I
begin with a question… Have you ever pondered the thought, why do I have the
rhythms of church life that I do? In other words, why I am I doing church this
way? It wasn’t until I church planted and removed myself from the habits of
church that I had come to know, that I realized my church life can go on auto
pilot. Now, I am not talking about my discipleship to Jesus. My Jesus journey
has always been about becoming like Jesus. My internal questions are from deep
reflections over the past year of developing and growing a community of people
that live life with Jesus at the center. If this is the goal, then what does
that look like? Great question! And that is exactly the point! Sorry, I have no
definitive answers for you. I just have some stories of where we are at on this
Jesus journey.
Here
are some of them…
Our
Building
Since
the last time I wrote all of you there have been some pretty amazing things
take place. The first of which, is that the community of people known as
Vineyard 509 has a gathering place within the Nevada/Lidgerwood neighborhood of
Spokane, WA. It is an amazing opportunity to be in this neighborhood. I
recently started going to our neighborhood council meetings to see and hear
what is going on in our neighborhood for the sole purpose of being a blessing
to our neighbors. The first meeting I went to I was told by one of the
neighbors that our building location was at the center of the neighborhood.
Coincidence? I think not. I was also told, that our neighborhood was the
poorest and most diverse in the city. My response to this was, “Sounds, like a
great place for a church.” So, we are engaging in a community and being good
neighbors. I have attached a short video tour of building. We spent the entire
month of September renovating. Our first gathering there as a community was
September 28th. Our goal is to do a community event once a month for the
purpose of drawing the neighborhood together. Our first event that we did was a
“Candy Bash” for Halloween. It was a great time of games and candy for the
kiddos and a safe place for our neighbors to come together. We got to meet
about 50 of our neighbors. We are in the process of planning the next events!
More to come…
Trip
to Nicaragua
A
few weeks ago I got back from a trip to Nicaragua. I had the honor and
privilege of traveling with 3 other pastors from the Pacific Northwest to visit
our partnership churches in Nicaragua. There are 4 Vineyard Churches in the
capital city of Managua, 1 Vineyard church in Puerto Cabezas, and 1 in
Bluefields. It was nothing short of heavenly to see the work of God in these
places. It is easy to forget sometimes that God is so much bigger than our
church we go to, or the city we live in, the State or Country we live in. God
is in the people business; the business of restoring, reconciling, and
redeeming all people. As always, it is a good reminder of all the things we as
Americans think we need as opposed to seeing people live on much less. I was
reminded that wealth and poverty always begins and ends with the matters of the
heart.
Our
Community
Per
capita, we are the most diverse church in Spokane. Spokane churches are known
for being predominately white. We have peoples from Native American, German,
Mexican, Mein, Chinese, and Nigerian ethnic backgrounds all gathered together.
It really is a beautiful site. We have some visitors here and there so far but
the small group that we have gathered is growing in community together. This
definitely takes time. I told Amber recently that I have been ruined by the
Redding Vineyard! We were so close and in such a loving relationship for such a
long time this was the reason we knew we had to plant a church. We had to go
give away what we have been given. The only hard part is that I want it now. I
want what I had but this takes time to learn to eat together, laugh together,
serve one another, sacrifice for one another and trust one another. The people
that I am Vineyard 509 with are really unbelievable and I am so excited to see
how God brings us all together all the while reaching out to our neighbors.
Our
Supporters
Over
the last 17 months we have gone from the birthing of a church plant to an
infant church. We are small and fragile. We are no longer an infant but we
still need love and support to grow into a mature and productive church. We
just want to say “thank you” to all of you who pray for us! Whether we are a
part of your normal prayer life or you pray for us occasionally when God puts
us on your hearts, we just want to say thank you. It is nice to know you are
with us. We still have a handful of financial partners that faithfully give
every month even though they don’t have to. The reality is your support pays
for the diapers! Amber and I are like struggling young parents just doing
everything we can not to kill this beautiful new creation that God has given
us! Our young community does the best it can to partner in investing in the
neighborhood but we aren’t there yet. That is still part of our maturing
process. Our financial partners are our life line. Every little bit helps in
paying for the diapers, the formula, the clothes, the burp rags, the diaper
rash cream, etc., etc., etc. Thank You for being the God-Parents of our church!
For those that have helped in the past or those that couldn’t before and now
are in a position to help, please know that every little bit helps. I mean it
$5, $10, $15 per month adds up. All donations a tax deductible and can either
be mailed or set up through our online giving.
Please Pray?
We
are on the journey of a lifetime and we need the guidance of Jesus every step
of the way. Please pray for the Vineyard 509 community to grow and mature.
Please pray for the marriage of Amber and I. Please pray for the children of
our church. There are a few now. Please pray for the opportunities to be good neighbors
in the Nevada/Lidgerwood neighborhood. Please pray that Vineyard 509 would be a
home to the orphan and widow, to the hurt and broken, and to those that need a
revitalization of their faith in Jesus.
No
one better to follow than Jesus,
Pastor Jason and all of
Vineyard 509
