Another week of experiencing God at work at joining Him in it. Renee McBride just landed in London! We are so excited to have the first member of our launch team finally arrived in London. In addition to this, Katherine (Elizabeth's sister) just made it to London to spend the week with us. We have connected with a few more people Queen's Park and made considerable progress on our planning for the upcoming Autumn season. Here's a little more about what's going on...
Renee Is Here!
Renee landed in London just yesterday and we are so glad to have her here. Renee is a school teacher from the States and a member of The Summit Church. We connected with Renee about a year ago as Summit Church was telling their members about the new church plant in London. Thomas shared the vision with Renee and she joined us on the vision trip last January. Renee was actually the first person to formally commit to joining the launch team and it is only fitting that she is also the first of the team to arrive in London! Renee is looking for housing right now and is undergoing international orientation for her work of being a school teacher in the London area. We love this lady so much and we are so excited she is London!
What Is A Launch Team?
Some may wonder what a "launch team" is and why it needs to be assembled. Well, a launch team is a group of people committed to helping "launch" the church plant. These are people, both followers of Jesus and people who are close but not yet committed to Him, who are coming together to spread the word, put on some events for the community, and help the new effort get going. It takes a committed crew to believe in a vision that no one can quite yet see and to literally labor that vision into reality
Next month we will host our first launch team gathering in London. We will probably gather for a brunch and to hear more about the vision of the church, discussion, collaboration, and fellowship. The purpose of these gatherings is to share the vision of the church, connect with interested people, and develop ways to connect with and care for our community. We are already expecting a few people to join us for our first meeting in September.
Over this last year God has been very kind in assembling a small group of people who have a heart for London and specifically want to move their jobs and lives to London in order to help plant this new church. Our launch team will not be only Americans moving over from the States - we are building a team of people from both sides of the Atlantic to come together and help plant a new church in Northwest London. We expect a few more of our friends to move over from the States in the months ahead and we are excited to be connecting with a series of people in London who might join our launch team in the next couple of months.
More Connections
We're very encouraged by God's kindness to us over this last week wherein we were able to connect with a number of people in London. From people already following Jesus, to some specifically interested in partnering with us, to a refugee family who fled a war-torn part of the world - we absolutely love getting to know the people around us. Thank you for praying for us. Your care is evident in the conversations we are having.
What Else?
KK is here! Elizabeth's sister arrived yesterday to spend a week with us. We're enjoying catching up with her and thankful for the continued visits and support from the States. Elizabeth and Katherine are taking a girls trip to Paris this week so please pray for Thomas and the kiddos as they explore London for a few days on their own.
Thomas and Daniel just reignited the podcast flame over the weekend. There should be a new episode waiting on you to listen to this Monday morning. Stay tuned to the next few episodes of the podcast as the guys have some information to share about the future direction of the podcast.
We are on this journey together. Your prayer and support is putting us in position to share the love of Jesus with the people we meet. We hope you are encouraged by the things that are happening and as hopeful as we are about what has yet to take place.
We love you. Thank you for being on this journey with us.
"Now to Him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith - to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen."
Romans 16:25-27