The week was a busy one with not much sleep! We arrived late Wednesday night. Debbie and Juan picked us up at the airport and we got back to the Macleans’ apartment around 1:30 A.M.
Thursday
Sara had an interview at a staffing agency downtown at 10 AM. We left around 8 to make sure we would arrive in plenty of time since our primary means of transportation for the week was the T (Boston’s subway/train system). Sara’s interview went well. The staffing agency will be a resource to her for jobs in Boston and they will contact her if jobs arise that they feel would be a good fit for her. While Sara was in the interview I had the opportunity to walk around downtown. During this time I apparently looked Bostonian enough for two people to ask me for directions (although they might have been from out of town too…). After this our apartment hunting started. We were primarily looking for one or two bedroom apartments, but were also looking for 3-4 bedroom units as the Harpers had mentioned the possibility of living with us. We looked at two apartments on Thursday with a local lady from Jamaica Plain (JP) named Melissa. She was very helpful and was able to tell us a lot about the neighborhood. The two apartments that we looked at weren’t exactly what we wanted, though. One wouldn’t even fit our bed in the bedroom and the other was on a busy street at the very edge of JP. After looking at the apartments we headed up to the Harpers (Shane, Shannon, and baby Reese) to ride with them to dinner. On the way over to their place I received a voicemail from a lady at Boston University letting me know that I had been accepted into their Graduate Program for the School of Theology. She also let me know that I would be receiving a scholarship that would cover half of the tuition! We had dinner with the Macleans, Harpers, and Katye Green at a corner tavern and then went to an event showcasing singer/songwriters from around the area. It was held at Berklee where Shane’s brother Daniel attends. Daniel was one of the five singer/songwriters to perform and did a wonderful job. We’re praying for Daniel to become more involved in our community.
Friday
In the morning I rode up with Juan to a church planters gathering in Malden, about 30 minutes north of Boston. The meeting was at a church building that was recently purchased for 7 Mile Road, a church that has been experiencing wonderful growth over the past year. They purchased this building from a dying church that sold it to them for almost half of it’s appraised value. There were about 22 men at this meeting, which is held quarterly. It was a very encouraging time as every man was able to share about things that they are struggling with and ways they are living on mission. We then broke into smaller groups and spent a while praying for one another. It was exciting for me to see and meet many pastors and church planters in person that I had been following and reading about for a while. The one benefit to the small amount of Evangelical protestant churches in Boston is that the majority of the pastors and church planters know one another and lean on one another for support. During the meetingI was able to talk with a guy who helps lead the missions and mercy ministry for City Life Presbyterian which meets in downtown Boston, as well as a student at Gordon Conwell who serves at Christ the King Church in Cambridge. I look forward to picking their brains about ministry in the city when we move up. Sara went and looked at an apartment with Shannon in the morning in Roxbury. They both liked the apartment and we kept it on our list of possibilities. After Juan and I got back from the church planters gathering, Sara and I went to look at another 2 bedroom place. We liked it a lot, and it moved to second place on our list. Friday night, we stayed home with the Macleans and Katye and played games, relaxed, and recovered from being out in the rain all day.
Saturday
Sara and I looked at a 4 bedroom place in the afternoon, with lots of room. It seemed perfect, with lots of space, multiple levels, and a great deck. We met up with the Harpers and looked at another 3 bedroom apt in the middle of JP. This one had a small living room in comparison to the 4 bed we looked at earlier. We went to dinner with the Harpers and discussed what living together would look like and any reservations we might have about it. We left the Harpers that night hoping that they would decide that they wanted to go for it. Later that night, they called us and said they were in. We e-mailed and called about the 4 bedroom in the middle of JP right away!
Sunday
We went to church at Mosaic church which meets at a YMCA in Boston’s South End neighborhood. It was a small gathering, but we felt welcomed and the singing was a mixture of familiar hymns and contemporary worship songs. The pastor of Mosaic is Jan, who also pastors two other congregations, one of which is a Russian congregation that was just
recently accepted into the Acts 29 Network. Jan preached on Wisdom from the book of Proverbs, teaching us that wisdom is not what we know, but the fear of the Lord. He encouraged us with the gospel by showing that Jesus is the wisdom of God who has first pursued us so that we can respond to his grace by learning and walking in obedience. After church we went by the real estate office to drop off a check and sign some papers that would make our offer for the apartment official. We just needed to hear back from the owner to see if she would accept. We then headed off to lunch with some friends of the Harpers that were down on vacation from Canada. Paul, the dad of the family, is a graduate of Southern and currently pastors a church in Ontario. Paul and his family graciously bought us and the Harpers lunch and encouraged us in our church plant in Boston. After that Sara and I checked out some shops in the area and then headed back to the Macleans. That night the Macleans ordered Indian food for us and we had an Oscar watching party complete with a ballot competition (Debbie and I tied for 1st).
Monday
Monday was dedicated to our Core Group training. When I say “Core Group” I’m talking about the individuals who first got together in Louisville and said they were in on the Boston Church Plant. Our core team is comprised of: the Macleans (lead planter Juan, his wife Debbie, 2-year-old-Jonas, and soon-to-be-born-baby #2), Katye Green, the Harpers (Shane, Shannon and 6-week-old Reese). We’re praying for the Lord to add to this core group to help us better form a foundation for the church plant. To start off the training we spent a while talking about what we are excited about as well as any fears or needs that we currently have. The time we spent praying for these things was encouraging as we realized it is the Lord alone that can grow his church. After spending some of the morning in prayer, we started discussing the church plant more in depth. Juan lead us through a discussion on the vision of the plant: Gospel, Church, Mission. He also spoke about the identities we hold as a church: Family, Learners, Worshippers, Servants. We then spent some time talking about the reasoning behind planting churches as well as what a church in Boston needs to address. The main needs we mentioned were a lack of deep community and a problem with commitment. We then spoke about a timeline for the church plant where we tried to balance thinking humbly with expecting big things from a God who is able to do abundantly more than we could ever think or imagine. Lastly, we decided on a church name! After deliberating for almost an hour, the name we chose was one that many of us had liked since Juan first mentioned it about a month ago: Redemption City Church. The reason I like the name is that in encompasses all of our vision: Redemption (Gospel) City (Mission) Church(Community/Church). We’re excited to have a name that can communicate our vision for God’s work in Boston!
Tuesday
We left Boston early Tuesday morning, excited for when we will return for good! Since our trip, we found out that we didn’t get the 4 bedroom apartment that we applied for with the Harpers. Sara and I applied for the 2 bedroom place that was second on our list, and we hope to hear back on that soon.
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