s free. The results by the power of our amazing God can be life-
changing, awe-inspiring, funny at times, and miraculous. Before I ask you to pray yet again for us, as I have many times in the last few years, I thought I’d share a few answers to prayer - yours and mine:

1. God provided housing for a couple months through an old friend from Arizona, Pam and her daughter Hilary.
2. A great house that specifically fit what we had prayed for with room for John to work from home and space for home Bible studies.
3. Ellie - yes, a healthy baby just a few months after we arrived in Seattle, delivered by an absolutely fantastic doctor and mother that I adore at a top-notch hospital.
4. John going to Mars HIll Graduate School - a life-changing and opened up new worlds of growth for him
5. Macey’s school - after much anxiety and debate, we enrolled her in a Christian school for half-day kindergarten and she has thrived. God provided fantastic friends, an amazing teacher, safety, and more Bible memorization and songs to help her focus on God than I could have imagined.
6. Like-minded People - John has found some like-minded people that have sharpened, validated, and encouraged him on his journey to begin the formulation of what a new church-planting movement in Austin could be like
7. Max - he is adorable! He has blue eyes (like Daddy), seems to be pretty laid-back (like Daddy) and is usually a good sleeper all of a sudden (yes, like Daddy). I didn’t pray for him to have blue eyes, but I did pray for the last 2. He brings so much joy to our family. Even though it’s been a crazy year - or maybe a crazy 3 years, God amazes me again by giving us not 1, but 3 kids to make us know that he heard us and maybe to make us laugh like Sarah did.
8. Helpful Friends - We have friends here that have acted like family — running to the store for Pedialyte when kids were incredibly sick and John was out of town, friends to help when I had early contractions or to be on call to watch our girls when we were expecting Max, help with the girls when my health is less than ideal.
9. Friends & Ministry - friends are so important to me personally! Even though it takes so much time to really develop deep friendships, God has blessed our whole family with people that we treasure. Our home group touched our lives and have challenged and inspired us and hopefully we have done the same in some way for them. Some people here have been really asking if God exists and wondering what that means for their lives. We’ve been a small part of their big journey. Friends in Arizona or other places have prayed for us and this whole process of moving and planting a church as we stepped into really unfamiliar territory. Somehow God has used us at times, as imperfect as we are — make that incredibly imperfect — and worked through us. God also has loved us through other people in countless ways, it’s still amazing when I stop to think about it. I really do love getting to be a part of what God is doing. Sometimes I miss it, but when I don’t I love seeing God work.

Please pray for these 6 things this month!

1. A place to live - we’re planning to rent initially and we leave here on June 23rd.
2. A great school for Macey - where she can excel academically and socially, that hopefully will also provide her with some creative outlets. Please pray for her safety, wisdom and discretion, great friends, and a wise teacher who loves all of the students.
3. Our house to sell quickly!
4. God’s provision - we don’t have the finances yet that we need to have lined up for normal expenses for our family and the church start-up. We really plan to start simply, but still have a ways to go. John may need to get a full or part-time job. Please pray that the giving would come together and be clear soon so that we can move forward.
5. As some of you know, a member of Pathways and our home group recently committed suicide. Death is difficult to process, but the process is multiplied when it’s a suicide with all of the questions, doubts, and range of emotions that can come along with someone ending their life that way. Please keep praying for us and any who knew him as they heal.
6. Most importantly, preparedness - that we, our marriage, and our children are prepared spiritually, physically (especially my health), emotionally, relationally … for our move so soon, but also to start a church and be tools in God’s hand to touch people’s lives in the city of Austin.

As John has said many times, thank you for being part of this with us!

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Back from Boot Camp

When you think of a boot camp, this picture might not be what comes to mind. But it is a fitting image of what I experienced at church planting bootcamp a few weeks ago. It was taken in the prayer garden of a former monastery that has been turned into an urban retreat center in Richmond, VA. With church planters from around the country, I joined the rhythm of prayer and community with those who live there.

But this retreat center was by no means a secluded escape. It sits on a hill overlooking the city. The week was spent with periods of reflection and prayer contrasted with fantastic views of downtown Richmond. It was a fitting reminder of the inward and outward nature of the church’s mission. And a perfect context to form and shape dreams for new mission-minded churches.

Before I left, I emailed our prayer team asking them for prayers each day of that week. I knew that it would be an important time to help shape some thoughts for this new church community in Austin. I received a lot of encouraging emails in return. Thanks to all of you who were praying. (If you didn’t receive that email, and want to be on our prayer team, please let me know.)

The time of learning with about 40 other church planters was very good. But it also gave me some space to hammer out an initial strategy for creating a church community that is designed to reproduce itself. I’ve posted that strategy on my personal blog — A Mustard Seed Church. I would be grateful to anyone who takes the time to read through it and offer your questions and other feedback.

We also have some guiding values that are taking shape. Through our time at Pathways, I’ve been able to see just how important the core values can be to helping define the culture of a new church. I’ll share more about our developing values in the weeks to come.

Thanks for continuing to be a part of this journey with us.

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May Update

Last night, I turned in my final paper. Three hours later, I walked out of my final lecture. Three seconds later, I let out a huge sigh. I have relished the work, both in the classroom and out, that has come with getting a master’s degree, but I’m glad to be done. It is one more hurdle that is now behind us as we continue on our journey to a new church community in Austin.

The timing is good, because May is a busy month with lots to do and many decisions to make. Here is some of what is going on that you can be in prayer about:

• We will be aggressively trying to sell our house this month with lots of open houses and private showings. The market is really slow right now, and we are feeling the weight of that. Pray not only that our house will sell for a price that will help us get established in Austin, but that our kids can have some sense of consistency even as our home becomes a fish bowl with potential buyers looking in.
• I will be attending a church planting ‘bootcamp’ with the Ecclesia Network later this month. Pray that the time with other church planters and trainers helps bring new clarity in shaping the vision for this church that God is laying on our hearts.
• In February, I mentioned that our only connections in Austin were a handful of pastors. In our support team letter, I asked people to help us network with others. Thanks to friends around the country, we have had contact with three or four families that have expressed some interest in being a part of this new church community. Please keep talking about us and praying that God will connect us others who can be a part of getting the church started.
• Continue to pray for our fund raising. Pledges for monthly support have not come in as quickly as single gifts toward our startup costs. But, for each family or individual who has made a monthly commitment, I can think of at least one other who has told us they are considering it. Pray for those who are still considering what they are able to do. Pray about how much you might be able to give each month to the work that God is doing in Austin. The timing of this is becoming important. While I would like to be able to give myself full-time to the church, later this month we will need to determine if I will need to do some other work as well to support our family.
• We have been in conversation about joining a denomination that could provide some local relationships and funding. This is not something we take lightly as we think it is important to be in partnerships that can help us best pursue the ministry we feel called to. Pray for wisdom on both sides as we work through this process toward a decision.
• With our June moving date quickly approaching, we are beginning to look for a place to live in Austin. We plan to rent for the short-term, but we think that where we live from the start is very important. Pray that we find the place where our family can best settle in and begin to make new friends in Austin.

And one final note…we will continue to post updates and prayer requests here on the blog fairly regularly. But we are also building a more formal prayer team who we can send more specific and intimate requests to via email once or twice a month. And we want to have a lot of people on that list! If you want be a part of that team, please let us know so we can officially add you to the list.

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Support Team Update

In the past few weeks, we have sent out almost 250 letters to friends across the country. As we prepare to head to Austin, it is important to us to know that we are not going alone, but that many are part of this with us through their prayers and financial support.

To all who have emailed or called after receiving our letter, thank you. It has been wonderful to hear from each of you. To those who mailed a donation or a commitment card, a special thanks. We no longer just receive utility bills and credit card offers — you have made it fun to go to the mailbox again! With each envelope we open, we are both humbled and affirmed by your willingness to be a part of God’s work with us.

Since a few have asked, I though it would be helpful to give an update of how the development of the support team is going:

• About two dozen families have specifically responded to say that they will faithfully pray for this new church. While many of those have chosen to financially support the Hodos Project as well, it means a great deal to know that there are others who are bringing this new church community before God. I have some ideas about trying to coordinate a few intensive times of prayer for this new church community in a few months. If you would like to be included in that, please be sure to mark the first option when you return your commitment card, or contact us through the website to let us know.
• We have made great headway toward our start-up costs through some generous gifts. The funding that has come in so far has been enough to cover the costs of the Ecclesia Network church planting boot camp I will be traveling to in May, as well as the costs associated with allowing the church to be a formally recognized organization. Those are two significant expenses, and it has been a relief to have them covered so quickly.
• We have received a number of commitments for ongoing monthly support, though we still have a long way to go. But I’m not panicking! We are aware that this is a significant commitment that takes some time to work through. We have heard from both families and churches that are still weighing what they will be able to do. Please be praying that God will meet provide the means for this new faith community through generous giving.

Again, thanks for following along on our journey. As I mentioned above, this post came out of the curiosity of several friends. If there are other questions you might have, please pass them our way.

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