Isolation, Day 1

Trish is doing well today! Thanks for praying. We went to Riverside Hospital early this a.m. and she took her radio-iodine pill. By God's grace and an answer to your prayers... the required dose was less than we expected and she only has to be isolated for 4 days. Trish is now resting by herself at a friends house, within a mile of where we live (Thanks Mike and Tiffany!). This makes it easy for me to take food (she's still on a special diet) and other things she needs.

God has been good to us in many ways:

• Ideal place for Trish to stay, close by.
• Weaker dose than originally thought necessary
• Trish is dealing with the treatment well (no nausea or other noticeable side affects to this point)
• Family and friends have been a huge help to us over the last several weeks.
• Trish has a computer...so feel free to send her an e-mail (twirt@sbcglobal.net) or Facebook message and let her know you're thinking of her.
  

Thanks for praying!

Exciting Sundays!

I want to try and do a better job of sharing here what God is doing at ClearView during our Sunday gatherings (Gahanna YMCA, 9:30a.). Good things are happening! We continue to experience strong attendance for a start-from-scratch church start and there is a very positive energy among the people present. God has brought us fabulous teammates, and I couldn't be happier about the group HE is assembling. We're continuing to build our children's ministry, KidView, and will soon be expanding to three age levels. Recently, we've been focusing on our core value of prayer- how to be people of prayer that seed this important spiritual discipline into the DNA of ClearView Church- and discussing Craig Groeschel's book, IT.

Please continue to pray for us as we develop as a team, form the DNA of a healthy church, and seek to impact our community. Thanks!

ClearView At New Albany Business Expo.

On January 15 (yes, I'm behind on my blog posting... .like everything else in my life! :), ClearView was well represented at a business expo. sponsored by the New Albany Chamber of Commerce (and, yes, that's me in the picture, taking the picture, because we were in a room surrounded by mirrors!). This was an exciting time of networking with business leaders from our community, meeting some new people, and making some excellent contacts. I enjoyed conversations with members of the New Albany Rotary, YMCA representatives, Mayor Ferguson (New Albany), and several other community members.

Please pray that God would continue to seed ClearView in people's minds as an exciting new church that shows love in REAL ways. This branding in people's minds is an important predecessor to more wide-reaching marketing and invitations we will extend as our Grand Opening draws near. The more buzz we can build now... the better response to our future invites. THANKS!

Update on Trish and Family...

January has been a challenge! Silas' face in this picture says it all! In addition to Trish beginning the treatment process for her thyroid cancer, Silas has been to the urgent care for stitches (January 1...hello new deductible!), Sara had tubes put in her ears (she's had double ear infections since early December and went through four rounds of antibiotics with no relief), and all of us, but Seth, have had the stomach flu. Sara's virus continued for 9 days. Indeed, God has been testing us.

However, we've also seen multiple signs of God's goodness in these challenging days. Trish, despite real weariness and some uncomfortable side effects of being off all thyroid medication, is holding up pretty well. Her spirits are high and she is pressing through her treatment period with real endurance. She has been overwhelmed by the kindness of our ClearView family, help from our biological family, multiple offers to help with kids, cards, Scriptures, and gifts that people have sent. Thanks!

Please keep praying for her... as each day gets progressively more difficult. Next week, she has tests at Riverside Hospital 4 different days, including two full body scans. These will affirm (we're praying- God willing!) that the cancer was confined to the thyroid region (and removed at surgery) and determine how strong her radio-iodine pill will be. She will take this next Friday and the strength of the pill will dictate how long she must be isolated (she will basically be emitting radiation and has to follow special instructions to not affect people around her). So, the next two weeks will be a real challenge for her and our family. We appreciate your prayers for physical strength, spiritual encouragement, and the challenges this creates for Trish and our family. Keep the cards coming... they are a great blessing...and will be, especially, when Trish can't be around people for about a week. See January 13 post for address.

Send Trish A Card!

I have a special request for you... As you think of Trish in the coming weeks, would you take the opportunity to send her a card of encouragement? I think it will perk up her spirit on a tough day to be flooded with cards from those that are praying and thinking of her. Maybe you want to send one a week for the next 4 weeks... So much of what we do anymore revolves around a keyboard and screen... but Trish won't have consistent access to technology...especially from 2/6-2/11 or so. So, I'd love to see her get a deluge of old-fashioned snail-mail.

You can send notes to:
Trish Wirt
c/0 ClearView Church
PO Box 629
New Albany, OH 43054

Thanks!

Treatment Begins...Please Keep Praying

Thanks for praying for Trish as she recovered from surgery on 12/15. She is doing pretty well and she has been touched by the care and concern and prayer of so many of you.

Tomorrow Trish begins a series of adjustments to her medication and diet that will culminate in some tests and procedures in early February that will determine the strength of nuclear medicine treatment she will undergo. As we understand it, the treatment sequence involves going off of all thyroid medication (beginning) tomorrow, beginning a no-iodine diet towards the end of January, and then undergoing a series of tests leading up to taking a radioactive pill on February 6th that will require Trish to be isolated for 4-8 days (depending on strength of treatment necessary to kill any remaining cancer or suspicious tissues). We're hoping that Trish can resume taking thyroid medication and enjoying a normal diet sometime the week of February 9. We covet your prayers in the following ways:

• Pray for complete healing. We're trusting God that full-body scans on February 5 and 6 will reveal no cancer anywhere else in her body and that any remaining tissues around the thyroid area can be treated with this treatment.
• Pray for physical and emotional strength for Trish. Research she has done indicates that she will be extremely tired and battle a range of emotions and other side effects as she is off all medication that would normally perform thyroid functions.
• Pray for wisdom about how to best approach the period of time that Trish can't be around people. We need to make plans to keep the kids away from mom, rearrange sleeping arrangements in our house, make special meals, and care for Trish as she won't feel well.
• Pray that I would be a good husband and dad first and not allow the pressure of this significant time in our ministry journey to dominate my thoughts. Pray I would find a balance and strength to love my family well and advance ministry projects at the same time.
• Pray God would use us as a strong testimony for Jesus as we interact with people in our community.

Thanks so much for standing with us on this leg of our journey.

Pray For Our Gathering Tomorrow!

Sorry to not have posted in so long. Where does time go!

If you're reading this today... please pray for our gathering tomorrow (Gahanna YMCA, 9:30a.). I'm praying our whole team and even some people we've been inviting for some time will show up. I'm planning to share a specific plan that I feel God has put in my heart to prepare our group to launch ClearView Church strong on April 12, 2009. The days are short, there is much to be done, and I know there will be challenges for my family and others along this journey. If we can work this plan God had given, I am confident we will be prepared for God to do something significant on Easter! Please pray that I would communicate clearly and that our team would respond with unity and excitement around God's direction.

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!