I suppose, after 3 1/2 months of regular Sunday morning services, it's about time I update what's going on in our neck of the woods!
We've been in South Carolina now almost a full year and a half, and not only can I (usually) find my way away Rock Hill without a GPS (a minor miracle in itself, considering my genetics), but this place is actually starting to feel like home. (Or at least, one of them. For me, it feels like I still have three homes... Maryland, Ohio, and now South Carolina.) It's an odd sensation of relief that I feel "comfortable," balanced with a tension that I don't want to be "too comfortable" and lose some inner passion about why we are called here.
To sum up what we've experienced in the church these past few months, it has been AWESOME. I know there's some of the "fresh adventure" excitement still going on, but I can't get over how fun this time has been and how clearly God has been moving. I really, really love our church! We have roughly 40-50 people coming Sunday mornings (we don't actually count, but I think that's about right), and there are a lot of families on the "fringe" who are involved in our lives during the week or who might come once in a while on Sunday mornings or who just aren't interested in "church" yet but we have relationships with. Most importantly, we see discipleship happening... "iron sharpening iron", strongholds being broken down, practical outpourings of God's love to both fellow believers and those who don't know the Lord yet.
One of the coolest things is to see how God has lined up just the right people for our church. We knew coming down here that He would have to have people prepared for us, and He has not disappointed! There are a handful of families who, from the time they walked in the door, it felt like we all looked at each other and said, "Oh, there you are!" as though we are long lost friends. These are families who have had a vision in their hearts of a group of people who value community, who want to live missionally in their neighborhoods and workplaces, who pursue simplicity for the sake of generosity, and who want to live in a way that allows "margin" for the Spirit to use them where He sees fit. Families who don't want to be content with a "normal" Christian life, but are willing to let God take them out of their comfort zone and answer the call to do "radical, mundane things." If you get VCRH's newsletter, you're introduced to one of these families each month.
On a very practical level regarding Sunday mornings, we never dreamed that VCRH would be this "far" this early in the game. Somehow God has given our church a total of four other people (besides Ben) who have taught Sunday mornings, so Ben hasn't had to prepare a sermon every single week. Our worship team started out with just Karl and Lindsey Bucher, and the Lord sent us an awesome drummer right away, plus another gifted musician who can play multiple instruments and used to lead worship at a Vineyard in Washington. Financially, we had anticipated this year having a significant deficit since we are small, and we assumed we would have to rely heavily on the support we raised outside the church to see us through these first three years. But we have kept things "simple", and the Lord has given us generous people... the giving we received in February and March from people WITHIN our church has met the budget without any outside help. If this keeps up, we might be able to write our church planting supporters at the end of the year and say, "You can stop giving now!" As it stands (and we wait to see how the trend continues), we may have a pretty significant surplus at the end of the year... which means we can move even quicker to giving away our goal of at least 50% of what comes into the church. Thank you, Lord!
And now, about us personally... Since the beginning, we wanted to foster a church that was not only simple but encouraged the idea that "everyone gets to play"... instead of a church where people expect the staff to do all the work of feeding them and "running the show" with lots of programs and "extras". Along those lines, we prayed that if the Lord wanted Ben to work bi-vocationally that he would provide the right job for him. What a financial blessing it could be to a church if it was able to operate well with part-time staff! And what a blessing it could be to a pastor to be able to naturally maintain relationships outside the church through the workplace. It looked bleak at first, as the only part-time work Ben could find paid very little. But it feels like the Lord may have opened a door in this area of our lives as well.
Several months ago, one of the members of our church (Mike Jette) approached Ben with a "proposition." He has been a certified financial planner for 20+ years, and works for Carroll Financial Associates in Charlotte, a very quality firm in the second largest banking city in America. He was overwhelmed with his client load and wanting to make more "margin" in his life for travel and other ministry. He knew Ben's educational background was in business and finance, so he wondered if Ben would want to come work for him part-time. It quickly felt like the Lord confirmed this move in our hearts, so now Ben is helping Mike manage his clients and do all sorts of administrative details. Mike is paying for Ben to take the Series 7 test that would give Ben the credentials of a Certified Financial Advisor. Ben still has months of studying to do before he's ready for that, but once he becomes a CFA, he can take on clients of his own or just continue to support Mike and his clients. It's ironic that this is probably what Ben would have been doing if he had not become a full-time pastor out of college... but in that case, it would have been much harder to start "from the ground up" with no clients instead of having someone take you under their wing and hand you what you need.
And Ben absolutely loves it! He comes home everyday sharing stories about good conversations they had with clients. If clients are willing, at the end of their meetings, Ben and Mike pray with them about anything going on in their lives. I love that in a business arena where there can be a lot of greed and materialism, Mike and Ben get to operate under different principles, even if it may mean less money for themselves sometimes, and one of their goals is to help people not base their security on their bank account. They encourage generosity and live it out in their own lives. Part of Mike's testimony is that he came to a point in his life (along with his wife, Sharon) when he knew the Lord was asking him to live on much less and give away much more. They stepped out in faith to do this... and then the stock market crashed. Yet somehow while so many people in the financial business world were floundering, God kept sending people to Mike out of nowhere and that year ended up being his best year ever. (I know this isn't how it always works... I'm not a proponent of the "prosperity gospel"... but this is how it happened for him.) He has story after story of God's faithfulness and how abundant your life can be when money is not on the throne. He and Ben have such similar hearts in this, and this job has felt like a win-win-win: for us, for Mike, and for the church. We're excited to see how the Lord uses it in the future.
And of course, the other big thing happening in our lives right now is the fact that we have begun the adoption process. (As announced in my last post.) We've signed a contract with an adoption agency, paid the first payment, and finished our initial home study paperwork. We'll have a social worker assigned to us soon to start our five home study meetings, and then start on our dossier to send to Haiti. Most likely, it will be close to four years before we actually bring home our children (we're hoping for siblings), but God is already using this adoption to totally rearrange our hearts.
Some of you may know that adoption has always been on our hearts. We planned to start a domestic adoption once we got settled here in South Carolina and felt like the church was going well. We hadn't even been open to an international adoption because it didn't feel "practical." We are "number people", and the cost and time of an international adoption felt like it was WAY out of the range of what we could do. But once the undeniable conviction came that we should pursue an adoption through Haiti, we realized that God was about to take us out of our comfort zone in a whole new way.
I know it may not be "kosher" to talk about personal finances, but money is a huge part of adoption, and through this process, I've realized that my own feeling of security often came through our bank account. Not that we ever had a lot of money, but our last year in Ohio allowed us to build a little bit of a "nest egg", and it's been a long time since I worried that we don't have "enough." Even while Ben struggled to find a job, and then held jobs that paid little, I could look at our bank account and not feel overwhelmed. So... yeah... adoption is changing that. :) To adopt two children from Haiti, it will cost between $40-45,000, and we don't have ANYWHERE near that. Our nest egg is already disappearing fast, and will probably be gone before we even get all the paperwork sent to Haiti. But we're confronted with this thought: Would we obey God even if our bank account got to zero? Would we trust Him to provide even without a concrete plan? This is SOOOOO against our nature. We try to live frugally, to budget, to make all the numbers balance. Ben is the king of spreadsheets and tracking expenses. But we can't get away from the feeling that to not pursue this would be to disobey. And so... as we've "let go"... we have never been so joyful to see our money disappearing!! I of course have moments of freaking out (when my eyes turn away from God and look too long at the situation), but overall, we have a very deep peace in what we're doing. (I often feel like the man telling the Lord, "I do believe! Help me in my unbelief!")
It doesn't escape me that the Lord first spoke to me about Haiti and adopting from Haiti through the story of Gideon in the Bible. Within a week of announcing we were adopting, we had a series of unusual expenses pop up... expenses from properties we own in Ohio, a mistake with our taxes that means we have to pay out much more than we thought, Micah fracturing his ankle, car repairs, plus other things that took a significant chunk of money... and it was all weird enough stuff that it felt clearly like when the Lord told Gideon, "You're already outnumbered, so let's reduce your army down to just 300 men... and watch me work." There's something very "Gospel-like" about realizing we don't have what it takes, and God will just have to work it out.
I don't know what the future holds with all this. I suspect I see some things God might be lining up. For instance, we can't apply for any grants or loans until our home study is approved, and if my numbers are adding up correctly, it looks like we will have just enough to make it to that point, and then have a little time before the "next payment". So maybe God will grant us amazing favor with the grants and loans we apply for. Maybe the timing will work out that Ben will get certified as a CFA and the Lord will send him some major clients just when we need it. And last night, I discovered an organization I think is amazing called "Both Hands" that raises money for adoption by helping a widow. (If you want to watch an amazing video, check this out:: http://www.bothhands.org/our-story). I'm hoping to apply to Both Hands for the very first thing once our home study is approved.
One thing I know for sure: "Some trust in chariots and some in horses [and some in bank accounts], but we trust in the name of the LORD our God." :)
