"Spying Out the Land"

A big part of what Morgan and I are going to be doing once we begin our work at Georgia Tech in the fall is planting. Planting is an action that we see all throughout the Bible and especially in the Church during the accounts in the New Testament. In essence, to plant is to look at fertile, and sometimes a little trickier, soil and bringing new things. One of the ways that we do this is by assessing campuses in each region and asking the questions: where have we not gone, is there a strong spiritual influence or Christian witness there, and how can we get there? InterVarsity is dedicated to seeing new things happen in places where nothing presently exists - as an organization we are dedicated to seeing new witnessing communities and movements on campuses planted at universities all across the world. 

Urban view from a traditional campus.

One of my favorite stories that our supervisor Nick Johnson tells us involves him attending a Georgia Tech football game just for fun and leaving with a powerful vision: "Man, I really want to see God do some amazing stuff on this campus." We are collectively starting to experience what Nick experienced that day - we really want to bring something new to this campus. It's amazing how God answers us in these moments. A couple of months later, Morgan and I were provisionally appointed by InterVarsity - and were chosen to plant at Tech. 

This past Thursday, Nick had Morgan and I study a significant chapter in the InterVarsity Planter's Manual called "Spying Out the Land." After taking notes and asking important questions about the material, Nick then had us take a practical next step and join him in visiting the school. We arrived at 9am, and spent most the day walking around to the various buildings and streets of the campus. We interviewed a few cultural informants and got a general feel for the campus. Within the first few months of walking around, Morgan and I both conversed excitedly - we fell in love with Georgia Tech. It is a beautiful campus that offers a traditional experience in an urban setting.

Enjoying the perspective from a roof-top garden. 

As we walked the streets and admired the architecture, the culture of the campus, and the various hot spots on campus, it became increasingly clear to us that God was preparing fertile soil here, and we were excited to see what God was going to do! Together we began dreaming of how we could work alongside Jesus to grow diverse witnessing communities that reach every corner of the campus, and we began theorizing how we could accomplish this within the context of the Tech culture. 

I ask that you would begin praying for the work that God is already beginning at Georgia Tech. Ask God to continually reveal his vision for campus to us. Please pray for favor with the administrative and charter process. And always, always, always pray for Tech students.

Morgan and I just underwent a Ministry Partnership Development Training 101 this past weekend, and we definitely learned so much about building a network of partners to support the ministry God is doing at Georgia Tech. We are excited, though also anxious, of the journey ahead of us as we raise support. We do believe that God has called us here, to this exact moment - and he is invited us to trust him and have faith in him. We have already been blown away from people's generosity toward what God is doing at Tech. Please pray for God's continually provision for this ministry, and that we would be at peace and rest in him. 

Blessings. 

New Life

"Then the Lord put out this hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, 'Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to breakdown, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.'" -Jeremiah 1:9-10 

I have come to love this verse so much - especially the last line: to build and to plant. I love the imagery that brings up in my mind. Spring is in full force here in Atlanta, and through a thick cloud of pollen, so much beauty is popping up all around me. The trees are turning rich and green and the tulips and lilies of vibrant are opening up to drink the sunlight. I imagine an old man, bent over with his rough hands in the moist dirt tenderly placing a tiny, seemingly insignificant seed into the ground. When he is finished, he covers it with earth and softly pats the space where it remains hidden, and then he walks away. He has faith in knowing that the earth, the sun, and the rain will all work together in harmony to bring about new life where there was once only emptiness.

This is what I believe God is doing here in Atlanta. He is a gardener - he is planting new things, bringing new life and beauty as his Kingdom comes crashing into places that were once empty.

My university experience is an amazing example of that. When I started going to Georgia State, I was very lonely and embarrassed of being so. In many ways, I was confused about my faith and what role it had to play in my life. I felt unsatisfied with the rituals I was brought up to complete, and I wanted more. I felt like the campus was constantly spinning - on one hand, it was brimming with life and excitement but once it turned dark, the campus was empty and desolate. People often comment that you either love Georgia State or you transfer out after one semester. The relationships you build here really define the experience you are going to have throughout your college career.

I am so thankful that within the first month of my freshman year I just happened, by a random circumstance, to come across InterVarsity. During the first event I attended, I heard the vision of what this group of college students felt called to, and a big part of it that stuck out to me was their desire to see new life brought to campus. These Christians had stepped out of rituals, and were putting taking their faith to campus dorms, classrooms, plazas, and libraries because they believed that God wanted more for Georgia State. This vision inspired me and had me coming back for more. Four years later, and my life has been completely transformed by the work of Jesus through InterVarsity - I have seen the soils of three new countries, met incredible communities of believers, witnessed friends come to faith, proclaimed Jesus' desire for justice on my campus, experienced true racial and ethnic reconciliation in multi-ethnic community, and continually grew my leadership skills by heading missional communities and attending core group meetings. Four years later, and I believe God wants me to be a part of bringing life transformation to other students who were just like me.

God is constantly planting. He is constantly putting our little mustard seeds of faith into the ground. His hands are careful as he places us in our communities, his words are tender as he teaches us through Scripture, his dreams are big as he sends us to take risks and to experience new things. And with time we grow. We grow into beautiful, new beings brimming with joy and expectation.

God is bringing new life here - in this city! In this place! And he has this day given us kingdoms and nations to build and plant with him. What's stopping us?

While In This Place

Life is constantly happening all around me. Many of my friends are going off to graduate school next semester to begin pursuing a higher education. A few of my close friends are on the cusp of engagement and getting married, and it is so exciting. Even more of my friends are finding jobs they love doing that pay well and provide generous stability for their futures. Life is bustling on and moving forward, and yet here I am, too ambitious to look behind, yet fearful to go on. Stuck - in this place - while others keep running in every direction, embracing success and failure and everything in between.

How did I get here? And what are the things that could happen while in this place?

~

I have always felt connected with my soul. From the time I was young, I perceived that there was a presence, a sort of existence that remained within me yet apart from me. And as I grew and wrestled through what I believed and why I believed it, I came to the decision that my soul - and my body and mind and heart along with it - belong to God. Not only do they belong to him, but they are fashioned in his likeness. In my own way, I reflect the incredible passion of God, and his mercy and love toward others, his sense of humor, and his creativity. These intricate and beautiful reflections are but small pieces to the grand mosaic he is crafting together to make up his Kingdom. And this means that what I do with my life, my soul and mind, heart and body… matters.

From the point of this realization onward, I have struggled to understand just what it could mean, and how it could be, that my life matters. Is there something specific I am called to do? Is there a place that I am meant to be? Is there a sacrifice I must make? And will I know it when it happens - or will I know before? Will I ever know at all? These are the questions I had coming into college, and they remain with me even still. You see, making the decision to apply and eventually be accepted as an InterVarsity campus staff member did not happen easily. In fact, it was rather like being stuck at sea for a long time, with a terrible gale ripping against the sides of the boat with no hope of the shore.

But like many storms, sometimes in the most ferocious and hopeless moment, the sun will break through and bring cascading light on all that was once dark and cold.

Looking back now, I can see that in every moment on this rough journey, God has never left me. He whispered his plans, his dreams, and his calling for me over and over and over.... And while it was sometimes difficult to hear over the loud, whistling wind; I would often catch a bit of the sweet melody  of his song over me that he knew the plans for me, and they would prosper me and not harm me... they would give me a hope and a future. And yet here I am, in this place, afraid to walk into what he has for me. So long on the ripping waves that I fear the shore.

If you don't know already, after many years of considering, avoiding, crying over, and praying through it - I eventually accepted that God was inviting me to follow him as an InterVarsity campus staff member. Though I dreamed of security, and dreamed of making my parents proud, and hoped for marriage and stability and a home to call my own, I am instead walking into the unknown with nothing but the melody of God to direct my path... and I am afraid. That is what I mean by life going on all around me while I remain stuck. If I move forward now, I risk so much. I risk disappointing my parents. I risk being at the mercy of what other believers are willing to give to the ministry of God. I risk failing, over and over and over again until maybe one day it all is alright. This would scare the hell out of anyone. Yet I realize, right now, that it is in this place of sacrifice and risk that God can truly show just how faithful he remains to me, even in my doubt, fear, and insecurity. If it were not for the winds ripping at my boat, and the waves blocking all view of the shore, if it were not for the darkness - I would not recognize just how marvelous the light was when it broke through and just how sweet the melody rang in my ears when God invited to me to follow him.

So yes - I am still afraid. And I may fail at first, and I may fail again... but God is here. He is here in this moment. And it is with his strength and courage, that I will one day testify to his goodness and all the things that happen while in this place.