The Coffee Shop Tour

For the next few months, I am taking a step back from my duties at The Rock (mostly) to focus on what lies ahead. Many of you saw this in my latest prayer letter. With a daughter on the way, Aimee and I are thinking about what this next phase of life is going to look like for us. Is The Rock still where I want to be? Is ministry able to be financially sustainable for us? Where is the Lord leading us next? All good questions - challenging questions - and ones that we are trusting the Lord to answer.

I strongly feel that the Lord wants to continue to use me at Mizzou. So, with the guidance of my pastors, I am raising support through August. My goal is to meet with 120 people by then and trusting God to raise the money. If 40 people joined the team at $50/month, that would be a $2000/month increase to my account with GCM. That would allow my to take my full salary and add our daughter to my insurance plan, hopefully letting Aimee spend more time at home during these early years. I'm working hard to get the appointments and letting the Lord do the rest.

My first trip was to my hometown of Springfield, MO last week. It was so encouraging getting to meet with supporters, friends, family. I wasn't in a coffee shop for every meeting but I traversed the city hitting up Panera, Starbucks, Mudhouse and Hebrews to work and connect with folks. I'm sure I'll be visiting those places. It's kind of a natural environment for a campus missionary.

I wanted to post about this trip because of the great encouragement I felt from that visit. Getting to reconnect with folks I haven't seen in a long time, sharing stories of ministry and family was truly refreshing for me. I got to meet new people and see the Spirit connect us through shared perspectives on how we are hoping to see the Lord move in our respective towns and in the lives of young people. I even got to visit with someone I hadn't seen in years and hear about the new life that the Lord has breathed into her.

Being away from Columbia, my wife and my church is hard but I felt so affirmed by the Lord and by those co-laboring for the Gospel in Springfield. Thank you for all of your support and the reminder that God is very much at work through his church. I look forward to my connections in the future.

Chris