God is Working Already

As an update, we arrived in D.C. on the evening of the 5th around 11pm. Due to the density of the city, there is absolutely no way to park the car near our row house which is only about three city blocks from the National Mall so we had to drive it out to the edge of the city and ride the metro back in after we had unloaded everything at the house. Yesterday (Thursday) was spent unpacking, settling in to the house, grocery shopping, and informational meetings with Keelan and Larry Black. Officially, Keelan is our supervisor. His boss' name is Larry Black. Larry works for the Baptist Convention of Virginia and is in charge of all international people groups in the Richmond, Hampton Hills, and D.C. area, affectionately called the 'Golden 'L'".

The informational meetings were super useful. Larry's heart is so closely nit with the urgency of the gospel message and a mindset for the kingdom, I was overwhelmed. It was refreshing for Amanda and I to see that our leaders have the same heart for lost international peoples that God has given us. We actually met at a West African restaurant. The owners were Susu from Guinea and Keelan was able to speak to them in their native tongue. When he found out that I had also lived in BF, the owner quickly left the room bringing back a Burkinabe woman who owned a braiding salon upstairs. We had a short conversation in french before she left with the invitation for Amanda to come and spend some time with her so that she could teach her how to make bi-sap. It is obvious that the Lord is already working to open doors and its only the first day! Praise his name!

During the informational meeting with Keelan that evening we were able to get a better picture of what it is exactly we will be doing. The strategy we are employing is three tier.

Tier 1: This has already been done with the top 100 metropolitan areas in the U.S. by Keelan Cook, Dr. Mike Dodson at South Eastern and ten other Southeastern students. Tier 1 consists of going through census data and compiling it in such a way that we can then see how many different people groups there are in each metropolitan area. The first step is done from a central location and does not involve boots on the ground anywhere, but only offers us knowledge of the nationality of those international communities, nothing more. 

Tier 2: Is where we come in. It is a fusion of three missions: further research on the ground which will help us to identify-affinity, people group cluster, people group, world view, religion; engagement of those international people groups as they present themselves in search of persons of peace; and developing partnerships with churches in the area who would be willing to make long-term commitments to engage and church plant within given people groups in the city. Due to the research that Keelan has already been able to do, the 5 regions/countries Amanda and I will be focusing on for the next 6 months are as follows: Russians, West Africans, Ethiopians, Arabs, & Afghan/Pakistan.    

Tier 3: Is the engagement and church planting by those churches.

For the most part, Keelan will be working on the third facet of tier 2 by developing those partnerships with local churches who will become the driving force of this project in tier 3. Amanda and I are being charged with the first two facets of tier 2. Between us, Larry, and Keelan, we have developed two obtainable goals by the end of this six month commitment (November of this year). (1) To have 5 Churches who have made a long term commitment to see a church planted within a given people group located in the D.C. area. (2) To have 5 international partners who are willing to work with those (predominantly Anglo) churches mentioned in the first goal to accomplish the goal of a church plant in those given people groups. This could be in the form of an international church, a international believer, international church leader, person of peace, or new convert.   

*Pray for us as we figure out what this looks like in a practical way.

 

*Pray for boldness, wisdom, cultural understanding, and endurance. 

 

*Pray for patience when teams come in and are living on top of us throughout the summer.

 

*Most of all pray that God would pour his spirit out on us as we do his work and on this city. Pray that he would work in the lives of those we meet at prepare their hearts for the gospel.
 

We love you all!

Zac