Catching up and moving forward

This past Saturday, we celebrated a full year of living in California. Old friends (a friend from Baldwin high on Maui, one of the students we knew during New College ministry days) and new (even a couple we hadn't met who are moving here next month) gathered for a peanut-butter and chocolate themed evening. It was amazing to see all the wonderful people God has brought into our lives while we have been here!

So what has our experience been like this last year? Good question since we are waaayyyy overdue for an update. Which shows that mostly it has been a blur of new sights, people, experiences and just learning how to live day to day here. Some things God has affirmed:

God brought us to the right place. San Francisco felt like home very quickly. It's a beautiful place full of creative energy and the diversity makes us feel like we could have a Global Project every weekend.

God is growing our love for this place. We increasingly love the city, its people, its diversity and church planting network here.

There is a great need for relevant, faithful expressions of the gospel in the city. One of the dreams I've heard from church planters that have been here for years is that there would be a day when the Christians in San Francisco don't all know each other! There are some amazing things happening but also a lot of lost people.

The last year has been restoring. The last two years we were in Florida were a wilderness experience as we were seeking God for what He had next. We lost much of our passion for the lost and enthusiasm for the Kingdom of God. We feel like God has been renewing that passion that here in San Francisco. And in the midst of that, we can look back at those wilderness years and start to see how He was working to prepare us for being in this city and on this path.


Looking ahead......

Ever since we moved here college students keep coming up. The house we rented is quite close to San Francisco State University. Dave led a seminar at a conference on reaching college students and we ran into some college summer missionaries that were in the Bay Area last summer. There are over 200,000 college students just in San Francisco alone. At a recent conference that Dave attended, the question was asked "who are you called to?". After a couple of months of reflecting it was clear that after moving 3,000 miles across the country our love of the college campus remains.

The details are still being worked through, but the basic idea is to start a church in the area surrounding San Francisco State. The church will look different than most traditional churches in the sense that we won't start with a church building and a service. Our desire is to build a team that would commit to loving the SF State community and living life together.

We continue to work together to build up the Church Network Hub and are currently serving 6 churches and 2 non-profits as regular clients. The biggest challenge we have faced so far is finding culturally relevant models for effective administration in many different cultural and methodological contexts. It is enjoyable and challenging work.


Brook has also gotten more involved in Classical Conversations a group she was involved in during our time in Sarasota and then in the East Bay this year. She will be directing a San Francisco/Peninsula group in the fall. God has been showing her lately that strong, missional families are key to reaching this city. In a place of broken relationships, our families hold the key to breaking up hard ground. Classical Conversations equips parents to shepherd their children to "know God and make Him known." The details are in place and I'm praying for the families that will be raised up around the city to be salt and light.


The kids are doing great - getting to be tough city kids who walk a lot, ride buses and BART, and enjoy making all kinds of new friends. Samuel is intensely interested in chess and we are working to find him other people to play with since he regularly beats his parents. He is wrapping up 2nd grade and his 3rd baseball season. Lilia is busy planning her 4th birthday party and she's asked for a "Ladybug, slug, ballerina, princess" party. She had started reading and enjoys painting and drawing.