| | August 1, 2008
Dear Family and Friends,
About a month ago we as a simple church made the decision together to multiply into two areas. One group will meet in the Maywood/Huntington Park area of Los Angeles with seven people, one of whom is Kenneth, one of our longstanding disciples and developing leaders. The other group, which I will remain with, will maintain a presence in the South LA/USC area, and will effectively begin from scratch with all missionaries and a burning desire to reach our neighbors with the love of Jesus. We did this for two reasons. The first was that this was partly our original intent when we decided to form a simple church out of our World Impact Family Group and the five indigenous leaders we were modeling simple church for. The second was that we World Impact missionaries within the church felt like it was time to begin opening up our church to the whole neighborhood and everyone within our circle of influence. The trial period was finished, but we had a taste for how awesome this would be for others, and we did not want to contain it within our insulated group.
This new phase for us has really excited me for the possibilities for our neighborhood. It has been a bothersome little nag in the back of my brain all this time that I have been actively pursuing discipling relationships all over the city, while effectively ignoring my own block. I know that there are many others on my block who are reaching out to my neighbors, and there have been many church plants and church plant efforts that have reached this street for years, but the fact remains that there are still many who are NOT reached, who have not heard the full Gospel account in their entire lives, and who would be transformed by an encounter with Jesus.
I am rediscovering my roots as a missionary. I am feeling about my block and immediate neighborhood what I felt when I first came to this community 12 and a half years ago. I have moved much between now and then, but I feel the desire to get out and rediscover with fresh eyes what my community is all about, what stories it tells, what issues plague it, and what aspects reflect the Kingdom. I want to fall in love with my neighborhood again and not assume I know what is happening in the hearts and minds of my neighbors simply because I have lived here for a while. Things constantly change. People change. Actual neighbors change. Shifts in demographics occur. Gentrification is even happening, which we must be aware of. Many of the open lots that were abandoned for ten years or more are now being developed into restaurants. Storefronts are getting facelifts. USC students, alumni, and professors are moving into the houses where once only the poor lived. Even the name “South Central” has been abandoned by the city for the less baggage-laden “South LA.”
Thank you for the prayers you have offered to the Lord for us all these months and years. Your prayers are paying off handsomely with many open doors to neighbors and brand new sections of the city. We would ask that you pray now for us in this new phase of our simple church, as we multiply into two, as we seek to raise up leaders in these new simple churches that will be able to lead in our stead, and as we seek to reach our goals of 16 people being discipled, 16 new converts/believers baptized, and three churches by November of this year.
In His Service,
Bryan Cullison
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| | Posted 8/20/2008 2:50 AM - 4 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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