Born September 5, 2017
Maybe saying that Agape Year was born on September 5th is a bit misleading. As so many of you know, this has been something you’ve walked with us through for almost two years. But on September 5th, Caleb and Lucas walked through our front door and all of the dreams, prayers, and work became real. It took on flesh.
We are going through a study on incarnational ministry with our Agape Fellows. The reality of the Incarnation is so powerful for us. The God of creation, the God who who placed the sun and moon in the sky, this God took on flesh and came and dwelt with us in the dust and mess of humanity.
As we seek to daily be transformed more and more into the likeness of Christ, we are challenged to walk how He walked, serve how He served, and see the world through His eyes. On Tuesday nights that looks like Caleb and Lucas running a trivia night for homeless men as they wait for a meal. On Mondays it looks like welcoming the stranger by providing free English as a Second Language tutoring for Pittsburgh’s immigrant community. And sometimes it looks like stopping to help someone who doesn’t look like us to change a flat tire.
We’ve settled into a rhythm of service and study that will carry us through the first 5 months of Agape Year in Pittsburgh, and our trip to South East Asia in January is right around the corner. There are still a lot of loose ends that we would love to see God tie up in the next few months. Can you pray for:
our support as we are about $1500/month short of our family need
our Agape Fellows as they grow in their knowledge and love of Jesus
our family as we seek to find places of rest and care in the midst of a busy schedule
a van, preferably 12 or 15 passenger
Finally, we have 1 Agape Fellow confirmed for next year! Please pray for Tessa as she starts to raise her support for Agape Year 2.0 and for others to be raised up to join her. Applications for 2018-2019 are now being accepted at here.
Thanks be to God, Agape Year 1.0 will start September 5th! Thanks to your prayers and financial support, we will welcome our first cohort, Caleb and Lucas, to Pittsburgh in just a few days. We’ll be in Pittsburgh September through January serving with multiple ministries around the city while studying just what this whole Kingdom of God thing is that we talk so much about.
February and March will see us travel to Thailand with our cohort to live, worship, and serve alongside our Thai brothers and sisters.
The last 6 weeks of Agape Year 1.0 will take us around the US, visiting churches, sharing the story of what we have done and seen, and bearing witness to the missional creativity of the Body.
If that sounds like a lot to handle, it is. We covet your prayers. We are still about $2000 a month short of our financial need. Were you waiting to see if we actually made this thing happen? Smart. But now’s the time! You can jump on board here.
Most Tuesday mornings you can find us at our community farm, Ballfield Farm. Henry finds a friend and Annie sleeps in the stroller while I attempt to rid the outfield of thistle and weed and Nate moves large amounts of soil or wood chips or compost in a wheelbarrow. We are joined with a slew of folks who have come together to give what they can to make this patch of earth bear all kinds of harvest. But the harvest we anticipate this year is a result of hard, back-breaking labor of folks, many of whom we don’t know, who saw potential in the fallow ground of an overgrown baseball field.
As dirt gets into my fingernails and I fight to make a patch of soil hospitable for seed, I am reminded of our brothers and sisters who are also planting and waiting for harvest. These past two weeks, our family was encouraged by visiting churches throughout Texas and California, most of which are in their early stages of growth as church plants. We heard a repeated and faithful refrain from several rectors, saying “We don’t expect to see the flourishing of the our work now. Perhaps are children will.” We were amazed by this faithful, sacrificial vision while laboring in at times hostile soil. Friends, your brothers and sisters in San Antonio, Austin, Plano, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Modesto are witnessing God’s kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven. Pray for them to be encouraged in the Spirit that unites us to each other.
Similarly, we press on to root Agape Year in the Kingdom for the life of the world. While there are times the soil looks dormant to our eye, God is at work! We have accepted our first applicant. Praise God! We are growing in our own support! Praise God! These sprouts of growth remind us of God’s ever-growing, ever-living work while we rest in His faithfulness.
We continue to trust God for a few more participants for this Fall. Please pray that the Lord of the Harvest will bring those He has called to pioneer Agape Year with us. We’ve seen God surprises us with His provision for our family while still trusting Him to call senders to come around us in this call. Is He asking you to join in this particular field? Consider giving a monthly donation of $40.
S’more Summer Sundays! Would you join us this summer for fire, s’mores, and prayer for mission?
We’ll gather the fourth Sunday of the month in June, July, and August at our home, 2623 Linwood. Bring a lawn chair or blanket, or musical instrument if you like. We’re excited to see you! Mark your calendars for June 25, July 23, and August 27.
A few weeks ago we packed the Subaru to the gills and pointed our rusty, I mean TRUSTY, steed south to the warm embrace of The Diocese of South Carolina. We had a number of appointments set up with youth leaders, rectors, and missions minded folks around Charleston, and enjoyed our time there immensely. Except for the fire ants. Lesson learned: don’t place a sandaled foot or bare hand within their reach. Lesson number two: Camp St. Christopher is a beautiful place and the people there are amazing hosts. We made some great new friends/contacts, were prayed for and ministered to in needed ways, and left encouraged and buoyed in our call to launch Agape Year. Now we are prepping for May recruiting trips that will see us in Texas and California. Being on the road with a 3 year old and a 5 month old has its challenges, and a side-of-the-road temper tantrum has a way of stretching my patience.
There are times in my life when I really need an Ebenezer, a reminder of God’s faithfulness. As Erika and I dive headlong into starting Agape Year, building a program, recruiting students, and raising our financial support there a times of great doubt that we are on the right track. But God has given me an incredible reminder of His faithfulness: my health.
Most of you know that I have Crohn’s Disease, and many of you know how debilitating it has been at various times over the past 20 years. And a few of you have seen me hospitalized or bed-bound for months on end. But just a few. Most people don’t know my story of healing (its a miracle and I’d love to talk to you about it!) so when I talk about running a half marathon, the miracle of that is lost on them.
By the grace of God I’ll run the Pittsburgh Half Marathon on May 7th. We are raising donations here with all of the money going to Erika and my financial support. Getting up early to train on Pittsburgh’s city streets, or running in the dark on unfamiliar South Carolina roads, I am reminded of God’s faithfulness with every step. Thanks for coming along side of Erika and me on the road and on the run!
We were sitting in Lucy and David’s apartment in Falls Church, VA for a little under a half an hour before Lucy begun to share with us their profound story of trusting our faithful God. During their time in Kenya, David and Lucy had seen the unexpected ways God provided for their family and their ministry. They had worked with the local church to provide leadership and discipleship training to local youth. Whether that provision be finances, participants, or a specific need, God had been present in their lives and provision. Lucy repeated over and over again, “God does not disappoint”.
God does not disappoint (think Romans 5:1-5). Nate and I wrestled with that promise most of the way home. We’d cut our trip short due to an impending snow storm (getting snowed in away from home with Henry and Annie didn’t seem like the best idea for everyone’s well being) and were struggling to not feel discouraged. God does not disappoint. At times, we’d rather have the promise “God blesses your plans” or “God won’t let you fail” or “God will make all your dreams come true”, or at the very least “God will help your toddler sleep in the car”. But instead, God comes to us in the cruciform body of Jesus Christ and proclaims He does not disappoint. He gives us grace for today. And, will extend that same grace tomorrow, but asks us to trust Him today. It is hard to abide in that place of trust, but it is indeed the safest place to rest.
We know that all of our striving and preparation will not amount to anything without God’s provision. We need Him to move in a mighty way. Can you join us in praying and fasting for students and provision? The members of our oversight board, some of our supporters, and the missions committee of our sending church have committed to fast and pray for us on March 28th. Can you fast a meal, or spend your coffee time in prayer? Our greatest needs are for students and financial support. We have so many of the components of Agape Year in place. We don’t have students. Can you pray with us?
Thanks!
Erika, Nate, Henry, and Anne
