December

With many of our emerging leaders relocating around the state, nation, and world the Christmas holiday has allowed for an opportunity to analyze and regroup. I have been able to speak with some of our key people in Bellingham the past few weeks and really hash out a vision of what is necessary to see a Community Core (our version of a board) formed in Bellingham! There is still a drive to find more hosts and mentors that would directly engage the student population consistently over time. Basically there is a lot of work to be done, and I need to create a business plan!
So for the next two weeks that is my task, discerning where God is moving and how to see how I can align our mission and vision to that movement!

Some of the meetings that I have had include:

• Meeting with Johnny our resident Bible scholar who is passionate about surrounding and guiding the men at the Fort and around the area in discipleship! This guy is solid, knows Jesus, and sticks to what Jesus taught! One interesting thought that he shared last week was based on the idea that the writings of Paul are the best commentary to the gospel anyone can find. He doesn't devalue Paul's writing (still believing that they are inspired by the Spirit) but emphasizes the importance of knowing and understanding the words and actions of Jesus!
• Shared what we are doing with the Bellingham Integrity Group (BIG) and am hoping to get more face time with them over the next few months, creating a sustainable relationship that will enable emerging leaders to connect with incumbent leaders in the workplace.
• I met with three awesome men that are passionate about making an impact around the campus of Western and will hopefully make the time to interact with the emerging leaders around the area!
  

Overall, the past month has been encouraging and a lot of growth has happened!! I am excited for the next quarter and to see how Jesus impacts Bellingham and the entire state!

Hope y'all have a Merry Christmas!

A month come and gone

I can hardly believe that November is already behind us, and that December is rapidly progressing. Time has flown by, and I as in the past have a hard time keeping up like small tasks of writing a blog!! But alas I will continue to write as often as I can to include you in the picture of how my work is progressing.

The past three weeks have seen the turning of a corner. At the beginning of November I had a meeting with a woman by the name of Amy and she is the first person to commit to any sort of position! From there appointments and people that are willing to be involved with what I am doing in Bellingham has drastically increased. Since that meeting we have seen person after person commit to engaging the emerging generation in relationship and thought! Now the difficult part is continuing to push into God and trust HIM to do the work and not get prideful thinking that I could do anything without him!!

It looks like we will have a functional and pretty website by the beginning of the year which is SOOOO exciting. One thing that I have found over time is that people check out your website and if it is not functional and easy to navigate they don't like it. We are starting to work towards integrating all sorts of videos, social media, and other interesting features! One big opportunity with the site is for people like Johnny to develop studies for the Fort that would have video intros and more in-depth looks into the study to help guide a discussion in a small group. We will be able to post speeches from the forum and governor's prayer breakfast on the site, the hope is that it will eventually be a huge tool for people to learn, discover, and vision for their lives and communities.

On Thursday I had a busy day full of meetings and food! I received updates from Loran and Jim two of the campus ministry directors and learned of what they have seen and heard over the past quarter, and I learned how to better encourage and support them over the next 6 months. Spoke with some emerging leaders that are thinking and questioning how to live intentionally with other people. Meet a new friend who is a creative leader passionate about evangelism and discipleship. Encouraged friends to mediate on the word and join me in an in-depth study and memorization course in the winter! Finally I enjoyed dinner with a professor named Bruce and some of the guys at The Fort. Dinner was definitely worth highlighting; not only was it a great meal, but the conversation was delightful! I learned more about the men that now live at the place I once called home, heard from the wisdom of a incumbent leader, and helped walk the guys through a conflict! Overall a great day!!

As I begin to prepare for the coming weeks and months, pray that Jesus would guide my path as we continue to work at discipling and equipping the next generation of leaders. Pray that they would continue to have the opportunity to hear from incumbent leaders. I hope to keep you updated with my progress over the next few weeks. Until next time, Merry Christmas!