How we are Doing

We've been in Rock Hill for three weeks now.  We miss our Ohio friends and family like crazy, but are definitely transitioning well.  We love the city....there's so much to do and so many friendly people.  You can get into a conversation with just about anybody.  In fact, the first night we were here, as we were pulling into our parking space with the moving truck, we got into a conversation with a neighbor named Arnold and told him we'd have him over for dinner once we got settled.  Well, this past Monday night we unpacked the last box and hung the last picture on the wall... so Tuesday night, we had Arnold and his wife and baby over for dinner.  When they left, we just had silly grins on our faces.  If this is church planting, we love it.  :)   On Sunday, we have another set of neighbors coming for dinner.  

Funny side note: after Arnold and Juanita left, we googled "how to open a wine bottle."  Juanita had brought us a bottle of wine as a hostess gift.  (I forgot about that fancy little custom.  It made me glad I changed out of my sweatpants at the last minute... although as we talked over dinner, I told Juanita that next time, we're all allowed to wear sweats.)  So I apologized that we had given our wine glasses away before we moved ,which we had.  (They had sat in our cupboard for 10 years and were never used.   But I kept them because they were pretty. :)  As Ben sat at the table with them, I tried to motion to him that I had no idea how to open a wine bottle.  (Anyone seen "The Emperor's New Groove"?  I felt like Isma telling Cronk to "hit him on the head!")  After some subtle attempts, I realized I probably needed a corkscrew, which I thought I had attached to a kitchen gadget somewhere but couldn't find.  We finally blamed it on my unpacking skills and stashed the wine in the fridge for another day.  After my post-dinner You Tube tutorial, and upon locating a corkscrew, we got the wine open.  Which is good because I know the lady coming on Sunday with her boyfriend is into wine.  I may have to practice taking a sip without showing my instinctual gag reflex.  How anyone has ever acquired a taste for something with such a strong resemblance to cough syrup on steroids is beyond me!

Ben has been focusing a lot on trying to find a part-time job to start in late December or early January.  He has been applying for a lot, and even has a couple interviews lined up, but so far there hasn't been an overly positive response... nor have we found the "perfect job" - you know, one that pays well enough to keep us afloat, has hours that are during the day (as opposed to the evening when we would be trying to have people over and do lots of "social stuff"), and that allows Ben to interact with people.  If things don't start "lining" up before Thanksgiving, Ben's going to start applying for full-time jobs too.  We cannot emphasize what a blessing this two-month sabbatical is to us.  We would have been in big trouble if we had gotten here and needed a job ASAP or if Ben would have had to jump headfirst into a new job while we simultaneously had to work on unpacking and getting to know our surroundings. 

We're also searching for better ways to get to know folks.  Beyond our neighbors (and beyond the people Ben might get to know through his job) there's not a whole lot of "sure fire" free ways to build relationships.  Ben and I have both gotten into some conversations at the playground or Chic-Fila (which, incase I haven't mentioned it, Rock Hill has TWO Chic-Filas!!).  We're hoping Ben can help coach a kids' soccer team through the Y at the beginning of the year, and I've talked to the librarian about possibly volunteering during a Saturday morning storytime.  If Ben gets a job that pays enough for us to have some "wiggle room" we might get a membership to the local children's museum or join some clubs at the Y where we would see the same people on a regular basis.  It is absolutely amazing when we think about our relationships in Springfield... about 90% of them were built through the church, and another 7% were through some other "Christian group" like a homeschool co-op.  This (sadly) feels like a new world to us, trying to figure out how to build relationships through "non-Christian" groups.  We've been praying a lot for divine appointments.

As you pray for us, please also pray for our teammates.  Seth and Amanda Hanford received the devastating news last week that Amanda's mom has stage 4 cancer.  Obviously, this is incredibly difficult for them to be so far away from her parents.  The Hanfords have also been going through the process of being able to adopt a child, and that same week, they found out that they have been chosen by a birth mother to adopt her baby.  The baby is due in January, so needless to say, Seth and Amanda have a LOT on their plates right now.  

We're also praying for Karl and Lindsey Bucher as Karl continues to search for a permanent full-time job.  They have been here since October 1, and the Lord has provided plenty of short-term construction projects for Karl, but no full-time employment has worked out yet.  It looks like there might be some opportunities right up Karl's alley at the beginning of the year, and we're hopeful for something to work out there, but in the meantime, they are living 45 minutes away in Waxhaw, NC.  They are staying in a less-than-ideal one bedroom apartment, but since it is a temporary arrangement, they can't stay there too much longer.  And without full-time employment, they are having a hard time finding a place that will rent to them in Rock Hill.

We definitely covet your prayers... for us, for our teammates, for our neighbors and those we will be in contact with.  This is a battle, and it's only just beginning.

-Janelle

P.S.- here are some pictures from our last month

Micah helping with move:

About to hit the road:

New play room for the kids:

Reunited with good friends:

The Gift of Hospitality

Every Monday evening we have dinner with our neighbors and in turn, they have dinner at our place every Wednesday evening. We have also invited some other families into this routine. Tonight we all sat around after dinner and talked and laughed and enjoyed mostly meaningless conversation. But afterward, I could tell how important community is to me.

I am amazed by how refreshing true community is and how the gift of hospitality affects me. When I spend time with people in the natural rhythms of everyday life, I am so energized. When I share life with others, when I laugh with others, when I just enjoy being together with people, I feel hope and joy rise up within me.

I read an article the other day on Christianity Today and couldn't get past this sentence:

“America is suffering from a serious deficit of hospitality”

This truth saddens me especially as I see it happening in the church. I am learning more and more through experience that God has wired us to be together. Not necessarily together for the sake of trying to achieve something or accomplish something, but just being together for the sake of being together. Enjoying each others' presence, humor, perspectives, thoughts, opinions.

This makes me want to be a hospitable person and to plant a hospitable church. Less programs, more relationships. Less accomplishing things for God and more enjoying God and His children. I love how Michael Gatlin, the director of church planting for Vineyard USA, defines hospitality:

“One idea of hospitality that I've come across over the years is this – It's the ability to make/help others feel comfortable in your presence. I like this because we often only think of inviting others over for a meal, or into our homes. But truly hospitable people are that way everywhere they go, and anywhere they happen to be. These are the folks who go out of their way to meet newcomers, make every person in the room feel relaxed, welcomed, and even refreshed. They are the sensitive ones, observing how other's respond to or engage with the conversation. They ask questions and actually listen for the answers (a novel idea, I know!). It's the kind of person that practices Philippians 2 all day long! When I spot one of these folks in a room full of people, they're the ones I want to be with and want to emulate. 
I wonder what would need to change in the way we interacted with others for us to become truly hospitable in any or every situation?” 

Wouldn't it be cool to be this type of person? Wouldn't it be cool to be a part of church full of people who are practicing hospitality?  

Hospitality is a gift from God and I think we don't take advantage of it in the way He intends. There is life and hope in community. I, for one, want to make plenty margin in my life and in my church for this amazing gift.

Funding our Church Plant

Dear friends and family,

We are excited to share with you the new adventure the Lord has us on.  For several years now God has been stirring a desire in our hearts for church planting, but up until last summer He hasn’t given us the “green light.”  However, in the summer of 2012 the Lord began to show us that it was time to start moving in the direction of planting a church.  And in the meantime He was stirring the hearts of the Buchers, the Hanfords, and Rachel Hunger to help plant a church too!  It has been an exciting and scary process as we prepare to walk away from our comfortable lives and jobs in Springfield to start a church from scratch. 

Regardless of the difficulty, we are convinced that planting new, healthy churches is one of the most effective ways of reaching people with the gospel in our nation.  Interesting fact- if you added up all the non-Christians in the United States it would be the 5^th largest country in the world.  This fact and many other developing trends make it obvious that our nation is definitely a huge mission field that needs to be reached with the gospel through healthy, local churches.     

            As we have moved forward in the process, the vision of our new church and our calling has become more and more clear.  After lots of meetings, assessments, books, conversations, prayer, conferences, and trips, we are confident that the Lord is leading us to the southeast to plant multiple churches that are intensely outward focused, passionate about community and discipleship, and radically generous.  We are going to start our first church in Rock Hill, South Carolina (close to Charlotte, North Carolina).  We could go on and on about what we are going to do, how we are going to do it, and why.  See the enclosed document with more about our vision, our plan, and our team.  You can also check out our blog at http://gansonfive.blogspot.com and our Vineyard Church of Rock Hill Facebook page.  Our website should be up and running very soon as well.  We would also love to meet with you if you have more questions or want to hear more about our church planting plans.

            In order to get our initial church in Rock Hill established we are looking for 40 “church planting partners.”  Church planting partners are people who will commit to pray for our team and give $50 per month for 3 years to the new church (of course, we would appreciate any amount; not just $50 pledges). J  After 3 years, the Rock Hill Vineyard should be self-sustaining and on its way to setting aside a significant amount of money for the next church plant.  We have enclosed our 5 year budget, so you know exactly how your support is going to be used.  We will also send out quarterly updates to our church planting partners with up-to-date financial reports and highlights of what the Lord is doing.

We know that Rock Hill is probably not necessarily an area that is “close to your heart,” but we hope you can see how your 3 years of support will benefit MANY people who need a relevant church that is living out the gospel.  The 40 church planting partners we are praying for are absolutely critical in this process.  We hope you will consider being one of them!   

All of our financial support will be processed by our sending church, Vineyard Church of Northridge and will be tax deductable.  It is as simple as filling out the enclosed form, sending it to VCN (4650 Ridgewood Rd. East Springfield, OH 45503) or email (ben@rockhillvineyard.org), and starting to give.  The 3 year support will go from January 2014 through December 2016.  But feel free to throw in a couple extra months if you would like to so we have something in the budget to start with. J  It would help us immensely to have the enclosed support forms returned by the end of September, so we know before we go that we have reached our goal of 40 partners.  Also, if you have any contacts in Rock Hill, or the surrounding area, we would love to have those connections as well.     

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!  This vision could not be accomplished without faithful supporters like you.

Sincerely,

Vineyard Church of Rock Hill Planting Team

Ben, Janelle, Micah, Caleb, and Abby Ganson

Seth, Amanda, and Maddie Hanford

Karl, Lindsey, Maddox, and Zuri Bucher

Rachel Hunger

CHURCH PLANTING PARTNERS SUPPORT FORM

__ I would like to be one of your church planting partners for the next 3 years by supporting you at $50 per month and praying for you and your team. 

OR

__ I would like to partner with you by committing to $_______ per _________ (month, quarter, year) for ___ years. 

*Please make checks payable to Vineyard Church of Northridge (VCN) with “Church Planting” or “Rock Hill Vineyard” in the memo. 

__ I prefer you send me quarterly reports through ________________ (mail or email). 

I will start sending support __________________________ (month) of __________________ (year)

I will stop sending support ___________________________ (month) of _________________ (year)

Name: ____________________________________             Phone number: _______________

Address: __________________________________             Email: _________________________

  _________________________________             

Please mail this form to:

Vineyard Church of Northridge                             

4650 Ridgewood Rd. East

Springfield, OH 45503

OR

Email to:

ben@rockhillvineyard.org

Crazy Jack

I took the kids out last night while Janelle led a Bible Study with some of her high school girls.  Our plan was to go to a park and then stop at McDonalds for ice cream.  Lately I have been struggling with my "introvertedness" and feeling concerned about how much of a challenge it will be for me in church planting.

Satan loves to mess with us in our areas of weakness.  He loves to remind us, condemn us, and consume us with hopeless thoughts when it comes to our weaknesses.  The problem is there is always an element of truth in his lies.  I am weak at starting conversation, approaching people, etc.  It is true.  Guilty as charged.  But the good news is that in the Word of God Paul says, "I delight in weakness... because when I am weak, I am strong!"

We got to the playground and there was NO ONE there except for a stray teen or two wandering about.  No conversation possibilities... just time to play Star Wars with the kids.  Then we went off to McDonalds.  Before long, a guy sat down beside us and introduced himself as Crazy Jack.  Crazy Jack, as I soon found out, is perhaps the most talkative man in Springfield, Ohio.

Crazy Jack was a Navy Seal who fought in Vietnam.  His parents were German and Cherokee Indian.  He took his hat off so I could see his full head of hair.  He is getting 3 pensions... from Navistar, the Navy, and Social Security.  He is 64 and he can still lift 100 pounds over his head.  He even taught me a cool handshake.    

Somehow God came up in the conversation.  I am pretty sure Crazy Jack is not a Christian, but he said, "You can't do life without God."  And I had a brief moment to respond.  I told him that God is everything to me, he changed my life, he saved me, he transformed everything in my life.  And then we talked about rebuilding lawnmowers.

I left McDonalds reminded, "When I am weak, He is strong!"  I am horrible at conversations.  I am horrible at evangelism.  But God is really good at it.  And my weakness gives me a chance for him to show off, to show how strong He is.  I wish I would have said more to Crazy Jack about Jesus, but I am glad I said what I said.  

I told Micah on the way home, "This is what we are going to do when we church plant.  Just trust God to help us get into conversations like the one we just had with Crazy Jack."  Micah was super excited and told me how he convinced his friend the other day that God was better than Batman.

God is so good.  Our weaknesses are opportunities to trust Him.  He wants us to trust Him and rely on Him, and not have to have everything figured out.  Micah and I prayed for Crazy Jack tonight, that we'll get to see him again and eventually spend some time working on that handshake in heaven.

Junior Holy Spirit

One of our greatest hesitations to church planting was the cost it would be for our kids.  We pictured packed schedules, evenings and weekends being separate from each other, and living at an unsustainable pace for at least the first year or two of church planting.

But one day I was out jogging and I sensed the Lord speak very clearly to me- "I don't want you to plant a church at the cost of your kids, I want you to plant a church WITH your kids."  That became an incredible breakthrough for me and stirred excitement in my heart for believing the truth about kids.  Let me share some of those truths:

• There is no Junior Holy Spirit.  The same Holy Spirit in me and in my wife is the same Holy Spirit at work in my 6 year old, my 3 year old, and my 1 year old.  And HE is not limited to the size of our bodies, life experience, or any other restraints we want to put on Him.  Why do we have such low expectations for our kids?  What if they could pray for the sick, serve the poor, share the gospel, go on mission trips, pray, hear from God, worship, and have intimacy with Jesus as much as adults do because they have the same Holy Spirit living inside of them?
• Children are a blessing from the Lord, not a burden.  So when we are called to do something by God, those little people in our home are an asset not a liability.  They are an essential and critical part of God's plan.  I LOVE Psalm 127 and think it needs to be proclaimed more and more these days-  ³ Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. ⁴ Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth.  ⁵ Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.  They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.  
• Our kids need to be invited into taking risks for the kingdom of God.  Instead of being obsessed with protecting our kids, providing them with every financial provision possible, and teaching them to preserve their lives, let's teach them to lose their lives for the sake of the gospel.  What if they will be better off with less stuff and more sacrifice for the kingdom?  What if we showed them first hand what it looks like to build God's kingdom, instead of our own kingdom?  Let's stop just quoting Bible verses about complete surrender to Jesus (and the cool promises that follow those calls of surrender) and actually let them experience it first hand by the way we live our lives together as a family.  Micah (my 6 year old) a while back told me with tears in his eyes he was willing to move away from his best friend Ian because, "people need to hear about Jesus."  Talk about an awesome moment!  
• The most fruit we will ever bear is in our home.  You could plant 100 churches and it still won't compare to the discipleship opportunity and impact we have with these little ones.  Living out the gospel in our homes is the highest calling we have and the most fruitful mission we are called to.  

I am excited to plant a church WITH my family.  I am excited that God gave me a handful of arrows (or perhaps missiles) to fight this battle with.  Don't underestimate the significance of those little ones.  There is no Junior Holy Spirit.

-Ben

Pictures in my Head

I keep getting these pictures in my head of what Vineyard Church of Rock Hill could look like.  It is fun to dream and re-imagine what God could be leading us to do differently.  The different expressions our church could take on.  I know not all these pictures will become a reality, but it is worth dreaming about.

Perhaps the Lord would cause you to dream about your family, city, neighborhood, and church in the same way.  Perhaps he will give you pictures and images of what a community of passionate followers of Jesus could do in your context if they radically reoriented their lives around the gospel.

What are the pictures God is placing in your head?

Here are some of the pictures in my head:

• I picture "community groups" scattered throughout Rock Hill.  Not so much Bible Studies, not necessarily small groups, not affinity groups or Sunday School classes, but people who are intentionally and purposefully sharing in community together.  Sharing meals together, going to the park together, swapping babysitting nights, studying the Bible together, praying together, having fun together, and passionately engaging our city with the gospel together.  
• I picture diversity.  Black, white, Hispanic, and Asian.  Young and old.  People who have enough money and people who don't quite have enough.  All of these people mixed together, learning from one another, committed to discipleship with one another.  If the kingdom of God is going to be every tribe, tongue, and nation united to worship Jesus for eternity, why not have a little taste of that today through all the diverse types of people in our city? 
• I picture a group of people who don't go to church, but rather are the church.  I picture Sunday morning gatherings not being the "all in all."  Instead we gather on Sundays to worship, encourage one another, study the Bible together, minister to one another, and to celebrate what God is doing in our city and then get back out there and join in our Father's work for another week.
• I picture lots of mission trips.  Mission trips with our kids, our neighbors, and our co-workers coming with us.  I picture God wrecking us for life by bursting our American bubbles on these cross-cultural experiences.      
• I picture a group of people who give ridiculous amounts of money away.  To the poor, to the unreached, to those in need.  I picture us giving wisely and strategically to areas and people we are already giving ourselves to in relationship.    
• I picture a group of people who will pay the cost to multiply all of this by planting more community groups and more churches.  I picture our people, with tears in our eyes, giving away our best folks who we have built community with in order that they may plant new community groups and new churches.

I have more pictures in my head, but I will stop for now.  But I bet God has some pictures for you too!

-Ben

Mass Producing

Americans love to mass produce.  We are in love with growth, numbers, increase, productivity.  We love to get the highest output with the lowest input (profit).  But that mindset clashes with the kingdom of God mindset.  God isn’t impressed by numbers (it’s probably hard to be impressed with numbers when you own everything in the universe).  In fact, it seems like when I read the Bible he usually likes His children to be the underdog.  Outnumbered.  He likes to stack the deck against us, so that He gets the glory when we are delivered.  He doesn’t seem impressed by efficiency and productivity, but He does seem to care an awful lot about relationship. 

God is moving our hearts to start a church that slows down, and doesn’t become obsessed with mass production, but rather becomes obsessed with loving people the way Jesus did.  We want to make disciples and we realize that making disciples takes TIME.  It takes relationship.  It’s not about going to an event, praying a prayer, going through a 6-week course, being assimilated into a church, and then… voila!  We have made disciples.  Making disciples is more involved than that, it is more relational than that, it is more messy than that.  Jesus spent time with 12 guys, one of which he knew would betray him, and discipled them in everyday life.  He took TIME for RELATIONSHIP.  He listened, he asked questions, he cared for people. 

I noticed this tension several years ago when our church in Ohio began to work with people in poverty.  We spent time a lot of time learning from other ministries in town and observing what they were doing.  I was amazed by all the great things they were doing, but I felt like something was missing.  Under-resourced people were being served, but it didn’t feel like they were being loved.  It didn’t feel like they were being listened to, cared for, talked to, or treated like, well, humans. 

Once we launched an inner city ministry I felt the pressure within myself to give in to the American mass production mindset- How many did we feed this week?  How much stuff did we give away this month?  How can we do more?  Not horrible questions to ask, but I was convicted by more important questions I should have been asking- How did we do at loving people this month?  Did we do a good job of listening to folks and caring for them as fellow humans?     

What if the greatest resource God gave the church was… ourselves?  Not our handouts, not our buildings, not our programs, but US?  What if God doesn’t want us to create more mechanisms to mass produce disciples, but to simply give ourselves, our time, our love to people, one person at a time?  This is what we are going to try to do at the Rock Hill Vineyard.     

-Ben