The Mission Church of the Nazarene

     Every day is an adventure here. I imagine that church planting is always an adventure, regardless of what that look likes; having an old limestone building that seems to have not been cleaned thoroughly in 10 years+,  creates some unique adventures though.
     Friday and Saturday a pre-teen group from Duneland Community were here. Working with pre-teens after working with high school students was a learning curve. Every group of teens has their own uniqueness. They did accomplish a lot, and they played a lot too. It's always great to see our building getting use.
    One of the projects we worked on was cleaning out a very neglected storage area. We pulled everything out, and began organizing everything into piles of keep, rummage sale, and throw out. In our journey of cleaning things out, we discovered several mouse homes, and I discovered a weed growing up an air conditioning coil into the storage area. (I'm grateful the Freemont teens weeded all around the air conditioning units, which was a HUGE undertaking. I am sure that's why the weed I found was dead, and not continuing to grow up through the unit).
   

     A lot has happened over the past few days. It's hard to keep a blog and stay as busy as we are, but I know many of you are praying for us, and excited with the news of what is happening here in Hammond.

   I wanted to blog every day that the First Lutheran Youth were here. That didn't happen. I was so busy working, answering questions, and just enjoying making awesome new friends. It still amazes me a bit that this is my life now. All of my loves and passions seem rolled into one. My love of youth ministry, my love for the Church, compassionate ministry, and on the list goes. It truly is amazing.
    The First Lutheran group were really amazing. They weren't here long, but I feel like I met them weeks or months ago vs days. The teens were so polite, hard working, and it was evident they are truly striving after the heart of Christ.
    To give you an idea of how much they have done, I have put together some before and after pictures for you.
    Thanks First Lutheran teens for your amazing hard work, and your spirits. It was an absolute blast having you, and our house feels empty without your laughter, conversation, and spirit. Come and visit!



















































This is just a small fraction of the work they got done, and I have a lot of after pictures to still take. There is still a lot to do, BUT it definitely feels a lot less overwhelming. With all the groups coming, we may have a new church/house by the end of August!
    However, one of the greatest parts of having such awesome teens do visible work, is that the neighbors have come out of the woodwork to meet us. They are excited that the house and church grounds look presentable. They are excited that something is happening in the big old church that's been sitting empty for so long. I have met 4 or 5 neighbors over the past few days, and the teens kept telling me stories of their interactions as well.
    The neighbor across the street has a pool, and he kept telling the teens they could use his pool, and how great the work they were doing was. A man came by today and said even though he isn't a teen, he'd love to help out sometime, and looked excited when I told him he should stop by the house for a cup of coffee some time. Another man came up to the teens and said he was so happy a church was going to start here. When we went on a prayer walk Sunday night, people waved, they asked what we were doing, they welcomed the teens from Nebraska to Hammond. Stories of thin places where God was so evidently at work.
      I also had so many amazing conversations with the teens. About resurrection, life, living a life of intention, and the kingdom of God.
     The great moments seeped into our fun trips as well, into Chicago, to the Dunes. The laughter, the joy, the experiences, have made things here seem less overwhelming. They've made this church planting thing some more like a reality and less like a dream.
   This week was just another example that the Church is in great hands. These teens are amazing, and I am blessed to know them.
    Lastly, there was a severe tornado near where these teens were from. One of the chaperone's home town was destroyed. Her childhood church is gone. Her family has suffered great loss. She flew here late, and actually was scheduled to come in the morning after the tornado. She still came. I'm astounded by her selflessness. She said there was nothing she could do at home yet, so she should still come. Pray for them as they recover. A great reminder that maybe you can't come here to Hammond, or head to Nebraska to help with tornado relief, but there is no shortage of needs, you can serve somewhere in someway and be a blessing to someone else.
    More stories and more pictures to come. Excited for the days ahead.

   We have only three days until our first city connexx group comes!! I am excited to see all that we can accomplish together, and get to know these teens and adults. Being able to open our home is one of our greatest joys. My college roommate was our first official guest this past weekend, and this group from Nebraska will be our second official guests (there are just a lot more of them). 
    I feel extremely behind. My first week here, I ended up doing very little, so now I feel like I'm rushing to catch up with everything. I keep reminding myself, it will all work out. Things rarely go as planned, and that's OK. Things will be good, even if they don't go as planned. 
    Last night I put together a work board for them, with projects color coded by priority. Since there are so many people coming, I hope we'll be able to get a whole lot more done than I anticipate, but I've learned the past several days, that all sorts of things can come up. 
    Example: I went to set up for the group this afternoon and the air conditioning in the sanctuary isn't working right. Thus, it might be a very hot week. This was not part of the plan. However, even though this is outside of our plan, the air at the house works great, the air in the upstairs of the church works great, and water is plentiful. It'll all work out. 
    It was pretty amazing to see the sanctuary set up for the group. 

     There is a problem when you aren't making money as a pastor, and you move into an old house and church building, that problem is called finances. We are extremely blessed, because we were given alabaster funds for our house, and the district is reimbursing our moving expenses. We also have mission trip teams coming, who are paying for their own projects.
    We try not to complain, because we recognize that we are starting off in a much better place than a lot of church planters. Only, today we had the air conditioner and furnace serviced. Our house is in pretty great structural shape, but as a whole, it's been very poorly maintained. Everything is dirty, and there seem to be issues with a lot of things. The sump pump had to be replaced, the floors had to be replaced, the front door had to be replaced, and now the furnace has to be replaced. 
    The positives are this: 1) It's June and not November, so we have a little bit of time to get the furnace replaced. 2) It would make sense to have the a/c replaced at the same time, but it's not a necessity (at least as of today) 3) We have a little bit of money from alabaster to hopefully help with that. 
     The downsides: 1) There are still a lot of other projects that need to be done on the house. Painting, redoing bathrooms, fixing some window screens, cleaning everything, getting new light fixtures, etc. 2) I don't have a money making job yet. 
      There are definitely moments where I think "What in the world did we get ourselves into?!" But, there are other moments too. Like yesterday when I dropped my friends' marriage license in the mail after officiating their wedding this weekend, or when the random man knocked on our door because he heard we were affiliated with the church across the street. Those moments make it feel great to be a pastor, even if money's tight. Even if we are eating pasta and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner each night. There's still an optimism in my heart, hope that God is up to something here. 
    Nothing has gone as we had planned. We moved, I got shingles. Boxes still aren't unpacked, we haven't even picked out paint colors, my truck is still sitting in Mundelein, because I haven't had time to go take care of it, we had to buy all new appliances, a new sump pump had to be put in, our furniture didn't get delivered when it was supposed to be (we've been sitting in folding chairs for what feels like forever now), and now we have to buy a new furnace before we can use it. And... we aren't even homeowners!!! 
     In the midst of all of that, there is still hope. Hope that as we work and clean up our home and church, that the Holy Spirit will continue to work through us to do a work in our neighborhood and city. Some days that hope is all we have to go on, but being in the midst of God's will, even when hope is all we have, is better than anywhere else we could possibly be. 
     

     Since I was sick my first several days here (I'm almost completely healed), I feel like I'm playing catch up on everything. There are still a bunch of boxes that have just been placed places. Partly because we have to paint every wall in the parsonage and partly because it's overwhelming to get unpacked and settled in a new place.
    We got new appliances, so we are now able to cook and eat at home. Eating out is fun for only about 2 days, and being sick for those days made drive thru runs even less enjoyable. We are also able to do laundry, which is a bonus when you have neighbors to meet. We'll post before and after pictures soon. Our plan is to do one big post with the before and afters of all the rooms in the house, and as I said, we have to paint EVERYTHING, so that may take a while.
    In other news, we are an official incorporated church! On file with the secretary of state in Indiana! I'm still working on non-profit status, which is a much longer process, but shouldn't take more than a couple weeks if all goes well. We also have a bank account! This means that we are actually able to deposit all of your donations into our church account now. It seems small in a lot of ways, but is such a big step for us. That means, the money we get from City Connexx mission trips, we'll actually be able to access and use for projects. We are able to start trash service at the church, and we are able to access our alabaster funds for the parsonage more readily. Plus, it's just really cool to go to the bank with checks that say "The Mission Church of the Nazarene". It's like a dream realized.
     The official e-mail from the church of the Nazarene came saying we are a recognized organic church type mission, which was equally exciting. We are really here, things are really moving on the official end of things.
      This has all seemed a bit crazy and hectic, but the reality is, this is all the easy part. Filling out paper work, sending in notices that we are here, does not a church make. The church isn't filing with the secretary of state, or having a bank account, in fact we could be the church without any of that (though it's helpful in a lot of ways).
    Now the hard work begins. Now we have to meet people, walk places, interact with people, and part of me still thinks "How in the world do I do that?!" I'm a people person, and the interactions I've already made at the bank, restaurants, etc. have been great, but how do you really illustrate your love for a community and the people in it? I'm pretty sure it isn't just going up to strangers and hugging them, that is more apt to give me a restraining order than a church.
    So for now, I pray a lot. I pray when I drive Mac to the train station, by the high school and the city hall. I pray for the students that walk by on the sidewalks, and the homeless guys I see walking by the park. I pray for the kids playing soccer. I pray for the people at the train station. I pray everywhere I go, that I would have open eyes and ears to care for all of those around me. I pray for my neighbors. I pray for the crossing guards, and for the police officers I see around the city. I pray a lot, because I don't know how to start a church, not really, but I do know how to pray. That's got to be a good place to start.
      And so I pray "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, in Hammond as it is in Heaven."