"If we have only six people, that would be great..."
That's what Nick told me hesitantly at the beginning of December as people kept rejecting our Christmas party invite on Facebook. December, as everyone knows, is the busiest time of the year. On top of that, everyone we invited, we had just met in the last couple of months. We figured we weren't on the priority list of parties to go to. Every "no" was another disappointment. Nick was prepping us, just in case only 4 people showed up. Fast forward to December 13th, there are 32 people in our home. What we thought would be just a couple of people turned out to be way bigger than what we expected. Nick twisted balloons. We had neighbors meeting & talking to each other for the first time. Some who met at the party are now getting their kids together for a play date.
It seems as though this keeps happening. God keeps surprising us when we aren't expecting much. I've heard of the concept of being "expectant." I don't know about you but so often I've been disappointed when I've tried to practice being expectant. But in this season, God seems to be teaching us that he can do way more than what we can do on our own. It happened with the Christmas party. It happened when we got preapproved for our house. It happened with being fully funded with two weeks to spare. It happened with unexpected financial gifts at the end of last year. It happened earlier this week when we got an email saying, "I can lead worship, lead Bible studies, and I've always wanted to help launch a church." So now, we are expectant. We're expectant of how God will work in our upcoming Anchor Group. We're expectant of how God will use us in Champaign-Urbana.
As you pray for us, please remember these things: Pray for our marketing strategy and that it would be effective in the community. We are working through what sets us apart as a church and what this city needs.Pray for our first Anchor Group (small group) which is starting on January 13th. We have 3 couples so far that have said they'd like to come. It will last for 4 weeks and will focus on objections to faith. Pray that we would be able to find a space to use for our monthly preview services. Pray for the different groups that we're involved in: Chamber of Commerce, Jaycees, Young Professionals of CU, & Meet Up groups. Pray that we would be able to foster friendships and have influence.Pray for a worship leader. We have a couple of different leads. Thank you so much for your support.
We couldn't do this without you!
~Hannah and Nick
