There really is so much to cover in our journey to this point, but I imagine it will all come out in time.

Giftedness is such a huge part of planting churches.  There are things that have to come naturally to you.  What excites me about our long-term goal is that God will bring alongside us people who have complementary gifts to us to make our church plant successful.

But one thing that must be tackled head-on is our commitment to meeting challenges independently, and learning to organize and lead.  My wonderful wife is farther ahead in this than I am - she is more naturally organized than myself.

To that end, our pastor has handed us a significant responsibility.  He has put us in charge of starting Awana on Sunday nights, to complement the church’s investment in discipleship classes for adults.  It gives us a chance to attract parents who otherwise would not be free to attend because of their kids, and at the same time becomes a great community outreach tool as Awana is designed to teach the gospel - who Jesus is and what we do with that, but in a fun, challenging atmosphere.

We have been left to do it all - publicize, staff, organize, train, equip, and inventory the enterprise.  Our preliminary estimates appear to indicate we will have somewhere close to 50 kids to start, and that’s assuming that our advertising does not attract any children from the surrounding community.  We’re going to need at least 18 leaders including ourselves to start.  That is a significantly sized organization!

I am excited for the opportunity.  This is something I have never done or even attempted.  It is a challenge, and is forcing me to think very differently from what I am used to.  It is also encouraging my wife and I to work even closer together, which is never a bad thing.  It is also driving me to pursue God even more diligently, because I see clearly where he will have to be to make up for what we lack.

The first area of this is in staffing.  Last week, our church had a call for volunteers, and only a handful put their names down.  After adding them to a couple of other couples I knew were committed, we had a list of about 12-14 (with only 10 firmly committed).  We needed God to step in and do something.  This weekend, I made it my goal to speak to everyone on that list and firm up our first meeting this Thursday (please pray for that if you read this!).  I did that, and I also talked to several others who I thought might not be committed to anything who might be interested.  I got contact information and I am going to send out an email today.  We’re going to need God to firm up the ide aof Awana in these people’s hearts.  We need God to give me the words and the presentation this Thursday to inspire them with my own excitement for Awana.  Without these things, this program will go nowhere.

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