"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.