Well, things are moving along here in Baltimore. We’ve been very busy since I last posted, and I have A LOT to tell “y’all”.
The biggest thing has been the arrival of 3 out of 4 Mississippi missions teams scheduled to arrive this summer (the 4th is scheduled for a few weeks from now.) The first, in mid-July, was from Clear Branch, and after spending several days helping with the Lee Street Memorial Baptist Church, Brother Raymond and his team joined us for our first “wave” of prayer walking and promoting the church. I was able to take a couple of days away from my family vacation to fly up and greet the team, as well as share our vision for this church with them.
Considering the media-saturated culture that we live in, we wanted to be very wise with how we announced this new church. As I mentioned in my last post, Bolton Hill and Mount Vernon are in the arts district of Baltimore, and accordingly, that community values creativity and aesthetics as core ethics. To ignore these values would not only violate our own desire to honor the Creator, but also falsely convey that we disrespect and are disinterested in what this community values. So as we planned the three promotional waves, we were mindful that we were walking a thin line between the extremes of generic, commercially-produced promotions on one side and sub-standard fare on the other. The mode of our announcement would say as much if not more than our announcement, itself. Weighty things to think about with just a flyer, right? :)
And again, God has been faithful. Our core group has planned the 3 waves to coincide with the help from these Mississippi missions teams, around the theme of 3 different parables. The first wave referenced Matthew 17:20, and faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains, by constructing mustard seed packets. Our core group designed 3 different, beautiful labels for mustard seed packets with an announcement that a new church was coming to the area and our contact information on them. We then assembled over 1500 small envelopes, filling each with a small amount of mustard seeds and applying the labels. They looked beautiful. Our hope was to give the people of Bolton Hill and Mount Vernon a small gift that would give them pause rather than just tossing it away.
And the team from Clear Branch helped us do this. They walked and prayed with us in both of these neighborhoods, and helped us distribute the seed packets on doorsteps, in cafes and apartment buildings. Building on our previous prayer walks, I am confident that this was integral in preparing the way for us in the coming weeks.
The 2nd wave of hand-outs spun off a different set of parables: those of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:44 -46). Again, our team crafted 3 different designs, and this time, we made them into bookmarks, tying a small pearl-like bead on each one.
The team from Utica (led by Bro. Eric McMahon) overlapped with the team from Holly Springs (along with Bro. Rob Sugg of First Baptist Jackson) in late July, and we got to work with both, as the former was finishing up and the latter was just beginning.
This second wave coincided with Artscape (http://www.artscape.org), billed as America’s largest, free, public arts festival. Not only is Artscape a premier arts festival, but it is situated exactly in our 2 neighborhoods, Mt. Vernon and Bolton Hill. This was a prime, God-given opportunity to get involved with what the community was already doing. We contacted Volunteer Services with Artscape and asked how we could help. The Volunteer Coordinator, Heather, was overwhelmed by our willingness to fill in whatever empty roles she had. Over the two days, our teams worked in 2 areas: the Family Art Park (helping with the LEGOs and make-your-own-art for the kids) and taking demographic surveys of festival go-ers (Heather’s biggest need).
I cannot emphasize enough to you how big a help this has been for us. To be able to establish such a friendly and positive relationship with the City of Baltimore, even in this small area, has been very encouraging for us, and Heather has expressed great interest in not only working with us again, but even putting in a good word for us where she can.
Evangelism and advertisement were placed far on the backburner for this event, knowing that many people have a misconception of Christians as pushy and agenda-driven. However the Southern accents of our Mississippi brothers and sisters prompted many folks to ask where they were from and why they were volunteering at Artscape, in Baltimore! All of our volunteers wore a simple button with a light-bulb on it, and if people asked, they only had to point to it, and talk about the new church. What an opportunity!
In addition to all of the work at Artscape, Utica and Holly Springs also prayer-walked the two neighborhoods (as the team before had), gifting homes, apartment buildings and small stores with our pearl-bookmarks.
It was here that we encountered our first brush with spiritual warfare. A Bolton Hill resident cited a loosely-phrased, new City ordinance that prohibits flyering and leafleting, and all-but-threatened us with the $50/handout penalty it carries. At over 2000 bookmarks distributed, it would cost us a good bit if he were to make good on his threat. After studying the ordinance, we feel safe, but have no desire to 1) be illegal, or 2) misrepresent the gospel by making a nuisance of ourselves in the very neighborhood we are trying to reach.
So this has made us reconsider our original plans for the 3rd wave, and that has worked out for the best as well. We are now planning 2 identical events in each neighborhood, more along the lines of “meet the community”, hopefully timed with the large influx of people that the Fall season always brings to Baltimore.
Overall, having these teams from Mississippi has been encouraging to us on many levels. Having walked and prayed and worked with these teams, we feel as though they have caught the vision of what we are trying to do. This is exciting for us, and reassures us that, as our partners, when they pray for us, it won’t simply be a list of prayer topics to tick off, but things that folks will passionately intercede for, on our behalf. We also hope that it isn’t a one-way relationship, but rather a true partnership in which these teams, and subsequently their churches are impacted, and changed by their experience here and what God is doing.
[Side note: That watermelon they brought from MS was so sweet and GOOD! It was a blessing to us, too!]
This last Sunday, we had the first of what we are calling “/Sundays” (said, “Slash Sundays”). Because these gatherings are more than simply a Sunday Service at this point, we knew we needed a title that was more descriptive of what we hoped to accomplish in this time. These Sunday gatherings will function as Sunday-service/training-time/meeting-planning/cohesion-time for the group, prior to our first open-to-the-public services (hence “/Sundays”). We are also inviting potential team members for the NEXT church plant (that’s right, #4!) to join in with us, and get a head start on training and planning. We had about 20 people attend this first /Sunday and are excited about how God is moving and what He is teaching us.
But with good, often comes bad. In addition to our brush with the leafleting ordinance of Baltimore City, we have found ourselves increasingly under spiritual attack in other ways. Rather than a large, overt attack, it has mostly taken the form of amazingly small inconveniences and problems that have begun to snowball. Everything from sickness, small problems at people’s jobs, and minor theft of church property from someone’s car, to a cracked pipe in my basement that has escalated to over $5000 in damage and repairs to our sewer line (not to mention the smell!), it is beginning to wear down many in our core group. Since our fundraising is not complete, we are still looking for more partnerships. This has often left us feeling financially discouraged. In addition to all this, we still have not been able to secure a Sunday meeting space for the new church!
Though this sounds all gloom and doom, we are able to count it all joy, on some levels. As we seek God and are confident in His leading, we know that the enemy is attempting to use much of it to distract us. That allows us to see it for the challenge it is, but I must say, it sure is tiring, nonetheless!
Many people in the core group are doing well overall, but others are overwhelmed and struggling. Recent graduates are still looking for permanent jobs to secure their stay in Baltimore. Others who have not joined the group yet have expressed interest, but have not been able to move forward in their commitment. We are definitely feeling pressed as our launch date draws near. We need a lot of prayer in all areas: our relationships with God, our jobs, time, finances, families, and our relationships with each other. This is becoming crucial, especially for those of our team members who have not experienced this level of warfare before.
I personally also need prayer as I transition out of my role/involvement with Grace Life Baltimore and Dan Hyun transitions in. I am navigating new leadership areas in this change and we are continually working through how this will look, both for us and for the church. Pray for Dan as he steps into a new role and leads the Baltimore church in the exciting things God has for that church.
This second wave coincided with Artscape (http://www.artscape.org), billed as 
