KidCity Kick-off

We're excited to announce The Pathway's next major outreach and serving opportunity.  August 4th will be the start of a highly intensive week that we're calling KidCity Kick-off.  We are incredibly excited about what God has in store for our community that week.  We are prayerfully approaching the week of August 4th and we want to ask you to join us in prayer.  

What is KidCity Kick-off? Up to now our kids ministry has been called Kids Ave. However, as we have been growing and God has been bringing us more families and children and plating in us a vision to see families in Tacoma transformed by the gospel, he was also laying on our Kids Ministry Director a new vision.  To sum it up, we desperately want to be a church that equips parents to disciple their children and we believe that involves so much more than Sunday morning.  We are trying to partner with parents to teach their kids about God's love.  With this in mind, we decided to make some needed changes to our current Sunday theme and approach and we figured when we were finished we might as well make a BIG DEAL about launching the new and improved KidCity!

Well, as we were talking about this we were also planning a major outreach push for the month of September.  Long story short, God began closing the doors for our intensive September outreach (although we will still be doing a lot with some mission teams) and rapidly opening doors to serve, spend time with and show God's love to the families in our community in August.  We've never done anything quite like this but we are praying that God would open the flood gates of life change in the lost and unchurched families in Tacoma.

How can you pray?  First and foremost please pray that God would be glorified through this outreach.  Second, please make note of the calendar below and pray for all the events going on.  We already have upwards of 30 kids signed up for our Kids Club and we are hoping to gain a huge amount of community sign-ups at our August 4th block party!  Please pray for the mailers we will be sending out to central Tacoma inviting them to the block party.  Please pray that logistics would fall into place and that central Tacoma, including Hilltop, would feel the love of God through our church.

Please pray for our church.  Pray that the families in our church would be bold in inviting friends and neighbors to the block party and to the kids club.  Finally, pray for a HUGE kingdom harvest that we are asking God to bring on Sunday August 11th.  The entire week we are going to be pushing our KidCity Launch on Sunday August 11th.  We averaged about 21 kids on Sunday mornings in the month of June.  We are asking God to bring 60 kids Sunday August 11th!  I hope this is not a foolish prayer.  I really believe God can do this.  That Sunday we will be letting the kids show off what they learned in Kids Club, passing out KidCity back-packs stuffed with school supplies and most importantly presenting the gospel in a very clear way.

God knows what he wants to do through KidCity Kick-off.  We trust that.  Lets pray together for his will to be done, the name of his son Jesus to be lifted high and his glory to be made known.  Thanks!

A new neighborhood... an old approach!

Thank you so much for praying for the mission team from Oklahoma that served with us last week.  It was an intense week of funky weather, spiritual warfare and the Holy Spirit in action.  I believe with all my heart that your prayers were powerful and effective as God used the team to accomplish the mission laid out for them.

Most of you know that we recently moved our worship gathering to Franklin Elementary in central Tacoma.  For logistical reasons alone we have love the change!  The school staff have been so good to us & we have room to spread out & grow.  But we love the move for another reason too.  Since the end of last summer we have been praying about what neighborhood we would strategically target to saturate with the gospel next.  While this may seem to be a simple choice, it was no small decision.  For 3 years we have been pouring our heart and soul into the Hilltop.  We've served, loved, met needs, prayer walked, thrown events and parties... all for the Hilltop neighborhood in Tacoma.  In the process, we have seen God bring salvation!  By God's grace alone, in these first 3 years, we have seen 37 professions of faith & 31 baptisms!!!  All as we focused on being intentional and saturating Hilltop with the gospel.  

But what I found over the last year is that people were either forgetting that God didn't call us to plant a church on the Hilltop alone.  He called us to start in the Hilltop, but he called us to plant the gospel in Tacoma!  With that in mind we felt God leading us to continue serving and sharing the gospel with the Hilltop, but to strategically use our mission teams this summer to start seeing where doors are open in Central Tacoma.  While we've done a small thing or two since we moved to Franklin, this last week was the first time we intentionally infiltrated central Tacoma with the gospel. 

What we found was another neighborhood ripe for the harvest!  Central Tacoma is a big area but it is a neighbor to the hilltop.  All week long the mission team intentionally went out and met our central Tacoma neighbors.  They walked around and handed out Starbucks coffee one morning.  Another day they baked cookies and delivered them to local businesses.  They prayer walked and passed out fliers inviting the community to a block party at Franklin.  All-in-all the team was so faithful to get out of their comfort zones and try to make gospel connections in central Tacoma.  Our prayer was that many of these connections would come to Thursday's block party so the people of The Pathway could meet them.

Well, Thursday came and so did the rain.  The party was supposed to begin at 6:00pm but the rain was coming... along with the health inspector!  We've never had to work with the health department because we've always done block parties at The Spot.  I tell you what, she kept coming up with things that were done wrong.  It was so awesome to see the church come together to get the job done!  Finally, about 6:30pm the rain moved out.  About 6:45 the health inspector said we could start cooking hot dogs.  Then at 7:00pm the neighbors came!  God knew what he was doing and literally people started pouring in as soon as we were ready to start serving food.  

Conversations were had, the foundations of new potential friendships were laid, the Spirit of God was obviously working.  This past Sunday we had more new faces at our worship gathering than I could count.  I recognized people from the block party and it was amazing to see our church welcome so many new faces.  Please don't stop praying though.  In order for us to reach central Tacoma we have to begin planting Intentional Communities.  In order for that to happen we need leaders and commitments from folks who are seeking Jesus.

Hilltop.  Central Tacoma.  I don't know what God has in store but I believe he wants to radically change the people of these neighborhoods with the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Summer has arrived!

Summer is finally here!  It's hard to believe that this is our 5th summer in Tacoma.  God has done so much but I am confident that he is not even close to finished.  So how can you be praying?

1) Please be praying for our summer interns Kevin & Paige.  Kevin is living with a young man named Jason who actually interned with us during our first summer.  Jason just moved to Tacoma a couple months ago and intentionally moved into the apartment complex where he is living so that he could work with the interns to saturate that apartment complex with the gospel.  Paige is living with Brittany, another fairly new member of The Pathway who also responded to our request to move into that apartment complex with missional intentionality to help the interns bring the hope of the gospel.  Well, God is already moving.  The interns spent all last week doing small things to bless their neighbors.  They knocked on doors passing out cookies and baked muffins to give away one morning.  All this culminated in a bbq they had been inviting people to that took place Saturday evening.  The bbq was a success and they got to meet a lot of new people.  One young man even came to our worship gathering on Sunday.  God is at work but Kevin and Paige will be serving diligently through August 10th so please lift them and their apartment complex up in prayer!

2) Please be praying for our first mission team.  Trinity Baptist church in Ada, OK has been sending teams to work with us since our days in Snoqualmie.  Their teams are usually full of young (youth, college, young adults), passionate and prepared people who are willing to be stretched.  This year seems to be no different as the team arrived on Saturday and is already hard at work.  They prayer walked the community where they will be working yesterday and they are actually walking the streets as I'm writing this blog praying, looking for people and giving out free coffee in the name of Jesus.  They will be hosting intentional lunches every day at two different parks... People's Park in the Hilltop and Franklin Park in central Tacoma.  The two prayers for this team is that they would have opportunities to share the gospel and that they would have opportunities to invite folks to the block party they are hosting at Franklin elementary Thursday evening.  Please keep this team in your prayers and pray for salvation and an awesome block party Thursday where our church can connect with the people they've been meeting!

3) Please be praying for the family considering a move to Tacoma.  God opened a door quite a while back for us to begin talking and praying with a young family who is considering coming to Tacoma to help fill a pretty specific need we have.  They came for a visit a couple weeks ago and we could visibly see them wrestling with the magnitude of the possibility and the depth of the calling.  Please pray for this couple.  Pray that God would give them wisdom, discernment, clarity and passion for where God wants them to be.

4) Finally, please be praying for our Intentional Communities.  I feel like a broken record at times, but we are still struggling to develop the leaders that we need as fast as we need them.  We launched 4 Intentional Communities just after Easter and 2 of them are already busting at the seams, desperately needing to multiply!  The other 2 are not far behind numerically and will need to multiply soon.  The hard part is leadership and geography.  We take a geographic approach to starting IC's and we are trying hard to target Hilltop and Central Tacoma right now.  However, many of our prepared leaders live in other communities.  Please pray for wisdom and discernment as we seek to multiply.

Thank you for your continued prayers.  God is moving, the kingdom is growing and we are excited to see what the summer holds!

Answered prayers...

Time sure does fly doesn't it?  I just don't know where the time is going.  I'm sitting in one of my favorite places right now  spending time with Jesus and praying through the direction of my own life, how I can be more effective at touching people with the gospel and the direction of our church.  Where we are and where we're headed.  In doing so, I've been thinking about all that is going on in Tacoma through The Pathway right now that I oversee, but I'm not directly in charge of.  That led me to a moment of thankfulness for the way God answers prayer.

About a year and a half ago God gave me a clear picture of a new approach to accomplish our vision for Tacoma.  There was a lot to it but one of the things it required was developing a staff to work with who could give significant time to their areas of ministry oversight.  There were 5 positions that needed to be filled and God has filled 4 of them.  I'm not sure what his plan is for the fifth, but based on how perfectly he filled the other four, I trust that his answer will come in the right way and at the right time.

I just wanted to take a moment to give some thanks to God for these 4 answered prayers.

1) Donna Christian-- Anyone who came to worship with The Pathway before Easter 2012 knows that our gatherings were pretty interesting.  I love worship.  Often you would find me playing the guitar and singing (not pleasant for those listening) and then preaching.  It felt like the "Bobby" show at times and I did not like it.  We would often not sing at all and God used those moments to teach us the heart of worship.  But shortly after God laid these part-time staff positions on my heart, he brought Donna and her husband Josh to our staff.  Donna has been an answer to prayer.  She has taken our worship team from nothing to a 5 member team.  They are growing in their leadership and have done such an amazing job of allowing our church to sing praises to Jesus!  It has been amazing to see God stretch Donna out of her comfort zone and to see him build in her a humble confidence that he has equipped her to lead.  God has blessed & I am so thankful.

2) Stacie Hooks-- One of the positions I felt compelled to fill was a director of Intentional Communities.  I needed someone who could passionately lead in recruiting and training Intentional Community Leaders.  Someone who shared my Church. Different. heart that church is not a place we go, it's who we are.  Someone who was not afraid to ask for my guidance and help but who didn't need me to hold their hand every step of the way.  Stacie has filled that role and then some.  I think her heart and desire to see Intentional Communities birthed and effectively infiltrate Tacoma matches my heart in every way.  She has trained up leaders, written material, made hard decisions and has done a fantastic job.  She has also taken on the oversight of our mission teams and interns which is a full-time job itself in the summer.  The load that Stacie has lifted off of my shoulders is indescribable and has made it possible for us not simply to reach more lost people, but to effectively train them up in the gospel.  I'm so thankful.

3) Jenna Jones-- One of the positions I was most burdened to fill was that of Kids Ministry Director.  Our church at the time was mainly young single folks so there was no obvious person to fill this position.  Despite the make-up of our congregation, I was under a deep conviction that if we were going to reach our community and our city we had to be able to reach and connect with children and their families.  That's when Jenna came to me and said, "I don't know if you want me to do this, I have no experience, but I think God has called me to fill this position."  She told me that she had recently been prayed over and the person had shared that he felt God leading her to work with children.  She was skeptical but then heard of The Pathway's need.  Jenna's leadership is a testimony to her faithfulness to God and the power of how God take "untrained" folks and use them in supernatural ways.  Under Jenna's leadership we have seen our kids ministry grow from 6-25+ kids.  More amazingly we've seen her disciple parents by placing them in roles that stretch them.  We've seen parents disciple their kids simply by reading the Jesus story book Bible to them every night.  God answered a prayer and I am so thankful.

4) Kyler Phillips-- I also knew I needed someone to fill a ministry assistant role.  Someone who had a passion for people but a skill to handle tasks that were taking far too much time for me to accomplish.  Collecting offering and partnership contributions, making deposits, handling reimbursements, answering phones, and much much more.  Kyler, on top of her full-time job, has answered that call.  No credit, no glory... no pay!  She simply does things that need to be done and does them well.  Kyler's first major project was to implement, train and make effective our on-line ministry network that connects and communicates with our entire church.  She has done a phenomenal job and the use of this tool is increasing every day it seems.  God answered.  I am thankful.

I, like so many I'm sure, get caught up in the craziness of every day life and forget to reflect on and be thankful for how far God has brought us.  It's not just that my load has been lifted by these faithful women.  It's that our capacity to see kingdom growth and make disciples has increased and as a result disciples have been/are being made in greater numbers and the kingdom of God is growing!  God answers prayers and I am so thankful!

It's time for the MEN to OBEY!

Paul writes in Ephesians 6:4... Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, ubut bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.  This verse stuck with me when I read it in my devotional time with Jesus last week.

It led me to the conclusion that It's time for the MEN to OBEY!

Fathers... it doesn't get any more manly than that.  Not all men are fathers, but all fathers are men.  Paul is speaking directly to men in this passage.  He's speaking to men with responsibilities, with a family, with a wife and children.  He is speaking to the men of the church in Ephesus.

Bring them up in the discipline & instruction of the Lord... When I read this I started to think about it deeply.  I began asking myself how I'm doing at this task, this charge, this calling.  I have two 3 year olds.  Am I bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord?  If this is my calling, how can I do it?  If it's my responsibility, how can I be ready, equipped & prepared?

Then I began thinking about the men in my city?  The word father evokes so many different emotions.  Many have no father.  Many don't know who their father is.  So many in our city have been abused, neglected or flat out ignored by their father.  Some have been brought up by their father, but in the ways of the world rather than the ways of the Lord.

When I think of the word father I think of men who should be the rock that holds and leads a family together by faithfully following and pursuing Jesus.  Instead I too often see men who leave, run from and shirk the responsibilities of family.  Bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord? So many fathers don't bring their children up at all.  Mother's are too often left with the full responsibility of raising their children.  Why?  For no other reason than God created them to bear children therefore it's much easier for men to run away, ignore or completely abandon what they see as a "problem."  

What if?  What if the Fathers in your church decided to Bring them [their children] up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord?  What implications would that have on your family, your church, your community, our nation, our world and most importantly the Kingdom of God?  As I think, as I pray and as I dream of a church full of men who passionately pursue obedience to this instruction from the Apostle Paul, I think of quite a few amazing, life altering, God-glorifiy implications.  

     1) More children than ever would have a father.  Not just a "baby daddy" as so many in our culture describe the man who "simply" impregnated the mother.  Children would actually have a man in their life, married to their mom, who is actively engaged in their up-bringing.  Children would have a daddy who loves and pursues them the way our heavenly Father loves and pursues all of us.

     2) Father's would have an active relationship with Jesus.  In order to bring children up in the ways of the Lord, you have to know the ways of the Lord.  In order to learn the ways of the Lord, Father's would find themselves engaged with the church... the body of Christ.  They would find themselves reading God's word... the Bible.  They would find themselves praying... because that's what the Bible tells them to do.  They would find themselves filled with, led by and empowered by the Holy Spirit of God!  How amazing this would be.

     3) The horrific cycle of shattered homes, absentee fathers and aimless, godless, directionless children would be broken.  Son's would grow up to be godly men.  Daughters would be raised up to marry men of character, men of integrity... men of God.

     4) The Kingdom of God would expand... rapidly!  If only men would listen to this simple instruction from Paul, God's Kingdom would multiply.  When we bring our kids up in the ways of the Lord, we're making them into disciples of Jesus.  We're fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20).  What do all fully developed disciples do?  They make more disciples.  

From the simple decision to obey God's command... Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, ubut bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord...  we could see an entire city, an entire nation, a whole world flipped upside down by men, husbands and fathers, making the choice to stand up and be what God has called and equipped them to be.

I believe It's time for the MEN to OBEY. By the grace of God... I'm in.  

Will you join me?

Witnessing reconciliation & life change

Me, Kelli & Addie (that's our dog) moved to Washington state five and a half years ago.  I cannot believe it's been that long.  We crammed ourselves into our U-haul and made the LONG trek across the country battling snow & sickness the whole way.  We arrived in Snoqualmie naive enough not to be scared and excited enough to press on toward the calling God has placed on our life.

While we were in Snoqualmie we became really good friends with a young couple who ended up getting married a short time before we left.  They were in our small group, lived down stairs from us in our apartment complex and became good friends in a short time.  Some time ago we got word that they were separated and that he had made a lot of bad choices and was running away from the marriage.  She left the state for a few months to try and "recover" from all she had been through and to be honest, we prayed for them, but I was sure their marriage was over.  I chalked it up to another marriage down the tubes... a small battle won for the enemy.

This past weekend our church did not gather for worship on Sunday.  Some of our Intentional Communities gathered together for bbq's and some informal fun, but we encouraged everyone to spend Sunday resting, relaxing and investing in their families.  Since we had the morning free, we decided to visit with our old church in Snoqualmie but we had no idea what we were about to witness.

We had heard rumblings that this couple had encountered God in a radical way and that they were trying to work on their marriage after months and months apart and divorce papers on their way to be filed.  But we hadn't talked to either of them or seen them in a long time.  But just as the gathering was beginning to start they walked in.  It was amazing to see them together.  At the end of the service the husband went to the front of the congregation.  With sincerity and strength he confessed his sin to the church, professed his love and gratitude for his Savior Jesus and his love, devotion, remorse and thankfulness for his wife.  He shared Scripture, got down one his knees in humility as he expressed gratitude to the church for their love and grace during his rebellion.  He stated in no uncertain terms that it was the power of prayer and the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit that had reconciled his broken marriage.

Wow.  Awe.

As much as I could not believe their marriage had fallen apart I was even more astounded that it has been restored.  But why?  Why am I amazed that the God of the universe, the God who is completely invested in the business of reconciliation, why am I surprised that he could... that he would restore my friends marriage.  The brokenness, humility, love and grace on display in that room was a perfect picture of the gospel.  I was so thankful to be abel to witness that.

The service closed with the church gathering around this couple and praying for them together.  United against Satan and his schemes, acknowledging the long road this couple has ahead of them, the church took a stand for love, took a stand for marriage, took a stand for the glory of God and his ability to bring reconciliation and life change any time, any where.

The husband shared a passage of Scripture from James that I will close with.  I hope this is an encouragement to you that hope is not lost.  There is hope for the lost.  There is hope for the broken.  There is hope for anyone reading this whose marriage is broken or life is falling apart.  I believe there is hope for Tacoma.  Hope is found in the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.

And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.  and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.  Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
                         -James 5:15-16

Faces of The Pathway

We were blessed by a photographer on Mother's Day who came in and took pictures for our families for FREE!!!  It was an awesome gift to all the mom!  As I scrolled through the pictures I was in awe of all the lives God has touched through The Pathway.  I thought I would share some of them with you so you can see some of the folks that you pray for!