Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

If you prayed for us and/or sent us a note of encouragement in the last week, I hope you see this so you can know how blessed we have been by you! God has been so richly at work through people and has blessed us with countless, visible displays of His goodness and love as new and old friends have prayed for us and with us, brought meals, watched kids, helped us with lagging ministry projects, and written notes on online forums or good, old-fashioned cards. We have been truly blessed by our ClearView family, local friends, and out-of-town friends and family. THANKS! We felt God's peace through your kindness.

Many of you have asked for an update on Trish. She is recovering well. She is able to get back to normal functioning a little more each day. She feels excessively tired and is experiencing some unwanted side effects of medicines she is taking, but we imagine both of these, while undesirable, are to be expected. Her spirits are good and she's been hard at work ensuring a special Christmas for our family. Please keep praying for her recovery, healing, and for increased energy levels.

A final item for prayer is complete healing from cancer. We are trusting God that the surgery removed all harmful tissues and that medicine will round out this treatment. We're not sure exactly what that means yet...but Trish meets with a doctor tomorrow that will help us better understand upcoming treatments. Thanks for keeping this in continued prayer.

Finally, please forgive us if we have not responded to your comment/post on Facebook or this blog or returned a phone call or e-mail. Know that we have gotten your blessing and take great meaning from it...we're just overwhelmed with all that is happening in our lives, the wonderful aspects of the Christmas season, and moving ministry projects forward. Please keep the good words coming! :)

Merry Christmas! Luke 1:37-38

New Season Of Prayer For Trish

Hi faithful prayer friends. Please keep praying for Trish. She is recovering nicely...just tired and sore. However, we did find out today that her thyroid (removed on Monday) WAS cancerous. Lymph nodes around the thyroid that were also removed WERE NOT cancerous. So, there is good news:

We know surgery was the right thing to do and are thankful that God provided a quality surgeon to do her thryroidechtomy quickly.

This sort of cancer is highly treatable due to surgery and treatment options. Her surgeon seems to feel strongly that complete cure is quite likely with medicine she will begin taking soon.

Obviously, the bad news is that cancer is cancer and no one wants this. Please pray for:

1. Wisdom for Dr. Tallo (endocrinologist) and Dr. Sivard (surgeon/endocrinologist) as they devise Trish's treatment plan.
   
2. Complete healing.
   
3. Peace for Trish and our family.
   

Thank for praying. I believe God that "the works of God (will be) displayed in (Trish)" as He heals her (see John 9:3b, ESV).

Trish's Surgery Went Well... Please Keep Praying...

Hi Friends,
Thanks for praying for Trish this a.m. Technology is amazing... so I can keep you posted on what's going on via blog and Facebook status updates. I just spoke with the surgeon... He said that:

1. Surgery went as well as could be expected.
   
2. He could see three of four para-thyroids (which is good. You need one to function properly...and Trish has at least three healthy ones. Danger is that sometimes these can be entwined in the thyroid...so at removal of thyroid it is necessary to remove these also...so the fact that they could be seen/not removed is a blessing).
   
3. He could clearly see the nerve that ensures vocal functioning. One concern in this surgery is that if this nerve is hidden...it can accidentally be cut or nicked and inhibit vocal functioning. So...he's confident this is not a concern in Trish's case.
   
4. Here's where the praise/prayer requests merge: When the doctor removed the nodule that is growing on Trish's thyroid...they sent this to the lab to test for cancer. Results of these preliminary tests came back "inconclusive". This is not a surprise...because this is one reason Trish chose to have the thyroid removed. So, I'm thanking God for clear discernment that we did the right thing. Surgery was necessary. PRAYER REQUEST is that the doctor said many times these inconclusive tissues are sent to specialists at the Mayo Clinic or John's Hopkins to try and really tell if the tissues are cancerous or not. It's too close to call at this point. They aren't normal but they aren't obviously cancerous either. So, pray that there is no cancer.
   
5. The doctor also removed some suspicious lymph nodes around the thyroid. He felt that these looked abnormal and if, by chance, there is some problem...He didn't want to have to do a second surgery.
   

So, bottom line is that Trish came through the surgery well, is in recovery now, and we ask you to please keep praying for 1) recovery, 2) acclimation to the medicine she'll have to take from this point on, and 3) a cancer-free report when tests come back in a week or so.

Thanks for praying!

Take a Look and Be Encouraged!

I'm excited about this video that a team member made (pro-bono!) for us. If you're on this blog, I know you pray for us (THANKS!) and this video will give you food for praise to God for all He has done this year. It also gives some practical tips for how you can continue to help us in 2009.

Trish-Surgery on 12/15

Our family would appreciate your prayer for Trish as she is scheduled to have her thyroid removed on Monday, December 15. She learned recently that biopsy results showed atypical cells and after several recommendations from different doctors, Trish has opted to have it removed.

We understand that surgery should take a few hours, she will stay over night in the hospital, and come home the next day. Recovery is supposed to be pretty quick with minimal pain.

Please pray with us:

1. To thank God for making a reputable surgeon available on a favorable time basis.
   
2. That the surgery would go well. Risks are that the thyroid sits on top of vocal cords. Pray for great skill for the surgeon.
   
3. That God would bless Trish with a speedy recovery and help doctors to regulate medicine quickly that will take over important thyroid functions.
   

2 Breakthroughs Today!

We need some breaks from God. Launch day is drawing close (about 18 weeks!) and we need to see our team grow. Simply put...we need to see some decisive movement from God. So, I'm trying to pray that way! I'm praying for breakthroughs.

God gave two today:
1. A friend, that is now chairperson of her church's missions team, called to say this church is going to send ClearView a donation before they close out this budget year. This is an unexpected surprise!
2. Another friend called with a referral. He has been helping a man from Gahanna in his spiritual journey and told this gentleman about ClearView. Hopefully we'll have the opportunity to minister to him and invite him to join our team.

Praise God for this movement today. Please pray with us for similar daily breakthroughs in coming weeks!

Help My Friends Plant Churches!

Know anyone that lives in any of these areas? If they're looking for a church or need a spiritual influence in their lives...refer then to one of my friends planting around Columbus. I know we'd love for people to get out the word about ClearView... so I'm trying to do my part to assist my fellow church planters. Thanks for your assistance!

We're Almost Two Years In...

A veteran pastor in our district asked me for a summary/update of our church starting journey to this point. So, I wrote him a quick report of highlights that came immediately to mind of our first (almost) two years in starting ClearView. Sometimes it's better to just write what comes out without a lot of filter or over-contemplation. Thought you might enjoy the summary. If you follow this blog or get our monthly (sometimes :) updates, you know this info. But, maybe you just want to skim and give a quick "Praise God" and prayer for God's continued movements to finalize our team and help us prepare for launch. Below is report:

December 2008
ClearView Church Update

My family and I (Tricia, Seth-5, Silas-2, Sara-8months) moved to northeastern Franklin County, OH (northeast Columbus) in February of 2007 to begin a new Grace Brethren Church from scratch. We felt led to this area for multiple factors:

• There are thousands of people that don’t know or follow Jesus in every direction, all around us.
  
• There was once a GBC in New Albany (one of our principle target communities) that closed. Hundreds of thousands of dollars and much prayer was invested in Rocky Ridge GBC by Northwest Chapel and the NCO district… so we felt it would be an opportunity for God to answer prayers prayed many years ago by beginning a new, thriving, GBC in New Albany today.
  
• Our sponsor church, Northwest Chapel, desired to see a GBC on the northeast side of town. God called us to church planting and meshed our path with NWC.
  
• We love the people of northeastern Franklin County.
  

Since moving to the area just under two years ago, we have sought to ingrain ourselves in the community. ClearView Church’s mission is to love people to a clear view of Jesus and His mission. A central value of this mission is to go where people are already gathered and be the light and hope of Jesus in those places. Significant highlights of this mission to this point are:

• 150 people in our backyard for an Operation Barnabas program this summer.
  
• Over 70 people at the block party we hosted this past September.
  
• Participation in numerous key festivals in our community where we have assisted community leaders with set-up/tear-down and served/loved people through offering free face-painting, hot chocolate, balloons, crafts/games for kids, water, etc. God has given us the opportunity to touch thousands of lives in New Albany and Gahanna through acts of kindness.
  
• An invitation for me to be part of the New Albany Events board and help plan community activities.
  

As we have seeded our family into the activities of the community, God has opened doors and is teaching us how to be more effective missionaries. We look for opportunities to tell others about Jesus and our work with ClearView through being active in the community. God has opened the following doors to make contacts:

• Serving as a block-watch captain in our neighborhood.
  
• Serving as a room parent in Seth’s kindergarten class.
  
• Coaching soccer in the community.
  
• Hosting Backyard Bible Clubs and other events in our home.
  
• Actively participating in Gahanna and New Albany Chamber of Commerce events/meetings.
  
• “Renting office space” at gathering places like Caribou Coffee or Panera Bread.
  

Over the last 2 years, we’ve met and interacted with thousands of people. We’ve hung over 10,000 door hangers, participated in community events, worked our own contact making streams and worked hard to show Jesus’ love…making the most of every opportunity. Through these contacts, God has been building ClearView’s Launch Team. We currently meet for weekly worship gatherings at the Gahanna YMCA on Sunday mornings. On average, just over 30 people participate with us and we count 11 family units currently on our team. Together, we are preparing for ClearView’s “Grand Opening” gathering on April 12, 2009 (Easter Sunday).

We’re excited to see our team develop with quality, friendly people that jump in and serve freely, invite, give, pray for, and own the vision of ClearView Church with our family. As God brings team members, we’re seeking to build the infrastructure of a healthy Sunday morning ministry (in preparation for our launch service). God is providing leaders in the areas of worship, children’s ministry, guest welcome services, administration/finance, and set-up/tear-down. Praise God for the people He has brought to team ClearView!

As we move towards April 12, our family and our baby church could use your prayers in several targeted areas. Key requests for the next few months would be:

• Spiritual intimacy for our family and launch team members.
  
• That our family and our team would make a tangible difference in the spiritual climate of our target communities (we want to see people come to Jesus and lives transformed).
  
• For adequate funding for 2009 salary and ministry and for adequate health insurance for our family.
  
• That (a minimum) of 10 more families would join our team by the end of March, 2009.
  

If you would like to learn more about ClearView Church, check www.clearviewgrace.com. To learn more about our family and regular ministry updates/prayer requests, please visit: www.wirt-prayer-team.blogspot.com. To receive a monthly prayer update via e-mail, e-mail me at andy@clearviewgrace.com and put “add me to the prayer team” in the subject line.

Thanks for praying with us!

Worth Some Thought...

Please pray for Trish

Faithful blog readers... this is a note I sent to our ClearView team today. I'd appreciate your prayers as well for Trish! Thanks!

Would you pray with my family about some significant issues? Some of you know that Trish had a biopsy on her thyroid several weeks ago. This is a condition her endocrinologist has been watching for some time. Fortunately, cells on a large nodule growing on her thyroid are not cancerous at this time, but were diagnosed as "a-typical". The doctor feels this is a real danger and that her thyroid should be removed. Obviously, we are concerned about this for a variety of reasons and would ask you to pray with us...

1. Should Trish have surgery? Please pray for wisdom.
   
2. Naturally, Trish is very concerned about having to be on medication the rest of her life and potential, life-long side effects of having her thyroid removed. Please pray for comfort and peace.
   
3. As I shared a few weeks ago, our family needs to find new health insurance, beginning 1/1/09. We're looking into a variety of options...but, obviously, with the disclosure of a looming surgery, it is impossible to buy a personal plan and group plans are "max-rated". We feel pressured to try and have surgery before the end of the year... but also don't want to rush a decision on such an important issue. Please pray for wisdom and God's provision.
   

New Prayer Card Available!

We'd love to get this in your hands to help you remember to pray for us daily or weekly. Please let me know (andy@clearviewgrace.com) how many you'd like and where to send it (them). Feel free to ask for enough to hand out to your small group!

Highlights From The Last Month or So...

God is good and continues to open doors for us in northeastern Franklin County. Here are some highlights of recent ministry opportunities:

• Seth finished his soccer season on October 13. He did well and had a lot of fun. We also connected well with families. Of special note was that we adjusted our end of season party plans (last year we tried to invite families to our home and it didn't work well). We decided to invite everyone to go to a pizza place together after the last game. 5 out of 7 families joined us for pizza and fun. This was a great chance to deepen relationships.
• We've enjoyed good connections with neighbors. Standing at the bus top together and trick-or-treating have opened doors for communication. Trish is part of a group of ladies that go out to dinner together each month.
• Trish and I enjoyed dinner with members/spouses of the local events board I am part of. This was another great opportunity to connect with people on a deeper level and share about our work with ClearView. The door was opened to discuss our work because ClearView was recognized and praised for significant involvement in community events. The board recognized and thanked us for our partnership in the Oktoberfest event.
• As room parent in Seth's class, my job is to plan 3 parties per year and act as a liaison between Seth's teacher and other families. This has been a great privilege and opportunity to get to know people in the PTO, Seth's teacher, and other parents in his class. Our first party was on 10/31 and by all accounts, it was a success. It was great to work with other parents to pull this off (I'm not crafty, have little idea about games for kids, and my idea of a healthy snack is a pretzel...so it was great to have other parents lend input and help!).
• As you know, 11/4/o8 (Election Day) was a significant day in our nation's history. ClearView handed out free Caribou Coffee at the YMCA polling location. It was exciting, for the first time, to be able to communicate to people that we meet at the Y every Sunday and invite them to join us. We had positive interaction with many people and gave out about 150 cups of coffee (around 15 gallons).
  
• This past Saturday evening (11/8), ClearView held a team time. I was thrilled at the participation of this meeting. 10 out of 11 families on our team were able to attend the meeting, there was much positive interaction, and much excitement over ClearView's vision and what God is doing. These people get it, they are plugging in, and we anticipate a great movement of God together. GOD IS BRINGING US THE RIGHT PEOPLE to accomplish the vision of beginning a new church.

Thanks for praying... God is working!

We're Still Alive!

Hey friends and prayer partners,
Sorry it has been almost a month since our last post. It's difficult to explain...but I've been so busy that this is one important area that has fallen by the wayside. Thanks to several that have inquired to see if this is still an active blog and if we're still in business! :)

We're here... working hard...continuing to make inroads into our community and build our launch team for ClearView. God has been good and continues to open doors and build our team. We're thankful for steady progress and what we believe is an exciting future.

I'll try and do a better job of posting regular news and prayer bites... thanks for being faithful to pray with us. God is working through your prayers!

Creepside Wasn't So Creepy!

Our team had a great time last night at Gahanna's "Creepside" event. This "trick-or-treat" event for kids and families was sponsored by the Parks and Rec. department and hosted at Gahanna's new and beautiful Creekside park area. Thousands of people turned out to enjoy the warm weather and 50 booths/shops that participated. It was a great time of connecting with hundreds of families.

I am praising God today because I felt this was one of our most effective outreach efforts all year. Because of the type of event that it was (children stopping by our table to grab some candy and a glow-in-the-dark toy), it was natural to hand an invitation to our gatherings (or the Main Event) to the parents. We had many positive interactions with people! Many read the information on our card and several expressed interest in checking out one of our Sunday gatherings. It helped that the YMCA (where we meet on Sundays) is a visible location in Gahanna. I was also able to meet and have extended interactions with two opposing local representatives that are running for state representative offices from this district and meet several of the staff members of the Parks and Rec. offices (all good connections for future inroads into the community). In addition to the 500 or so invitations that we handed out, we were able to further relationships with several existing contacts.


Please pray that God would transform several positive interactions from last night into 1) people that would experience ClearView on a Sunday a.m. and 2) people that we can further impact for Jesus.

Thanks For Praying For Oktoberfest!

Praise God for a great opportunity to serve and love people at New Albany's Oktoberfest on October 4. Here are some highlights from the day in pictures:

The day began with loading up our van with stuff we used for our booth and items we were loaning to the New Albany Events Board for use throughout the day. It was a special privilege not only to do our thing (see below), but also help provide resources for the event (tents, coolers, snow cone machine, etc.).


To thank ClearView for our partnership in providing resources for the event, the Events Board bought and placed a 3x5 banner on the main stage! What a blessing!

At the event, God provided the opportunity for us to sponsor 3, FREE!, inflatables for children to enjoy! Special thanks to John and Sandy McDonald (Plane Things) of Northwest Chapel for making this possible for us!



In addition to the inflatables, ClearView sponsored a booth that included face painting, colored hair spray, and array of OSU Football and fall tattoos, balloons, and crafts for children to enjoy.



We were able to connect with many people (some new and some existing contacts) and give out numerous invites to our Sunday gatherings and the Main Event!


I was personally elated at several factors of the day:

• God provided amazing help for the activities we sponsored. Over 40 different people from at least 6 different churches helped us pull off this large scale outreach event. I was so proud of our team, again, as almost every member volunteered in some form throughout the day. Even though we had numerous activities going in several locations, everything ran smoothly and there was always adequate help to get the job done well.
  
• Through the connection God has opened for me to serve on the Events Board, we were able to have a significant and visible presence at the event. ClearView is gaining a reputation in our community as a new church that loves and serves (two things Jesus was known for) freely.
• As our team debriefed the next morning, the story was told of a child that came through our booth and enjoyed face painting and crafts. She then participated in several other attractions at the festival and returned to our booth to another craft saying, "This is the best booth at the whole event!"

I know that many of you are praying regularly for us. Thanks! As always, our continual prayer is that 1) God would use us to influence people towards Jesus, and that 2) God would lead us to people that would be willing to share our vision of beginning a new, Bible-teaching, mission-oriented church in northeastern Franklin County. Please be persistent in begging God to continue moving in these areas.

Slideshow of Oktberfest Pictures

Could We Love 10,000 People In 30 Days?

A thought dawned on me last week...and quickly became a prayer. Once again, God has opened up doors for astronomical impact for our growing ClearView team from October 4 to November 4. This past Saturday, ClearView had a major presence at New Albany's Oktoberfest. Several thousand people attended this event and most came through our booth or were directly affected by our service. On October 15, we will be ministering to children and families by giving out free glow-in-the-dark toys and candy at Gahanna's Creepside event. Over 2,500 children are expected at this event. On October 27, we're serving as a sponsor for the Main Event (see previous blog post), where 15,000 are expected to attend. Finally, on Nov.4th, we'll be serving free Caribou Coffee to thousands of voters at the Gahanna YMCA polling station.

Each of these opportunities present great opportunities to tell people about ClearView and invite them to one of our Sunday gatherings. We could easily have the opportunity to directly touch 10,000 people in this 30 day period! Please pray with us that God would use us as a loving reflection of Jesus, help us plant seeds of Jesus' love and grace, and find people to round out our launch team. This 30-day period of time is absolutely crucial for us to touch many lives before winter hits and people hibernate until Spring.

ClearView To Sponsor Main Event

This is one time where this Nittany Lion backer will be rooting for some Buckeyes! The Main Event, on October 27, features 3 popular, current Ohio State football players and Coach Jim Tressel sharing their testimonies and faith in Jesus Christ. The biblical message of forgiveness and hope through Jesus Christ will be clearly presented by these stars. When the event was held in 2006, 13,000 people attended and organizers are praying for 15,000 this year.

As a church sponsor, our role is to try and get out thousands of invites and door hangers, pray for the event, provide people to be trained in follow-up, and to follow-up with people assigned to us from the New Albany/Gahanna area that make a commitment to follow Jesus Christ at the event.

Praise God with us for the opportunity to co-sponsor this great event. Please pray with me that God would use this event to train several people from ClearView in how to share the Gospel and begin a discipling relationship with people...and that we would be able to follow up effectively with new believers that live in our target area. Wouldn't it be incredible to glean new team members from fresh Christ-followers as a result of God's work through the Main Event!? Pray with us...

You Need To See This Movie!

Pray For Oktoberfest

I'm excited about ClearView's participation in New Albany's Oktberfest festival on October 4th. This is a great family event with lots of fun things for all ages. Last year's Oktoberfest was the first event we hosted a booth at and we connected with many people. I'm hoping for even greater numbers of connections this year. Our plans are to provide inflatables, tattoos, colored hair spray, crafts, balloons and more for children at the event.

We've probably bit off a bit more than we can chew ... so I need you to pray with us that God will provide needed resources so we can touch thousands of people with Jesus' love.

• We have a contact that has volunteered to provide inflatables to us for the event. This is a great blessing... but there are some details that need to come together for this to work out. Please pray that God works out these issues.
• Pray that we find enough volunteers to help us cover the events we've promised to provide.
• Please pray that God would lead us to teammates and be a positive testimony for Jesus in our community.
  

Thanks for praying with us! For more information on Oktoberfest (or to volunteer!), click here.

Room Mom! YEAH!

I found out yesterday that I got selected (most likely, no one else applied! :) as the "Room Parent" for Seth's Kindergarten class by the PTO leadership team at Seth's elementary school. I'm sure it's a bit unusual for a man to fill this post... but I'll give it a shot. Anyone have creative party ideas?

I'm not sure I can plan a great party for Kindergartners... but I'm really excited about the opportunities this will give Trish and I to connect to other parents of children in Seth's class. When it became apparent that Seth would need to attend public school, Trish and I made a commitment to be involved. Praise God for this open door to get to know new people and be sure we know what's going on in Seth's classroom.

Would you pray that God would provide opportunities to share Jesus and find teammates for ClearView from these new contacts? Thanks!

Block Party A Success!

We praise God for a great block party this past Saturday (9/13). Blessings from God were:

• Participation. Over 70 people were there at some point throughout the evening.
• A diverse crowd. We had people from diverse ethnic backgrounds and religions. Our neighborhood is truly a melting pot and it was interesting to see people of Caucasian, African-American, Asian, Indian, and Hispanic origins mix. We also were able to connect on a deeper level with atheists, Hindus, adherents to Sufism, Mormons, Roman Catholic, Christ-followers, and irreligious people. What a joy to try to be a light for Jesus and cultivate deeper relationships with many people that don't know Jesus.
  
• Help. Several of our friends and teammates pitched in to help provide food, set-up, and clean up.
• Positive feedback. Here are comments from two neighbors:

Thank you so much for have the block party! it was great! sorry we had to leave. the twins needed a bath and go to bed! We had a really nice time!

Andy and Trish, thanks so much for hosting such a great event tonight. The kids were just worn out from their playing excursion and went right to bed without our normal 20 treks downstairs for "one more question!"...It was nice for (my husband) and I to get an opportunity to met some more neighbors too so we really appreciated it. It's great to have neighbors like both of you around.

Please praise God with us for a great turnout and successful event. Please pray with us that God would use us to lead people to Jesus in our neighborhood.

Block Party This Weekend!

We'd appreciate your prayer for the block party we're hosting this weekend. We're looking forward to hosting our neighbors and friends in our backyard for a cookout, some games, and good conversation. We hope to build on last year's success (about 50 people) and meet some new people, deepen existing relationships, and build credibility with people we see almost every day. Many of them now know of our work... so this is a great opportunity for us to show people we are real people that care about them and want to serve them with love.

Please pray that:

• many would come...
• God would be pleased with our efforts to love people in a practical way...
• relationships would be deepened...
• foundations would be laid for sharing the Gospel with those that don't know Jesus...
  

Pray for Changed Lives

I'm amazed at all the things God has done and all the prayers He has answered this summer. We have had absolutely amazing ministry opportunities, have loved thousands of people in practical ways, seen our team continue to develop, and are enjoying weekly worship gatherings in our new home at the YMCA. God is good and has been doing significant miracles.

In case you're wondering (and even if you're not)...here's an honest look into Andy's heart. As excited as I am about all God is doing (and much more that we can't even see or understand)...I'm constantly haunted by the question, "When are we going to see multiple people come to Christ and see real fruit in changed lives/disciples made?" Part of me knows that this is a process--relationships take time to develop and a missional church takes time to get off the ground and train missionaries to impact their world. But, another part of me fears that all of our activity might be just that...activity. I don't want to look back on this year and see a lot of great community involvement and not be able to see evidence of numbers of people coming to Jesus.

In that light, I'm amazed at the opportunities God continues to bring to build relationships with people (most of whom I'm confident don't know Jesus):

• the doors are wide open for involvement with community event planners and business leaders...
• soccer season is starting up and I have the privilege of coaching Seth's team again
• Seth starts Kindergarten next week which will open the door for us to connect with countless new people through his school
• our team is growing...each of them have a web of relationships we want to work through
• we're planning a block party in September...

There was a time in my ministry where I had to work to think of people in my network of relationships that were unchurched. I'm ashamed to say there were times when I couldn't think of more than 5 or 6 people. Now I could list hundreds. I'm thankful for the connections God has given us and the significant doors He has opened.

Would you pray with us that God would help us get to the next level with people that don't yet know Jesus?

• Pray for redemptive conversations.
  
• Pray for deepened relationships.
  
• Pray for opportunities to show Jesus' love to people in times of pain or transition.
  
• Pray God would lead us to spiritually searching people.
  
• Pray that ClearView wins people to Christ and takes shape as a church full of changed lives.

ClearView Impacts The Taste Of New Albany

Our team enjoyed the opportunity to help set up, serve as hosts, and clean up at New Albany's annual Taste event this past Sunday (8/17). This was a beautiful evening of great food, people enjoying spending time with each other, and a great jazz concert.

In order to keep building relationships in our community, I served on the Chamber of Commerce's Taste planning team. I wanted to be of service, so I volunteered our team in some areas that needed covered. What I didn't anticipate was that those that were slated to help clean up wouldn't show. I was so proud of our group as they went right to work to clean up over 600 chairs and 60 tables and collecting trash from the event. Our group worked tirelessly...several of us being there from 1p. until almost 10p.

Between the Taste Event and concert, there were several thousand people in New Albany's Market Square area. Our purpose was to serve with love in a practical way. This was a phenomenal opportunity to greet, in some cases talk with, and get drinks for people we want to love to Jesus. Many of us had good opportunities to interact with people about ClearView. We met new people and deepened connections with some existing contacts. Praise God!

Please pray with us that God would connect us to teammates and spiritually searching people we can minister to as we serve with love in our community.

FREE Promo. For ClearView!

God has opened another phenomenal opportunity for us to promote ClearView church...FREE! A few weeks ago, I was contacted "out of the blue" by one of our local AM Christian radio stations (WRFD 880 AM, Columbus) and asked if I would be willing to be featured as one of their "pastors of the week" in August. Easy question! The opportunity for ClearView is this- one of the benefits of this program is that I was interviewed for 5 separate 3.5 minute spots that will air each day this week (respectively) at 3p. Each spot features several mentions of ClearView's website and information about our weekend gatherings at the YMCA. PRAISE GOD!

In their promotional material, WRFD mentions that up to 40% of their audience does not attend a local church. WOULD YOU PRAY WITH US THAT GOD WOULD USE THESE RADIO SPOTS THIS WEEK TO CONNECT US WITH UNCHURCHED PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY?!

To listen in, feel free to check out WRFD's "Pastor Of The Week" link. Scroll down until you see my picture and the ClearView logo and then click on each day of the week. Pray as you listen! Thanks!

Current Prayer Items...

We'd appreciate your prayer for...

• An appointment we have set for Sunday evening to follow up with a man that committed to follow Jesus at our Operation Barnabas program on Monday night. Pray that God would overcome language barriers and help us clearly communicate what it means to be a Christ-follower.
  
• This Sunday's gathering. Pray for new people to check us out as a result of our significant outreach efforts in July.
• Saturday night and Tuesday morning, we have the opportunity to meet with two different families that are praying about joining our team. Pray God would move their hearts to join our mission and give us wisdom in communicating clearly the vision God has given us for ClearView.
• Saturday (tomorrow) morning, I am speaking to a group of men at the Grace Brethren Church in Pataskala. Pray that God would work in me and through me as I communicate with these men.
• In the interest of our family and continuing to focus on building a team for ClearView, Trish and I have decided that I will not accept a contract as a school bus driver for the '08-'09 school year. This is good for my schedule... but also means we're asking God to provide through other means for shortfalls in our family budget and fund raising for ClearView. Pray for wisdom in looking for other work that would be less of a time commitment than bus driving (25 hours per week!)...and fruitful fund raising efforts this fall.
  

Thanks!

Amazing...

It's hard for me to describe the impact Operation Barnabas (OB) had on me, my family, our teammates and our community in their short visit here this past Sunday and Monday (July 27-28). It was unique in that Trish and I have spent 11 summers (combined) being ON Operation Barnabas serving other churches and communities where we've traveled. To have them here, packing our living room, mixing with our teammates, and loving people in our community-- it was great to be on the receiving end of their ministry.

Much of my summer has been spent dreaming and planning for these two days. That may sound a little dramatic, but I knew that we needed this visit from them and that if we planned well and God answered prayer (which we knew He would)... we could really love thousands of people in Jesus' name and advance awareness of ClearView in a significant manner. So...here's what happened...

OB arrived on Sunday afternoon. They met our family and we quickly got out in the community serving and loving people. A group of 5 or so went through businesses in a local strip mall and asked to clean bathrooms or windows. They had some excellent interactions and were able to pray with a few people. Another group served snow cones at the YMCA and had a great time interacting with families and Y staff. A large group helped us assemble 1,000 summer fun bags (ClearView info., invitation to Monday's program, flavored teas, and candy) to give out door-to-door on Sunday night. Just to tell you how much a group of motivated teenagers can get done... they mowed through this project in about 2 hours and were looking for more things to do before the afternoon ended. We were actually able to get an additional 500 piece mailing together as well (BONUS!). When we did similar bags in the winter, it took my family a whole week (literally) to assemble about 700 bags! During this time, the rest of the team was out in 3 different neighborhoods handing out ClearView information and inviting people to come to our Family Fun Night on Monday.

Dinner consisted of lasagna, salad, and bread. We've never fed almost 50 people (including some of our teammates that stopped by for dinner) at one time... so this was fun. Trish did a great job coordinating cooking in our and 3 neighbors' ovens and the food was great. Our family and our team enjoyed interacting with these quality young people. Their attitudes are great, they pursue people in conversation, they help with chores like cleaning up, they are wonderful with children, and they exude love for Jesus. It made it easy to remember why I invested 5 summers of my life leading OB teams... these students are the leaders of tomorrow and each one of them has the potential to change the world.

On Sunday evening, we loaded the whole team on the bus and went out to 3 different neighborhoods around the YMCA where ClearView meets. In about an hour and a half, OB hung about 800 of our Summer Fun bags on doors and had some good interactions with people they encountered. Again, it took me over a month to get out the winter bags we had prepared...so I was elated to touch so many homes in such a short time. At this point in our church planting work, we're in the business of mass contacts... and God provided a way to get this done big time with OB! After a busy day, we enjoyed some Graeter's ice cream in our back yard ("Thanks," Mark Brock!).

Monday was just as fast-paced and eventful. When the team arrived in early afternoon, we split them into groups again. One team finished hanging the remaining 200 bags and several hundred additional door hangers, helping us make repeat contacts in several neighborhoods. Another group went to the YMCA and served there- some painting, some landscaping, and some giving out free snow cones. A final group worked for the Village of New Albany service department, helping with a brush clearing project. I enjoyed watching the students working with smiles, always willing to go the extra mile to help, and interacting with those around them (inviting them to the program, asking if they could pray for them about anything, etc.). After a hard afternoon of work, we enjoyed dinner together at a local restaurant.

Monday night was the highlight of OB's visit. Our family had worked together with friends Beth and Luke Fields to invite as many people in our neighborhood as we could to what we billed a "Family Fun Night". The event would include an Operation Barnabas program, games, a water slide (thanks Powell Grace!), and free snow cones and cotton candy. I e-mailed many contacts I've made in the area over the last year or so, and I even figured out how to create a Facebook event and used that as a tool to invite people! We also made up 1,000 fliers and by the time OB was done on Monday afternoon... all had been distributed in local neighborhoods.

It was an amazing scene... by the end of the evening there were more than 150 people in our backyard! God came through big time and people showed up from all sorts of networking streams. Our friends invited friends that came. People from soccer teams I had coached, people that we met at the pool, people that had gotten fliers, people from the neighborhood, even a family I met at Creekside all came. Everyone had a great time. Parents were elated at free stuff for their kids. The children present enjoyed the free treats, loved the OB program, and enjoyed the water slide...even on a cool evening (for July!). The most important event of the evening was spiritual movement in people's lives... at least 8 children and one adult invited Jesus to forgive them of their sins and lead their lives. Praise God!

As I reflect back on OB's short visit, I'm so thankful for many things:

• Our neighbors noticed...It's not every day there is a large blue bus pulling in and out of our street several times. They were impressed by the students and OB enhanced our credibility with people as they played with their kids. One neighbor came up to me and asked (out of the blue)... "At the end of your e-mails every week, you put 'Looking for Teammates'...what do you mean by that?"
• It was really neat for our team to see such a turn out at one of our events. We sense God is at work and there is real excitement about the movement we have seen this summer.
• So much was accomplished... helping us reach large goals for contact making that we can't meet on our own. Plus, their hard work for community organizations advanced our relationships with these important people and helps us lay a foundation for future ministry possibilities.
  
• People in the community are noticing us... As he was getting a snow cone, one child at the YMCA pool remarked to an OB student... "Oh... so you are the same church that put candy on my door last night!"
• Heaven rejoiced at the result of Monday's program! Pray for wisdom and opportunities as we follow up with those we know of that made decisions for Jesus!

Thanks for praying for this weekend's ministries. There is MUCH to praise God for!

OB Makes An Impact

It's late and I'm exhausted... so I won't write much now. But, I know many of you faithful blog readers have been praying about Operation Barnabas' visit to ClearView's target area and I wanted to give you a quick update. I'll try and be more complete tomorrow with pictures, etc.

In a nutshell, God did amazing things in the last two days. Thousands of contacts were made, much work was done in expanding our partnerships with community organizations, we had over 150 people in our backyard tonight for a Family Fun Night, and there were at least 8 people that accepted Jesus as their Saviour as a result of tonight's program.

If you were praying for OB's visit/ministry with ClearView... please praise God. He worked in great ways...beyond our expectations, and did amazing things. More tomorrow...

PRAISE GOD!

Pray...OB Visits ClearView on 7/28!

We are working hard to plan for Operation Barnabas' visit this coming Sunday and Monday. We're preparing to give out THOUSANDS of fliers and give aways and do servant evangelism type projects in our community. Perhaps the biggest event (we'll see how God works...) is a program we're planning in our back yard on Monday night (7/28 at 7p.). If you're on Facebook, check out the event details here. I'm asking God for 200 people to pack our back yard that evening and show the neighborhood that God is really up to something at ClearView. We've invited tons of people that may not know Jesus and tons of churched friends from all over Columbus.

Please pray with us for God's great work on Sunday and Monday. Pray that fliers and literature would land in the hands of spiritually searching people... or those looking for a church. Pray that OB would tangibly impact the community as they serve with Jesus' love. Pray that many would come to the program on Monday night and that Christ followers AND curious people would be touched for Jesus. Thanks!

I'd appreciate your prayer...

I don't often mention personal matters here... but this is an easy one. This afternoon I got one of those dreaded calls from a company that thought someone had used my credit card fraudulently. Indeed, someone has my name, address, and the number of the credit card I use for ClearView expenses. Thank God this person caught this and called me. I went immediately to my bank and found out that I will have about 4 or 5 charges to dispute. I'm not sure about how much as this information is not available yet (charges have been approved but not posted...so we can't see how much they are actually for).

I have a busy week this week... I'm trying to get ready for this weekend's gathering AND do tons of stuff to prepare for Operation Barnabas' visit to our target area. Please pray that God will help this distraction pass easily with minimal cost and time. Thanks!

Thanks, Grace Church Ladies!

We enjoyed spending time with some ladies from our previous church in Macedonia, OH this past weekend! The ladies "divided and conquered" and helped us with two important ministry projects:

• Cindy, Peggy, and Roseanne helped Trish and I hand out around 350 Snow Cones (over 150 pounds of ice!) at the YMCA pool on Saturday afternoon. It was fun to bless people with a free gift that they really wanted (something cold) on a hot day. The staff at the Y was also excited about our work. We made many positive contacts and put smiles on hundreds of faces!
• Two of the ladies stayed back at our house (with my sister, Katie) and put together an over 900 piece mailing. We are sending letters and information about our work to each member of the Gahanna and New Albany Chambers of Commerce. Having Dorothy and Darlene help Katie with the mailing was a huge time-saver for our team.

It was a blessing to also have these women with us in our Sunday morning worship gathering. Thanks for a great weekend, ladies!

Please pray that the contacts we made this weekend would result in people moving forward in their spiritual journey and joining ClearView's team!

Pray For Outreach Efforts The Next Two Weekends

We have a ministry team coming in each of the next two weekends. Pray for effectiveness.

• This weekend, a small group of ladies from Grace Church (Macedonia, OH) will be spending some time with us on Saturday and joining our worship gathering on Sunday. We'll enjoy these fun ladies and this blast from the past. On Saturday afternoon, they are going to hand out free snow cones at the YMCA pool and help us assemble a 950 piece mailing to local Chamber of Commerce members. Pray that snow cones and letters land in receptive hands. We're hoping that the opportunity to serve and love people at the YMCA will enhance our ability to invite people to our worship gathering...since it is also at the same facility!
• Next weekend, Operation Barnabas will be helping ClearView make contacts in our communities on Sunday and Monday, July 27-28. Obviously, this is a huge opportunity for us to make thousands of contacts. Pray God gives the best plan and provides the resources to use these quality young people most effectively. Pray many positive contacts are made for Jesus...and ClearView.

Thanks for praying... exciting days now... and exciting days ahead!

New High!

I want to give a HUGE public praise to God for the attendance at our worship gathering this morning. 40 people joined us at the YMCA (our second Sunday there) for worship, teaching, and fellowship. A few special notes:

• 2 ladies came that received an invitation from some Driven Conference participants.
• 1 couple came due to an invitation they received from a woman that attended Driven. These ladies work together in Gahanna.
• Several friends we've been inviting came to visit for the first time.
• Several well-wishers from other churches came to see what we were up to at the YMCA.

All in all it was a great morning. Guest worship leader, John Ward, did a great job; kids loved the children's ministry; people enjoyed meeting new friends; and people seemed to connect to the teaching from John 8:1-11.

As you finish reading this post, would you just take time to praise God for the favor He showed us today? Please pray we'd be wise in follow-up and that God would assimilate some of those there today onto our Launch Team. Thanks for praying with us. God is moving...

Fantastic 4th!

It is hard for me to even summarize all my thoughts about God's work through our July4th ministries in New Albany. God was present in such a real way, so many prayers were answered, and hundreds (maybe thousands) of lives were impacted. It would probably be best for me to just walk through the events of the day as briefly as possible.

We started at 9a, with about 7 of our ClearView teammates helping the New Albany Events Board organize parade participants as they arrived. We helped entrants find their place in the parade formation, helped with traffic control, and got our own group in the right place and ready to walk in the parade. Cherylin and Beth helped people get oriented, David ended up being one of the marshals along the parade route, I got to play traffic cop for an hour (a great way to meet people! :), and Doug and Stephanie ended up carrying the lead banner through the parade (complete with ClearView t-shirts!). This all was an amazing opportunity to connect with the Event Board staff. They raved about our people and what a great help we were to the day.

After helping to set up the parade, our team and friends then enjoyed walking the parade route as part of the parade. We carried our new banner advertising our gathering time at the YMCA (see picture at top of page), handed out hundreds of communication pieces about ClearView, gave out over 1300 4th of July themed super-balls to kids, and 1,000 pieces of 4th of July candy. This was a great opportunity to connect with new people and people we have met in the past. There were several times throughout the weekend where people commented on our involvement in the parades and community activities. New Albany residents our beginning to know who we are and that we love the community and want to serve people in practical ways. How exciting.

God saved the best part of the day for last. Through our growing partnership with the New Albany Events Board, ClearView's booth was the main attraction for children at the pre-fireworks festival. God led us to plan big and it is a good thing we did. Here are some of the amazing stats. and ways God worked in the 3 hour festival:

• We gave out over 500 balloons and went through over a full tank of helium
• 4 ClearView team members/friends painted faces non-stop. The line outside of our tent for face-painting was a constant 50 people deep.
• 2 ClearView team members/friends went through over 40 cans of colored hair spray (see model, Seth).
• 2 ClearView friends put on 4th of July related tattoos on kids for almost 3 hours.
  
• Hundreds of kids enjoyed making simple crafts we provided (beaded bracelets, coloring flags, 4th of July sticker projects, etc.)

All in all, we loved on over 500 kids and their families, had countless positive interactions with families, and accomplished the first part of our mission (loving people!) in Jesus' name.

My heart was overfilled with praise to God for this amazing outpouring of His grace on us. A few musings:

• Last year our family attended the parade and pre-fireworks festival. I remember being amazed by the thousands of people that enjoyed these events and wondering "how do we get involved here and impact all of these people?" Fast forward one year... not only did God give us the favor to be involved in these events...He allowed us to be integral in their success.
• A major highlight and breakthrough for me came in the form of strong indication that we are penetrating New Albany. While the parade was setting up, Ron, the Events Board chair, pulled me aside and invited me to join the board. What a miracle. Since we moved here 15 months ago, I've been praying and looking for God's direction in how to break into a community like New Albany. Here it is. The Events Board is filled with influential people and the events they plan are the times during the year when the most people from the community are gathered. Being invited onto their team is a huge victory of God and an open door for influence with the influencers in our affluent community.
• Our relationships with people are deepening. One story involves one of the friendliest people I have ever met. We met at the pool last year and renewed conversations this year. We saw this woman on the evening of July 4th, and Trish was able to have a significant extended conversation with her. She shared deep struggles in her life and she and Trish were able to connect at a personal level.
• God supplied help to us for these events in supernatural ways. Our team is stepping up huge to help make these things happen. However, with several of our families out of town for the holiday weekend, and such large projects undertaken... we needed significant help from people outside of our team. In an amazing miracle, God brought 10 people to help on Friday evening...some of whom I had just met the weekend before at Driven...some of whom I had never met before! There is no way Friday night's ministries could have happened without these new friends!

What a day. My dad, as I was relaying the events of the day to him, summed our 4th of July well. He said, "Sounds like God is really answering prayer." Yep! Praise God!