Stats Don't Lie . . .

Stats don't lie, the Twin Cities are a massive mission field.

Last Monday I attended a quarterly church-planting event that is run by an organization called Mission 1618, which was started by Hope in downtown Minneapolis. Meeting and learning with others who are on the front lines of missions and church-planting in this area is always an amazing and refreshing time. At the most recent M1618 gathering, we were blessed with the presence of Rev. Dr. John Mayer from City Vision. He is THE demographics guru for the Twin Cities and THE go-to guy in order to know the Twin Cities better. 

I have personally had the pleasure of meeting and learning from Dr. Mayer numerous times. He shared a ton of great information on the reality that the Twin Cities are a major mission field. Here are just a few of the statistics for the Twin Cities area:

1. The largest Somali, Hmong, Oromo Ethiopian, Liberian, Karen Burmese, and Anuak populations in the U.S., as well as the second largest Tibetan concentration
2. Fourth largest homosexual population in the U.S. with Minneapolis voted the "Gayest City in America" in 2011
3. One of the largest concentration of witches in the U.S. (Paganistan), numbering over 20,000
4. Largest Cambodian Buddhist Temple in the U.S.
5. Largest Hindu temple in North America
6. Over 45,000 deaf people and only 2% are professing Christian
7. Contains over 125 Muslim mosques
8. 9 Muslim mosques, 6 Hindu temples, 3 Buddhist temples, 1 Sikh temple, 1 Jain temple, and 1 witch coven are now located in former Christian church buildings
9. 77,000 Somalis (highest concentration of any U.S. city) with only 29 known Christian believers
10. 40,000 Native Americans with only 1% connected to a Christian church 

While some of these stats may seem overwhelming, the Kingdom of God is VERY active in the Twin Cities. In fact, Dr. Mayer claims (and I agree with his claim) that there is a quiet revival happening here. Over the last 10 years there have been over 1,100 Christian churches planted in the Twin Cities area (60% of these churches are non-White). God is up to big things here, and we are honored to be a small part of His activity!

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The Kingdom of God Is at Hand through Words and Actions

I have mentioned several times that we are a church that priorities being generous towards the City (in fact, that's one of our 5 goals!) One of the doors that the Spirit has opened to us is an organization called MVNA. 

A little over a week ago, I, along with another core participant in the plant, met with the director of development for MVNA. Out of that meeting came a deeper commitment to serving the least of these through them (97% if their clients are 200% below the poverty level). We have pledged to put them in our annual budget, do monthly service projects for them, and look for ways to work 1-on-1 with individuals. In light of our commitment, the following email was sent out by MVNA's CEO to their employees:

"Karin Meier met this past week with the pastor of the South Minneapolis Plant Church from Waconia Lutheran Church. They were a 'contact' interested in building kits for Community of Caring. She had presented to their small group one Sunday morning a couple months ago about MVNA and they built rattle racket kits for us. Several of the members have ties to the medical industry and feel like MVNA is a good fit for them. Pastor Dave contacted her a couple weeks ago to have coffee. From that meeting, this group has picked MVNA as one of their core projects, pledging $1,000 this year and they will build kits once a month for MVNA as a church but also they are doing a lot of community building and will be hosting neighborhood gatherings monthly to do MVNA kit building."

What is also exciting about all of this is the fact that our initial contact with MVNA is a nurse who lives a couple of blocks from us and is unabashedly not a believer in Christ. Not only are we helping to care for those on the fringes through this commitment, but it has also opened the door for us to share the Gospel with someone who is far from Christ. How cool is that!

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Why I'm Going Bi-Vocational

One of our daily prayer requests this week is about developing a bi-vocational DNA within the plant, especially amongst the leaders. You may or may not be familiar with the concept of bi-vocational ministry, so I would like to share briefly why we (mainly me) are transitioning from full-time paid ministry to bi-vocational, part-time paid ministry. While there are a plethora of reasons why we are making this shift, here are the 3 primary ones:

1. Mission - For me to set the tone for taking the Good News of Jesus to those living in darkness, I need to put myself in positions where I am constantly developing relationships with those who are in such a condition. While it is true and Biblical that those who provide the Gospel have the right to make their living off the Gospel (1 Corinthians 9:14), it is also true that in 2014 America, especially in an urban environment, church leaders ought to consider imitating Paul and forfeiting that right for the advancement of the Kingdom (1 Corinthians 9:18).
2. Leadership Development - In our planting strategy, we take VERY seriously 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4:11-12. In order to better understand and equip our Gospel Community leaders, I feel it advantageous to live a life that is more similar to theirs - one where discipleship and community activity take place in the midst of daily jobs and family life.
3. Finances - This is intentionally listed last because it is far from our primary reason for shifting to bi-vocationalism. In fact, through you and many others, God has been incredibly generous to the plant - so much so that we will likely end our first fiscal year with a $40K-$50K surplus. However, it is evident that due to a wide variety of factors (style of plant, cultural shifts, economic shifts, etc.), we need to leverage ourselves now for fiscal longevity (Proverbs 6:6-11). With this move, we will be able to do more with a smaller 2014-15 budget. In my humble opinion, I would make the argument that even established churches, many of which are struggling to stay afloat, should consider taking seriously the bi-vocational route.

If you would like to learn more about bi-vocational ministry, I HIGHLY recommend reading through a book called Bivo by Hugh Halter. If you have further questions or concerns about our transition, please don't hesitate to email me.

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Holy Week Blessings

Last Sunday, April 13 (on Palm Sunday) we had Jeff and Holly, representatives from Prison Fellowship join us to share about their work. We were especially uplifted by the presence and testimony of Jose, who spoke about his 16 years in prison and how the Spirit worked through people like Jeff and Holly to completely turn his life around. In the coming weeks I, along with others from the plant, will get a first-hand look at the work Prison Fellowship does as we seek, both individually and as a Community, to get further involved in this work to take the Gospel to the incarcerated. 

Then on Thursday we had a Maundy Thursday Seder meal. We gathered in the home of Bob and Jacquie Danz for a couple of hours to get a taste of the meal that our Savior celebrated with his disciples before his betrayal, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection. 

The Community (even the kiddos!) enjoyed the unique nature of the 15 page Seder (which means "order") Haggadah (which means "the telling") as well as the authentic Passover cuisine - lamb, noodle kugel, potato kugel, carrot tzimmes, matzo, etc. One of my favorite parts of the seder is the end, when the 4th cup was poured but not drank, and we heard, "May you go forth and tell this story to the children of many generations, that they would come to believe and be saved by the blood of the Lamb, Y’shua HaMashiach." May the Spirit give you the grace to pursue this commission wherever you live!

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The Squishy Middle

A little over a week ago I was able to attend a 1-day conference through an organization called Mission1618. At this conference I had the great pleasure of listening to an incredible speaker and researcher named Ed Stetzer. One of the most fascinating points that Stetzer made was in reference to what he calls the "squishy middle." 

This is segment of society that claims to be Christian due to one reason or another but have no active faith life (worship, spiritual disciplines, etc.) In short, Stetzer claims that this "squishy middle," which once looked to the church as the cultural chaplain, is now looking elsewhere for guidance and answers. Likewise, this "squishy middle" is being squeezed out and many who once would identify themselves as Christian now simply identify themselves as "nones" - that is, they have no religious affiliation. The implications for this are many, but I want to emphasize two - 1) This is a VERY exciting time for the church because it is an incredible opportunity for us to make a clear confession of Scriptural faith through words and actions, and 2) In my humble opinion, every church ought to see itself as a mission outpost in a very pluralistic society. Perhaps such a mindset will allow the church in the West to fully embrace and live out Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 9:22-23, "I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings"?

We are trying to live in such a way in S. Minneapolis and the Spirit is opening doors to our neighbors, human care organizations, Somalis, American Indians, ex-convicts, the poor, etc. If you would like to pray for us or financially invest in us and our mission in South Minneapolis, follow the links below.

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First Baptism and Five Goals

This past Sunday (the 6th) our Lydia was baptized. There is a neat parallel between our Lydia and the Lydia of Acts 16 - the Lydia of the Bible was the first recorded Christian convert in Europe and Lydia was our Community's first baptism. How cool is that! We had a packed house on Sunday (29 total; 15 adults and 14 children) as the picture indicates.

Some of you may be wondering what we're aiming for as a church plant. In other words, you may be thinking, "What will determine whether or not this plant is pursuing 'success'?" That is a fantastic question! For us, we have 5 goals and corresponding questions that keep us on track. They are:

1. Multiplication: Ongoing multiplication at every level (disciples, leaders, Gospel Communities, etc.) Have we multiplied at every level this year?
2. 80%: Genesis’ community consists of 80% new or prodigal Christians. Does 80% of the Genesis community consist of new or prodigal Christians?
3. Generosity towards the Kingdom: Regular, planned support through prayers and finances toward Kingdom work outside of ourselves. Does a portion of our annual budget go towards Kingdom work outside of the work we are doing (church plants, mission organizations, etc.)?
4. Generosity towards the City: Regular, planned support through prayers, finances, and service for the good of the city. Is a portion of our annual budget dedicated for community blessing? Is each Gospel Community working with a community organization for the good of the City?
5. Diversity: Being a community that imitates the ethnic and socio-economic diversity of South Minneapolis. Are we a more diverse community than we were 6 months ago?

In a wide variety of ways we are pursuing each of these five goals. If you would like to pray for us or financially invest in us and our mission in South Minneapolis, follow the links below.

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The blog's back . . . hopefully

It's painfully obvious that I'm no good at blogging. I attempted lengthy blogs that provided detailed summaries of what was happening in South Minneapolis. Failure. I attempted to do video blogs. Epic failure. So I asked myself what kind of blogs I actually read. Short. Simple. To. The. Point. Thus, from now on I will attempt to provide paragraph(ish)-long updates of what the Spirit is doing through us in South Minneapolis. I make no promises that I will accomplish what I am attempting to do. But I'll do my best!

On Thursday, March 13 we were blessed with the healthy birth of our 4th child - Lydia Nicole Larson. She is doing incredibly well and is doing everything that newborns are supposed to do - eat, sleep, and fill diapers. Her 3 older siblings are absolutely in love with her and have been fantastic helpers! I have been able to take a break for the last couple of weeks in order to focus my attention and energy on the home as we transition to our new life as a family of 6 - with 4 of us under the age of 6 :)

I am very excited about the month of April for a few reasons. Reason #1 - HOPEFULLY winter will finally leave us and we can actually enjoy life outdoors for more than 5 minutes at a time. Reason #2 - As a Community, we are transitioning from initiating relationships with other organizations and churches in the City (i.e. Engage Global, MVNA, Prison Fellowship, etc.) to deepening these relationships. Reason #3 - We have a TON of exciting stuff happening this month. For instance:

1. Sunday, April 6 - the baptism of Lydia Nicole Larson (the Community's first baptism)
2. Sunday, April 13 - presentation during our Community Gathering by our new friends at Prison Fellowship
3. Thursday, April 17 - a full-fledged Seder Meal!
4. Sunday, April 27 - preaching again at Holy Cross in Prior Lake

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