This Sunday we talked candidly about the God-sized challenge that is ahead of us at Journey Church.  As we plan to move into our new space in 2010, we have a lot of work, sweat, and tears to invest in order to make this happen.  One of the biggest tasks will be to raise the $225,000 it will take to sustain this plan.  Over the last two weeks we have met with the leaders of our church (small group leaders, servant leaders, and elders) asking them to lead our church in sacrificing for this project.  I am happy to report that these 12 family units committed to over $62,000 over the next two years.  Since Sunday, after receiving more commitments from both inside and outside our church, we have received $98,000 in pledges.  This is a fabulous start but we still have a ways to go.  Over the next five weeks we are asking our people to bring their pledge card to one of our worship services and place it in the offering plate.  If you are one of our out-of-town family members we ask that you also pray about this challenge, and if you decide to be apart of our team, please mail in your commitment card to PO Box 3392; Summerville, SC 29484.  Everyone in town can either pickup a pledge card at the information booth or download it here or on our website. Please be considering what you can do to help us reach our goal.  For a full explanation on our plan please download this weeks sermon.

We will continue to post information on this webpage each week as things develop.  We will announce plans, update our status, and make requests from this webpage.
 
Honduras 08/13/2009
 
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Wednesday morning around 4:30am, I finally crawled into my bed after 21 hours of bus & plane rides, layovers and van rides.  It was some tough traveling and delays were possibilities at every stop, but God was faithful to get us home.  This traveling was the culmination of a great mission trip by an impressive team.  The team was commissioned to do VBS ministry, door-to-door evangelism, abstinence training to youth, painting, sports evangelism, and we were asked to lead a church planting conference for local indigenous church planters (see picture for a few of the church leaders we trained).  My team was exceptional.  They served with a sacrificial heart, persevered through roadblocks, showed flexibility, and had the gospel at the heart of all they did.  We were fortunate to see God draw 22 people to himself through our ministry!

I would like to share two stories that touched my heart.  First, I met a little old lady in a village who had an infection in her foot.  She gave us permission to enter the house and her bedroom because her daughter wanted us to pray for her.  Our team knelt at her bedside and prayed for her.  Before leaving we ask, "Do you believe that Jesus has the power to heal your foot?"  Said responded in the affirmative so we pressed on, "Have you also trusted Christ to forgive your sins and be your Savior?"  So said, "No, I haven't."  We pressed even further with the gospel and she obliged us to share.  To my joy, she said that today she would like to give her life to Jesus.  We prayed and celebrated together.  In itself that is a great story but the most amazing part happened as we were leaving.  The daughter stop me and said (through a translator), "Many missionaries and church members have stop by to talk with my mother but every time she told them she was uninterested in receiving Christ.  I am so happy that you came.  My mother saw something different in you."  How cool is that?  God sent me around the world to have a divine appointment with a little woman named Norma.  She was unwilling to hear the gospel from others but God was set on gathering his harvest through me!

Second, there was a young man at our church planting conference (he is the 2nd person from the left wearing a black shirt).  This kid couldn't have been more than 12 years old and he was at a church planting conference!  We spoke every day for 8 hours and his focus was completely unhindered.  He was soaking in all that he could.  As Neal McGlohon rattled off complex-metaphorical concepts about church planting, he never lost focus.  I was amazed as he took pages of notes and plowed through his Bible passage-after-passage.  I was reminded that God is doing great things through this generation and he hasn't given up.  He is moving in the hearts of young men and woman to change the landscape of our world, our nations, and our communities.
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Change is Coming 08/03/2009
 
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A change is coming.  After nearly three years of ministry, two borrowed venues, countless prayers, and an unknown amount of fasting, the Journey Church is moving to our own location!  In January of 2010, we will move into our 9000 square feet venue (pictured above).  We are so excited about this opportunity for so many reasons.  First, it will meet our future needs.  Our new location off of Treeland Drive in Summerville will have a 300 seat worship center, 5 large children's ministry rooms, a coffee bar, and plenty of parking for new guests.  If you would like to view our rough drawings, click here.  Second, the location provides us with ample opportunity for growth.  The location of our venue is viewable from Interstate 26 and is set between two key interchanges leading to Hwy 17A and College Park Road.  Our location will give us exposure allowing us greater opportunity to impact our community  Finally, we have a special opportunity to see God do an amazing work before our eyes.  Someone once told me, "Will, if you want to witness God do something great you must put yourself in a postion where God alone is your solution."  We are trusting God to provide the resources to bring about his vision.  We are trusting that God is going to form a special team to sacrifice together to see his vision realized.  We are trusting that God is going to draw us closer to Him, and closer together, as we continue to Journey together.