Partnering & Serving for God's glory

Most of you know that the heart of The Pathway is not to start "ministries" or put on "programs." We are legitimately not against those things, it's just not who we are and how we are gifted. The heart that God has given our church is to partner with other people, organizations and ministries by serving along side them and bring the gospel to the table. Most of the groups that we partner with are not Christians... but then again, that's the point. We want to bring the gospel where the gospel does not already have roots and for us, partnering through serving is the best way to do it.

In light of this heart, God has opened doors for us to serve with and alongside a well respected community organization in our community of Hilltop. This group, known as HAC, was started in the late 1980's in response to the Crips coming up from L.A. and trying to take over the Hilltop. They have seen the gang violence almost completely disappear and now they are focused on battling the drug issues and making our community a more beautiful and desirable place to live.

God has opened the door for me to sit on the Board for HAC and has already given me numerous opportunities to share the gospel through that role. Well, last night our church was able to host a Christmas party for all of HAC's leaders and community partners. It was an amazing opportunity for us to have our community experience the reality that our facility is for them, not for us. The President of the Board asked me to pray and through that I got to share our heart with a room full of unbelievers and thank God for sending Jesus on the first Christmas.

Our church stepped up to the plate too. They're really beginning to take ownership of the mission. Rich & Susan Llufrio deep fried a turkey... delicious. Scott Ignacio made a delicious green bean casserole. Maria Kelley babysat the kids and many others showed up just to help set-up and clean up. Many relationships were built and God gave us, as a church, more favor in the community. Please pray for more gospel opportunities to come from this and for the Kingdom of God to grow.

Partnership and serving for the purpose of sharing the gospel. That's the heart of The Pathway.

The heart of God.

James 1:27 says, Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

This is not meant to ignore the vital part of James 1:27 that calls for believers to look after widows in distress, but God has taught me so much over the past 2 years about his heart for the orphan. He's stretched my understanding of what it means to be an orphan. In my mind, and I believe from God's perspective, an orphan is not just a child who has no living parents, but is a child who is neglected and robbed of love by their parents whether they live with them or not. I am convicted in my own life that I have not done enough, risked enough, sacrificed enough for the sake of the orphan. Unloved, unwanted and abandoned children is an epidemic in this world. But there is hope and it comes through the life changing power of Jesus. Over the last 2 years I've seen God's people stretch themselves and move closer to his heart through their willingness to look after orphans in their distress. Let me share with you a few examples and then a vital prayer request.

My sister & brother-in-law (Chris & Amber Irving)-- God gave them a desire and a call to adopt. As they explored the system they realized the great need for foster care. Not only did they foster multiple children, they ended up adopting a sibling group. Two boys already into their pre-teen and teen years. A hard choice to say the least but a beautiful reflection of God's heart.

Multiple Church planters-- That's right, church planters. In the midst of their struggle, financial hardship and spiritual battles, I've seen several church planters go through the adoption process. Two particular planters have adopted children with special needs from China. The heart of God is a beautiful thing.

Trinity Baptist Church-- When we were down south for our partnership trip we went to the missions conference of Trinity Baptist in Ada, OK. We were surprised to see "adoption" as a break out session. How amazing that they don't view adoption as something separate from God's call for the church. They view adoption as going hand-in-hand with the mission of God. While we were there we met more couples than I can count who were fostering and/or adopting including the youth pastor & his wife. That's not an epidemic, that's a movement of God!

Becca Hurst & Laura Stevenson-- This is the one that is hitting close to home for our family and The Pathway. Becca and Laura are a part of our Leadership Team and sacrificed so much of what it means to be "young and free" by coming to serve with The Pathway. Over recent months they felt God calling them, as roommates, to become legal guardians for a 16, now 17 year old girl who has been abused in more ways in her short life than I can fathom. Did it make sense? No. Has it been easy or ideal? Absolutely not. But they saw an orphan (although her parents are living) in distress and they could not turn the other way.

Right now is a difficult time for our church as I shared in my last post and we believe it is because God is moving. My kids have been attacked through their health (and they are both doing much better) but Becca and Laura are being attacked, and quite frankly beaten down, through their James 1:27 heart. Their child is hurting and broken and this pain is manifesting itself in ways that are hurtful and inexplicable. They are trying to love her but their hearts are being destroyed. Please pray for three things...

1) Pray for Becca and Laura to throw all that they are into the hands of God. When we are weak he is made strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

2) Ask God to show you if you could do more, give more, risk more... trust him more when it comes to looking after the orphans in distress all around you. And remember, many of those orphans have parents.

3) Pray that what God is beginning to do here in Tacoma would not be thwarted by Satan's attacks on our church and leadership.

God is up to something

Well, for those who have been praying for my son Jagen... thank you. He spent 3 nights in the hospital and then had 3 amazing nights of rest. One night he slept fifteen and a half hours!!! Unfortunately, the last couple nights have been really rough. With no real answers be found as to what is causing Jagen's ulcers, it appears that he might have to undergo even more testing since this new medication doesn't seem to be doing the trick. Please continue to pray for Jagen and our entire family.

As painful as it is to watch my son struggle with pain that I can't fix and that he can't understand, we know that over the past 2 years, every time God starts to move in Tacoma, Satan attacks our kids. As a father, it is hard to know how to feel in the midst of the attack. However, having just preached on God's providence, I chose to trust God no matter how he chooses to allow his plan to unfold.

Many of you have been praying for God to provide more leaders to join us in Tacoma. Let me encourage you and assure you, God is responding to your prayers. We have just recently completely reorganized our budget (although it still doesn't quite add up... trusting Jesus), and we have hired a part-time Kids Ave Director and a part-time Intentional Communities Director (new name for what used to be called Community Groups). This is a very exciting thing for us because it gives us two more committed people who are focused on saturated Tacoma with the gospel and equipping the people of The Pathway to be on mission. God has also opened some doors for potential worship leaders. Please continue to pray as we are meeting with several people over the next week or so and we're hoping that God provides someone to fill that role. We also have two other people praying about moving here. One may move as soon as February and the other is coming for a 10 day visit beginning Saturday.

God is moving and Satan is attacking so we need your prayers now as much as ever. In the midst of all of this leadership development and recruitment, we still have a strong and burning desire to see life change. Please pray that God would continue to bring salvation in the lives of the lost and surrender in the lives of the saved. It's tough, but God knows what he's doing and we can't wait to see how the next year of our journey unfolds!

Jagen

Our world has been put on pause since Sunday because of health issues for myself and Jagen. I had been struggling with a virus since Wednesday but Jagen's reflux issues had been getting worse. Foolishly I pushed myself too hard on Sunday. Long story short, Sunday night Kelli had her son on one side of the ER and her husband on the other side. Not a great scenario. I got the fluids in me I desperately needed along with some anti-nausea medicine but Jagen's problem is taking much more time to figure out.

God always know though doesn't he? He's never been caught off guard... never. The VanGo girls who I have mentioned in previous blogs have become the VanStay girls as they've committed to serve with us in Tacoma for 6 months. Until they move into their apartment they have been staying at our home. I am certain God put them there at this time because I needed to be in bed resting and recovering and Kelli needed to be at the hospital with Jagen. They have been a God send, along with others including Becca and John, taking care of Rylan and bringing Kelli what she needs at the hospital.

At this point I am doing much better. Ry and I went to the hospital this afternoon to visit with Jagen and Kelli and we had a good time. We have two main prayer requests at this time. First, pray that the doctors would find out the source of Jagen's GI issues. They found out underneath his reflux are a stomach and esophagus full of ulcers. Today they ran some blood tests and did a sonogram and we should have the results tomorrow evening. Please pray for answers so we can get his pain relieved.

The second thing we need you to pray for is a new "Gather to Scatter" phase The Pathway is entering into. We have learned that every time God starts to bring momentum here in Tacoma, our kids health gets attacked. Tomorrow night is a big night for The Pathway as we are combining all our Community Groups to cast a new strategy and approach to more effectively accomplish our vision. I'm so excited about it but I don't know how we're going to get through it with Jagen still in the hospital. Please pray for wisdom if we need to cancel and faith if we need to push through. We know God has called us here for his glory and we want to do everything according to his purpose and plan.

Thank you for praying.

Transfer Growth

Tonight I'm sitting in a hotel room in Eugene, OR at the annual meeting for the Northwest Baptist Convention. Today was the pastor's conference and the speaker was Ed Stetzer. Many of you who have heard of Stetzer think of him as a brilliant statistical mind, author of too many books, and a big-wig at LifeWay Christian Resources. While all of those things are factual, something you may not know is that Stetzer began his journey into the world of church planting about 24 years ago in the inner city of Buffalo, New York. I definitely learned a couple things from Ed tonight from his brilliance, but I also learned a couple things from his experience.

After the main gathering of pastors there was a smaller Q&A time with Stetzer. For those who know me you won't be surprised that I asked the first question. I had read of his experience as a newly married 21 year old in the inner city of Buffalo so I asked him what were some of the good things God did while he was there. One thing he said really resonated with what I am feeling and learning and trying to trust God for here in Tacoma. He said that when you're working in the inner city, you are often living around and working with people who aren't there by choice. They're in the city because they are poor, because they are addicted, because they are struggling in someway... because they have to be, not because they want to be. If they were natural leaders they probably wouldn't be in the inner city.

That's how I feel all the time and I have told Kelli and others that most of our people don't have leadership potential (although thankfully we do have some). However, that's not an excuse not to develop leaders. Our calling is to develop potential in people and then develop that potential into leadership. It's an extra step in the process but it is completely possible by the power of the Holy Spirit. Stetzer said that 5 people from that first church plant in Buffalo are in full-time ministry today. Wow! Not to mention the church is still going. I needed that encouragement.

The second thing I learned was a revelation of sorts. The idea wasn't new but the lens through which I view the problem is new. One of the people in the crowd asked if Stetzer believed that the church planting success we are seeing in North America today is mainly due to conversion growth or transfer growth? His answer was "both." He said his goal as a church planter is to have about 50% of his congregation be new converts and the other 50% will inevitably be transfer growth. That ensures that as a church plant they will continue to reach the lost but that they will also have believers to help disciple the new converts. There needs to be a balance.

I have mentioned in many recent blogs that we don't have enough mature believers. The purpose of our most recent trip south was to find families and couples who are willing to move their lives to Tacoma. Then tonight it hit me. In our whole church I can only think of 1 person that came from another church in Tacoma. Everyone else is a new believer or was unchurched when they connected with us. That is a problem. We are nearly 100% conversion growth. While that sounds like something to be excited about it has in fact been the cause of our stifled growth recently. We desperately need some people who love Jesus in Tacoma and believe in what God has called us to do and be to jump on board with The Pathway so that we can continue to grow and multiply in our city and beyond.

Who would've thought it? I worked so hard to reach the lost and unchurched that I truly believe I pushed away many believers who would've joined the work God is doing in Tacoma. Chalk it up to another lesson learned. Thanks Mr. Stetzer. More appropriately, thanks Jesus!

So... how was your trip?

Whenever we head south for a partnership trip the most common question we receive is, "So, how's it going in Tacoma?" The question is asked with a genuine heart but I've never really known how to answer it. Finally, on this trip, I decided to answer honestly. I would say, "It depends on the day you ask me."

Well, now that our trip is coming to a close we've already started being asked, "So, how was your trip?" I think the best answer to this is that time will tell. We have made no secret about the fact that our prayer for this trip was pointed and specific. We desperately need people, couples and families to be precise, to move their lives to Tacoma and help us raise up new believers, pour our lives into them and teach them to make disciples.

Although only time will tell, I can honestly say the trip seems to have been great so far. First and foremost we got to experience the uniqueness of the body of Christ. We got to worship and share The Pathway's story with mega churches, a house church, a church in rural Oklahoma, a country church in south Texas... and more. It was amazing to see such a diversity of people all serving the same God through the grace of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Second-- we were encouraged and loved on in a way that quite frankly we needed. Our last meeting was with First Baptist Church in Charlotte, TX. We got to share stories of "life change" with about 15-20 people and at the end they gathered around Kelli and myself, laid their hands on us and prayed. Kelli was moved to tears and she said it best (as she always does) when she said, "We pray over people so often in Tacoma but no one ever prays over us... thank you."

Finally, we have already seen God begin to move in response to our prayers. The night before we left Tacoma the VanGo girls (mentioned a few blogs ago), came and told me they saw our need for more mature believers and they decided to stay and work with us for the next 6 months!!! While in Oklahoma we heard from an amazing godly woman who has served with us before that God has called her to move to Tacoma!!! We had another awesome woman of God who came and served on a mission team that she wants to serve with us all of next summer. I already have another email in my inbox from a college student wanting to intern with us and I just got the flight itinerary from a godly young man who will be graduating college in May and feels like God may be calling him to Tacoma. He will be flying to Tacoma in December to spend a little over a week with us trying to discern God's will! The point is that God is working, God is moving, but God is not finished yet!

I tell you what, by God's grace we have been able to pour ourselves out over the past year for the glory of God and the sake of the gospel and in a matter of 10 days God used the body of Christ to fill us back up.

So, how was our trip?

It was... worship. Thank you to all who played a part and all glory to God through Jesus!

The Stars at Night, are big & bright... Deep in the heart of

Texas!!!

That's right, we're excited to be flying into that wonderful airport known as DFW this Thursday. It's that time of year again and we'll be making our annual trip down south to visit with our wonderfully faithful partner churches and individuals. We're excited to take a few weeks to be able to catch up with those of you who pray for and support us so faithfully as well as share stories of what God is doing, how Satan is trying to thwart God's work and how you can support The Pathway going forward.

We want to see as many of you as possible so if you live in an area we will be visiting, please get in touch with us and we'll let you know where we'll be. I wanted to let everyone know a few of our definite stops. We'll be in Ada, OK on Sunday October 30th for Trinity Baptist's mission's conference. If you are anywhere near the Ada area please contact the church for the conference schedule and come by and see us. On Wednesday evening November 2nd we have the privilege of speaking at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor's FOCUS Bible study... I believe it begins at 8:30pm. If you're near Belton, come on by! Then on Sunday morning November 6th we'll be speaking in the morning services for First Baptist Church Universal City. Finally, for those of you who are way down south, we'll be at FBC Charlotte, TX on Sunday evening.

If you have any specific questions about our schedule or you are interested in meeting up, just send me an email (Bobby@thepathwaytacoma.com) and we will try and get together. In the mean time, I wanted to give you a couple of specific prayer requests:

1) Please pray for The Pathway church while we are out of town for almost 2 weeks. Pray that our leaders are able to effectively step up!

2) Please pray for us as we seek several individuals, families and couples to move to Tacoma to help us plant The Pathway more effectively.

3) Please pray for our meetings with current and prospective partners. We still need a lot of support as we move forward in planting The Pathway.

4) Please continue to pray for life change in the people of Tacoma.

Thank you all so much!