We Need Miracle-Grow

I've been dreaming about a goofy, but hopefully effective, summer prayer campaign.

I just (finally!) finished the spring landscaping at our house. I made the mistake of planting way too many small, weak, begonias. I should have bought fewer flowers and invested in bigger, healthier plants. I'm left with some tiny sprouts that are going to struggle without just the right light, water, and hefty doses of MIRACLE GRO throughout the summer.

It didn't take long for my bright mind (?) to make the connection between these beautiful little flowers and ClearView Church. These small plants have much potential to be spectacular with the right care and some MIRACLE GRO. Without the right care and fertilizer, they'll wilt under hot sun and the little feet of two young boys tramping all over them. Like these begonias, ClearView has a start, is growing, is seeing God move, and has much potential. But, we also need a healthy dose of MIRACLE-GROW this summer.

Would you pray with us for Ephesians 3:20 type miracles? Specifically, pray:

• that God would provide us with the right worship leader.
• that God would help us build a great children's ministry.
• that God would lead us to the right location for worship gatherings.
  
• that God would bring us a family from New Albany in June.
• that God would bring us a family from Gahanna June.
• that God would add 50 people to our team by end of September.
• that God would bless our extensive outreach efforts with the fruit of teammates and changed lives.

Answers to these prayers will all be miracles. We need God to dump His magic formula all over us. Certainly He is able. We'll, with you, give Him the glory. Please pray for miracle growth and that God would put the right pieces in place to move us toward a healthy launch this October.

This Made My Day

I was encouraged Wednesday by the opening line of an e-mail I received from the vice president of New Albany's Events Board. I've been corresponding with her about the July 4th parade and ClearView's involvement. She opened her note with:

Hi Andy,
The relationship between the New Albany Community Events and ClearView Church is one that we wish to happily continue.

Praise God for the favor He has given us with key leaders and community organizations! Pray with me that this translates into people loved to Jesus.

Great News!

Yesterday's lunch meeting was a good one! I met with a family that has prayed with us and is now communicating that they are excited to join ClearView's team. Wow... God is good. This is a huge victory for us and a miracle-level answer to prayer!

Those of you who know me might find this amusing. If you know me, you know I'm pretty reserved (to put in mildly). So, as Trish and were talking about this meeting before it took place, she asked, "How are you going to react if they say 'Yes'.?" She was encouraging me to be sure and show my excitement (which is genuine).

So, when our new friends said "Yes," I made a point to get out of my seat and jump up and down right there in the restaurant. :) Praise God!

Pray for more...

Great, Great Weekend!

God came through for us big-time this past weekend. Thanks for praying! ClearView participated in the New Albany Founder's Day celebration by marching in the parade and running a booth at the festival. Highlights included:

• Many good conversations. We were able to share about who we are and what we are doing with several curious/seeking families. We were able to make good connections with other believers that could be sources for referrals.
• We put smiles on many faces. Our objective was simple- put smiles on faces and associate the smiles with ClearView Church. I believe Jesus was pleased today as we ministered to hundreds, maybe more than a thousand, people.
• We gave away all 750 of our ClearView logo Frisbees before the parade was two-thirds over. We should have brought about 1200! It was fun to see kids scrambling all over the parade route to grab one! We had something everyone wanted! There was only one casualty (woman getting hit...buy one of our ADULTS tossing one after telling the kids not to!).
• We had GREAT ownership from our team and friends in helping during the parade and at our both. Friends drove all the way from PA and Cleveland to help paint faces. These two ladies sat in a chair for 5 hours and painted hundreds of faces. The line for face painting was almost always about 15 kids deep. Friends also came from Northwest Chapel and Polaris GBC to help during the parade. And, our teammates showed up big-time and pitched in to help with smiles. My sister and mom helped with our kids so Trish and I could serve during the day. I was pleased.
• We painted hundreds of faces and gave away hundreds of balloons.
• We were able to make many repeat contacts (seeing people we've initiated relationships with from other venues (festivals, pre-school, etc.) and further conversations.

All in all Saturday was a great day. Praise God. Please pray that these contacts would translate into 1) people we can minister to and/0r 2) teammates. Thanks for praying.

To top it off, Sunday we had our highest ever attendance at our home for our worship gathering (24). We're excited to see new faces and praying we can gain another family or two for our next milestone moving towards public launch this fall- getting out of our house and into a rented facility. Praise God for movement!

And, the best for last, Sunday night, Trish and I were able to go out to dinner to celebrate our 11-year wedding anniversary. It was fun to talk and dream together about what year 12 of our marriage could hold. Thanks, my best friend, for your steadfastness in our journey. Our dreams for our family or our ministry would never be reality without your hard work and perseverance!

Founder's Day

Pray for us this Saturday, May 17. We'll be walking in the Founder's Day parade and handing out 750 cool frisbees to children and a new communication card to adults (see above). Then we'll man a vendor's booth during the Founder's Day Festival and offer free balloons and face painting. Pray for positive interactions and team building opportunities.

Update To NCO Ministerium

Today I shared a 10-minuted update on ClearView with my fellow GBC pastors in our district. I thought some of you might be interested as it provides a bit of a window into my heart about where we are at today. Here's the manuscript I used in preparation (minus a few names taken out for privacy). Thanks for your interest!

Recently, I’ve done a lot of thinking and soul-searching about why we’re doing what we’re doing. In this process, God keeps directing my mind to faces of people...faces of people I’ve come to love and care for as I follow God down the bumpy road of church-planting. My wife and I took this faith step with the desire to reach people for Christ. That passion is what keeps us moving forward.

ClearView Church exists to reach.... ....is in a management position at the local organization and is one of the most gifted networkers I have ever met. As our friendship has grown, I’ve learned that he has studied many religions and knows quite a bit about Jesus and the Bible. He just doesn’t believe...

I’m excited about ClearView Church because it is being planted to reach Carolyn. She’s a good mom and key influencer of ladies in our neighborhood. While our kids were playing together one day, I learned that to her, organized religion is a farce and the Bible is unreliable.

ClearView exists because of the Maurice’s of the New Albany area. Maurice is an extremely friendly, intelligent Ohio State professor. He’s also a Sufi... an adherent to an offshoot of Islam. As we’ve eaten breakfast together several times, he’s shared how the Bible is a great source of inspiration but of little value when it comes to Absolute Truth.

I’m excited about ClearView Church because it’s being planted to reach Joan. I met Joan while watching my 5-year-old, Seth, taking swimming lessons. She’s a friendly, sweet lady. She believes that Jesus lived but that it’s impossible He could have been anything more than a admirable man.

ClearView Church is needed in northeastern Franklin County because of the 40 homes on my street, of which I’ve met and talked with every family except 1, there are only 3 families that regularly attend church.

I’m excited about ClearView Church because, even though some of Columbus’ largest churches are in our target area, no church plays a significant, discernible role in the cultural or religious fabric of the communities we are trying to reach. Despite the handful of mega-churches within a few miles of us, most people that I meet (like the 6 I mentioned above) don’t have a commitment to a local church or, more importantly, a relationship to Jesus.

I see a need for ClearView Church because as we’ve served coffee on voting days, or participated in community events and festivals, or as I’ve participated in Chamber of Commerce networking functions- ClearView is the only church present where thousands of unchurched people are.

Two years ago, God began building a passion in my heart. It was to be able to echo Paul’s words in Acts 20:22-24:

22 “And now I am bound by the Spirit[a] to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, 23 except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. 24 But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

I want to finish the work that I believe God has assigned to me-- the work of loving...Carolyn, Maurice, Bobby, Jamie, Joan and thousands of others to a clear view of Jesus and His love and grace. In 5 or 10 years, I dream of looking out on an audience where ...’s and Carolyn’s are now Jesus-followers. They're in community with other believers. Their lives have been transformed. They’re now missionaries to their own spheres of influence. They are making a tangible difference in the community by being the church where people are already gathered. They are planting churches or resourcing church plants in some way.

I believe God is laying the foundation for something special in northeastern Franklin County. He may be laying it slowly, but it is solid. We have a clear calling and a good strategic plan. We have almost 400 people around the world praying with us. We’ve integrated ourselves into the fabric of the community through coaching soccer, Chamber of Commerce activities in Gahanna and New Albany, bi-vocational work, our children’s activities, neighborhood ministries, etc. We’re consistently meeting and serving many people at community activities. We have 5 family units committed to our work. In March, we started weekly Sunday gatherings in our home. These have been going well and are a time of visionizing, worship, teaching, and team-building.

Our hope is to gather one or two more families and then find a public place to rent for weekly gatherings. We’re asking God to provide 40-50 people for our team in order for us to be ready for “Grand Opening” services in October.

Today, I humbly but boldly ask for your help. As my sons (5 and 2) were in the car last night, 2 fire engines sped past with lights and sirens blaring. This is big stuff to my boys. A word picture hit me as I was thinking about this morning and trying to explain to them why two Plain Township (New Albany) trucks were rumbling through a Columbus jurisdiction. I explained that there must be a big fire somewhere- something big enough that Columbus fire had to call for help from another squad.

Think of me as a brother, better yet- a co-laborer, calling you in as another squad today. To me, the vision is compelling. The need is clearly discernible. A good plan is in place. Foundational work has been done. This being said, we’re a start-from-scratch work. The next few months are critical for us. We need people to team with us to bring this vision to reality. We’re working hard to find them, communicate the vision and need, and invite involvement. However, we’ve discovered the people that we are looking for are the proverbial “needle in the haystack” type people. Not everyone wants to plant a church.

Would you pray for us? Would you consider finding a way to communicate with your people about our work. I believe there is people that you know...or people that you know that know people... that God has appointed to help us. Would you tell them about ClearView?

Relay For Life!

ClearView had a strong team and showing at Gahanna's Relay For Life last Friday (5/9). Despite cold rain, we were able to personally give out a few hundred bottles of water and leave a few hundred more for people to grab throughout the event (it was an all-night event). Positive points were:

• Getting involved in a key event in Gahanna (one of our first in this community).
• Seeing some new teammates assist us in serving others.
• Positive interactions with several people.

Thanks for praying. Please pray that God would use this positive impression and translate it into spiritual movement in people's lives.

What Seems Like A Bad Day Could Just Be Bad Perspective

Yesterday stunk. I'd like to use stronger language than that...but this is a prayer blog! :) Here's a taste:

• In the early a.m., I found out I would not be paid (as I had been told earlier that I would) for the 40 hours or so I had put into being trained as a bus driver. Trish and I were counting on this money for bills and some extra things we want... but we'll leave that up to God.
• Later, I received some feedback from an influential person in my life that was less than positive about my giftedness for church planting and potential to gather people and communicate a compelling vision for people to buy into. In this person's opinion, we would have seen more growth at this point in our work if I were a more gifted leader. Wow... hard to hear. True? Maybe. All I can do is keep moving forward in the calling God has given me and trust God to overcome my shortcomings with His power and grace. Thank God for Romans 8:26 and 2 Corinthians 12:9. I'm stinging from the hurt of this conversation, but trying to find the learning points and asking God for miracles. Pray for discernment.
• Post this conversation, the bill for Sara's stay in the hospital (at birth) arrived. Enough said!
• Finally, to top it all off, Seth's soccer team lost their first (and last) game last night. This is 4-5 yr. old level, not the world cup. So, nothing earth shattering, but still disappointing.

Here's the point: as I processed yesterday, and was feeling a little sorry for myself, God put me in front of FoxNews.com and pictures of the devastation in China (following the earthquake). I saw pictures of people who had lost their lives. Pictures of people who's loved ones were missing. Pictures of mothers clinging to dead children.

My day was nothing compared to this level of suffering. Our work seems hard...but not like that. I have a wonderful family. God is working around us. I have hope for eternity. I'm blessed to live in America. I have much to be thankful for. God is good. One way that He is good is shifting my attention off myself and to others- praying for victims... for comfort, for provision, for life, for Jesus to draw them to Himself.

I Passed!

Sorry for the long delay in communication! Life has been so busy and I'm finding little time to keep up with details like keeping the blog up to date. But, if you've been looking and wondering how things are progressing... thanks for keeping up with our life and work!

Last Thursday, by God's grace, I did pass my bus driving test! So, I'm a certified bus driver in the state of OH. As I'm learning, though, that doesn't necessarily mean you get work. I still have to wait until August to see if New Albany school system will have a position open. We'll see what God has.

Thanks for praying. After 40 hours of training, I'm finally ready to haul students in a yellow bus!

Today... you can pray for...

Some big things for us this week:

• Pray for Sara. She has had some digestive issues. Pray for healing and that we would know the best way to help her.
• Pray for me tomorrow a.m. We've been looking at sources for some bi-vocational income (to help with shortfalls now but also planning well for the future). Our criteria has been a job that allows me to be home on evenings and weekends, allows sufficient time for ministry, pays decent, and allows me to make contacts for ministry. After searching and praying a bit...we decided that I would look into driving a school bus. So, after almost 40 hours of classes and training (even though I already have a CDL from driving Operation Barnabas busses!), I'm testing tomorrow to be certified as a school bus driver. You would never imagine how much book work and skills are involved in this sort of a test- I didn't. So, I'd appreciate your prayers tomorrow a.m. that God would give me recall and skill as I'm examined.
• Pray for upcoming outreach/contact making initiatives. This Friday evening, we're giving out free water at the Gahanna/New Albany Relay For Life. Next week we'll be involved in a parade and festival in New Albany. We'll be trying out some new marketing pieces to find teammates and advertise ClearView. Please pray that we'll impact many people's lives for Jesus AND find teammates!

Thanks!

Good Family Stuff

We appreciate your continued prayers for our family as we adjust to three children and being up at night with Sara. All in all, things are going very well. We are definitely tired, Trish has her hands REAL full during the day, and nights are long. But, God is giving strength on a "just in time basis", we have been able to continue moving ministry forward, and God has seemed to even sweeten our love for our children with Sara's addition. It is amazing how you can be more tired...but God strengthens an already deep love and appreciation in your heart for your children. We have much to be thankful for!

Good Growth on Sundays

We're praising God for positive movement in the growth of our team and group in our Sunday a.m. gatherings. Two weeks ago, we had our highest "attendance" at 20. Other positive developments include:

• An old friend from Martinsburg, PA, Beth Yoder, drove all the way to Columbus (10 hours -round trip!) just to lead our children on April 13. This was a great help and blessing to our team and our family. Praise God for this gift!
  
• Doug and Stephanie have been joining us regularly and Stephanie volunteered to lead our children this past Sunday. They first heard about ClearView via door hangers we hung in their neighborhood in March.
• My sister, Katie, has moved to Columbus from Georgia. She is a positive addition not only to our team, but a huge help in our home as well. She's living with us while she gets on her feet here and finds a job. Please pray she'll find the right opportunity.
• God has led us to at least 3 different people that are willing to help on short-term stints in the area of leading worship. Aaron and Holly Jones helped us this past weekend, and David Emch will be with us this week. What a blessing to have this area covered on these weeks. Pray that God would lead us to the right worship leader that would commit to ClearView on a long-term basis.
• Cherylin, a young lady that moved to Columbus from the Cleveland area a year ago, has been joining us faithfully and seems excited about ClearView. We knew her family from our previous church in Macedonia. I ran into Cherylin "by chance" at Panera Bread and invited her to join us.
• Gary and Mesarat, our faithful teammates of over 1 year, remain active and committed. We're so thankful for their steady and positive influence in our ministry.
• Anne and Patrick, long-term friends that live in central Columbus, have volunteered to come at least twice a month to boost our momentum and be an encouragement. That's a great blessing as friendly faces are a huge boost and provide energy to our group.
• This Sunday, we'll finish a 3-part message series called "Simple". We've been looking at what Jesus really asks of genuine Christ-followers... He asks us to follow, believe, and obey. I've enjoyed getting back into an (abbreviated) routine of study and communication on Sunday mornings.

Thanks for praying for our gatherings. I know many of you are praying each week that God would bring new families to our worship experience. Teammates continue to be our most pressing need. Please keep praying for new faces and that people would respond to our outreach efforts. There are several families praying about joining our team (that we know of) and we are inviting many people each week. We're simply asking God to bring us the right people to move us towards a healthy "launch" this Fall. We're asking for a miracle only God can do...and thankful that you're joining us in praying for God's movement.

Happy Birthday, Trish!

We enjoyed celebrating Trish's birthday (4/29) this week! I praise God for my good wife, ministry partner, and great mom of our kids!

Important Interactions This Weekend

Please pray for the following this weekend (April 18...):

• Tonight we're hosting a family for dinner that we want to connect with relationally and do "the big ask"-- ask them about joining our launch team. Pray that our hearts would be connected around friendship and there would be a sense of desiring mission together.
• Tomorrow is Seth's second soccer game this spring. Pray for good connections with families on the soccer field.
• Sunday is our weekly worship gathering. Pray that someone unexpected would come and/or that someone would respond to the door hangers I have been hanging this week.
• Sunday night we are meeting (for the first time) a family I've been talking to about joining our team. The husband of this couple is interested in pursuing full-time ministry with an emphasis in leading worship. This could be enormous for ClearView if God is leading in this way. Pray for relational connection, a sense of shared mission, and wisdom from God on how to proceed.

I live every day with the realization that God could significantly boost our movement with a few "small" miracles. I know that your prayers are a part of these miracles becoming reality.

ClearView Serves at the Y's Healthy Kids Day

We enjoyed serving free water and balloons to families, vendors, and YMCA staff at the Gahanna YMCA's Healthy Kids Day on April 12. This was a great chance to connect with numerous families. We were able to have several good conversations with people about ClearView, strength our relationship with the YMCA and its staff, and meet many new people.

In addition to these positives, my favorite aspect about the day was the opportunity to connect with people that served WITH us. Stephanie and her daughter Delaney came and helped blow up balloons. We're praying Stephanie and her husband Doug will consider joining our team. They are coming over for dinner this Friday (4/18)...so pray with us that we might be able to make a positive connection with them!

I was also encouraged by my interactions and conversations with two ladies that came to help us from the Pataskala GBC, Cheri and Melinda. Cheri saw a bulletin insert that their pastor, Fenton McDonald, was gracious enough to run about ClearView and Cheri e-mailed me several weeks ago asking how she and her 6-8 grade group of girls could help us out. What a joy to have Cheri and one of the girls she has mentored help us with balloons and greeting people. Cheri and I had a particularly stimulating conversation about what it means for a church to be missional- going where people are and finding ways to share the love and hope of Jesus in practical ways.

Finally, I got to spend some time with Mark. Mark is a great guy that has helped at events before. I always enjoy talking with him and getting to know him better. Pray we could encourage him and that there might be someway that God would work it out for Mark to join our team.

Please pray that God would bring "much fruit that will last" from seeds sown at the YMCA on April 12. Our hope is that people will remember smile, a water, a balloon, a logo, or a website...and check out partnership opportunities with us. Pray that God would build our team and use us to impact people's lives for Jesus in northeastern Franklin County.

Seth Scores His First Goal...

It was a moment I'll never forget. I'm standing on the field coaching our team of 5-year olds. It is a cold, spring day. Seth is playing in his second season and enjoying himself and doing much better on the field than last fall. He's playing more aggressive. I'm trying to coach everyone, but am much more interested in Seth getting his first goal. He came close several times, and I knew that he really wanted to experience scoring. I'm praying, "God just let that ball get through that cluster of little legs and let Seth have a chance to put it in." It happened! The ball came right to him and Seth gave a little kick, and there was his first goal! It wasn't a glamor goal...but it counted and he was so excited. I was so thankful to God for giving him the opportunity!

We had a good time connecting with other families as well. A fun morning!
One final thought that encouraged me as I thought back over the weekend. After our gathering Sunday, Trish and I were quite discouraged. Besides our family of 5, our most faithful teammates (Gary and Mesarat) were the only people there. It is easy to get frustrated with God and people and feel that our aggressive outreach efforts seem to be fruitless. We were genuinely disappointed at Sunday's turn out. If I'm not careful, I start to question whether God is for us and why He (seemingly) doesn't answer our prayers for growth.

But, God gave me another picture. God isn't against us. He may not be answering our prayers in the time or way we want or expect...but He is for us. He might even be looking down on His children in our church planting efforts like I was watching Seth on the soccer field. I wanted so badly for Seth to experience something good...what I thought was best for him. I don't know why God isn't working in certain ways, but I do know that He watches us and roots for us as a loving parent. He wants and knows what is best for us. I have to trust His plan is perfect.

Breakthrough!

I'm praising God for a phone call from a woman that attended one of our gatherings a few weeks ago. Today I have been calling/e-mailing around to try and secure people to help me tomorrow as we serve at the YMCA's Healthy Kids Day (ClearView is giving out free balloons and water to estimated 2-300 families). I e-mailed Stephanie inquiring if she and her family would be willing to help. She called to say that they would be glad to!

Praise God! Pray that this time serving people together would bond their family to ClearView's vision and purpose and they might pray about joining our team. God is working!

Please pray this weekend...

Sorry for the delays in posting. Our internet has been down most of this week. Will make for a good sermon illustration this Sunday when we look at John 15 and the advantages of connection to Christ! :)

Please pray with us this weekend...

• Seth's first soccer game is this Saturday. Pray for a fun time for Seth and great connections for our family with 7 other families.
• Saturday afternoon, ClearView is serving at Gahanna YMCA's Healthy Kids Day. We're handing out free water and balloons to the estimated 2-300 families that will participate. Pray for great contacts with searching people...and that God would continue to lead us to teammates.
• Sunday... please pray that God would add teammates to our team to get us to the next level (out of our house!). We really need 3 more families to meet this goal. We are asking God to breakthrough and lead families to respond to the thousands of invites we have given out in the last 3-4 months.
• Pray for our family (and especially Trish as she is working with active kids) as busy weekends like this are challenges. We're excited about the opportunities...but also want to try and maintain cohesion in our family.
• Pray for Trish and I as we are tired. We are enjoying Sara and feel like transitions are going better than expected. Yet, busyness has a way of making you feel even more tired...and sleep is not at a premium right now! God is with us, I sense it, and we appreciate your continued prayers.

All right... enough drivel... I know you are really on the blog looking for more pictures. I aim to please! :)

We're Home!

Trish and Sara came home yesterday (4/2) and are doing well. Trish feels hour-by-hour improvement and is feeling stronger and less pain. Sara is sleeping a lot, eating well, and all plumbing seems to be working. She saw the pediatrician today and everything checked out. We're praising God and enjoying having our little girl home.

Seth and Silas are with Grandma and Grandpa in Mansfield until tomorrow and then life will really change as they come home and we all settle in! Thanks for your prayers and notes of encouragement. We have so much to praise and thank God for.

She's Here!

We're excited to praise God and share with you the good news: Sara Grace Wirt arrived last evening (Monday, 3/31) at 10:25p. Our beautiful, healthy baby girl weighed in at 7.6lbs and was 20.5 inches long. Trish did great through the challenges of labor and delivery and is recovering well. Please continue to pray for her as she deals with the pain of recovery.

We have enjoyed some of those post-birth moments when Sara is awake, alert, and locked in on Mom and Dad's eyes. What a precious time of getting to know this new little life and blessing God has given us.

Grandma and Grandpa Botdorf, who are watching the boys for us most of this week (THANKS Mom and Dad!), came by today with Sara's big brothers. Seth and Silas were fascinated and very gentle. Trish and I are excited (and a bit anxious- if we're honest) about how we're going to put it all together at home with this new blessing. But, we're committed to enjoying the moments, celebrating God's blessings, taking one day at a time, and looking for strength in the Lord.

Praise God! Thank you so much for praying for Trish and Sara during this process. Please keep praying...

• For Trish's recovery
• For God's wisdom to us as new parents and as we lead our family through adjustments
• For God to be glorified in our interactions with hospital staff and as we celebrate Sara's arrival with the network of contacts we've developed in our community over the last year.