Here in Cleveland

Greetings from Cleveland, Ohio! Today's writing will be entirely to update anyone who is interested in the status of my mission trip. If you are not interested in particulars, don't keep reading this post. It will bore you, and I won't be offended. :)

(As a side note, you can now follow my blog via email if you wish. Simply enter your email address on the right hand side of the page to receive a notification any time I create a new post.)

All I can say is wow. If the next two months of this trip are as great as the first 24 hours, this summer is going to be mind-blowing. And I expect they will.

First, I have been introduced to passionate, dedicated, and energetic brothers and sisters in Christ who are going to become some of my closest friends. In fact, we hope to become like family, because we will need to love each other selflessly and have intimate relationships to survive the stress that living in cramped quarters for two months is likely to bring. Last night, we all circled up and gave our testimonies. There is something stirring in hearing the intricate nature of God's work in individual lives!

We are staying in what Kevin (Our mission coordinator, AKA the boss) calls the "Vision House." Notice it is a "Vision" and not a completed project. It's a little rough (there's a plumber working right now so that we can use both showers at once). Much construction needs to be done, but we'll work through it all. I'll post pics sometime to show what I mean. The unpolished nature of the house will makes life very interesting, especially here at the beginning! I'm excited, though, because our whole team gets to live together- definitely worth any lack of convenience.

The VH is a duplex bordering downtown Cleveland. The location is ideal for missionary work because it is right in the center of the city, and our teams will be branching out into all nooks and crannies of the Cleveland area throughout the summer. VH has three stories and 10 bedrooms. The guys (10 of us) live on one side of the house while the girls (4 of them) and Kevin and his family live on the other side. My bedroom is in the loft, which I share with three other guys. It's going to be fun!

Also, we have two students living with us who are seeking asylum from their home countries. They came to Christ about 5 months ago, and they cannot return home because of threats by their families to their lives. Please keep them in your prayers! Pray that they will be granted extended visas so that they do not have to return to their country where they would be killed for choosing to follow Christ.

Today, we finally learned more precisely what we will be doing. Essentially, we are assisting in the development of two or three brand new churches. According to Kevin, we will be very knowledgeable in church planting by the end of the summer. I AM EXCITED!!!

We began by learning the "regions" of the city as the NAMB workers here in Cleveland have developed. Essentially, we will be prayerwalking each street in the regions we are working in, conducting research necessary for the birth of new churches/bible studies. We will go door-to-door to ask questions such as "What do you see as the greatest needs of your community," and "What do you see wrong with churches" (If they individuals are resistant to the presence of a church." Hopefully, we will strategically document each street in the region, marking household interest level, learning the needs of the communities, finding people willing to host gatherings, and piecing together the overall community perception of Christ. Part of our assignment includes using map-making software to create maps that subsequent church planters and mission teams can utilize. Above all, we will seek to remain open to opportunities to develop relationships with people, love them, and point them to Christ.

Additionally, we will lead short-term trips as they come in from throughout the nation. Needless to say, tomorrow will be spent learning the city up and down, from the bus lines to the ends of the subways.

Throughout the summer, there will be some fun opportunities as well. We are going to travel as a team to Niagara Falls, one or two Cleveland Indians games, and possible Cedar Point, one of the country's premier amusement parks. I'm looking forward to see what God is going to do this summer, through the fun times, the tough times, and the times of stretching that leads to spiritual and personal growth.

Please lift up me and my team in prayer. The prayers of God's people are powerful, and you can pray specifically for...
*Open hearts and minds to the gospel
*Receptiveness to our presence and questions
*Physical needs of the communities (Will update as I learn more)
*Our friends seeking asylum
*Physical protection (There are some high crime rates in the city)
*Spiritual warfare (always a part of any missionary endeavor)
*Spiritual growth for me and my teammates