God is moving, and so are we!
First of all, I want to thank all of you who have prayed for us, supported us, and given to the Today.Church vision over the past 8 years. Words aren’t sufficient to express our gratitude. And an intro like that seems like a setup for resigning… it’s not.
You are probably aware that we’ve been struggling for some time – living miracle to miracle both in ministry and personally.
Last week we faced a decision that was heart-breaking and difficult. The truth is, we don’t have the income or support to continue what we are doing, this way.
The only thing that makes sense, and that we have any peace about, is moving to East Tawakoni where we own a small fixer-up house we inherited. It’s a couple of hours from where we live now. We have until the end of January to move.
What does that mean for Today.Church? Nothing will change immediately. Decisions and discussions will happen as the details solidify. I do know that my job remains the same no matter what, when, or where. Love God. Love people. Make disciples.
A number of trusted friends, leaders, and mentors have in the past recommended we take a ministry sabbatical. Honestly, that’s been a foreign concept to me. How do you “rest” from your life calling? Yet praying and talking through these latest circumstances, I’m beginning to understand that it doesn’t mean not doing “ministry” things that refresh me – but resting from what’s draining.
And to be blunt – we are drained. Physically, spiritually, and financially.
And so, beginning January 20th, 2025, as we move, Tangi and I will begin a minimum three-month sabbatical. We are so thankful to those who have committed to stepping up and covering leadership and logistics during this time.
I’ve wrestled with how to communicate this. It’s not my intention to ask for anything other than prayer for provision and wisdom. I know God is at work and working all things together for good.
Also, just to be clear – this is a “ministry” sabbatical. Not a vacation. It’s a time for us to focus on sustainable income and housing as the foundation to continue making disciples.
Some background, we leased a house near the truck stop where we were having church in September of 2023. We loved the neighborhood, and it was great for house church – we even had Sunday mornings and baptisms there before the coffee shop became a Sunday option. But it also pretty much doubled our personal monthly expenses.
Last spring, I started driving for Uber as a primary source of income to make things work. While it helped tremendously, every month has been a struggle of both time and resources. In an average week, I have about a dozen scheduled disciple-making meetings. Not counting prep time – that alone would be considered full-time in most professions. So I’ve been trying to work full-time, to support full-time disciple-making and ministry.
We’ve experienced miracle after miracle. God has always provided. He supplies all we need. Sometimes right down to the wire. But this month, there wasn’t enough by the deadline. But that doesn’t change the fact that God supplies all we need.
And so with the resources available, something needs to change. Miraculously paying one more month’s rent would be great, but it’s not the long-term solution.
We are thankful to have the fixer-up house as an option. But there is also more fixer than up… When we inherited the property, it needed a lot. Water damage, etc. A few years ago we had it pretty much gutted and put a new roof on. It was a long-range plan, but now it’s more immediate.
It’s an exciting new adventure for Tangi and me. But it also feels like skydiving without knowing if there’s a parachute on your back! But God’s got this.
Here are some personal things we ask you to pray about – as you pray for Today.Church as well.
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Income opportunities. While I’m open to anything, here’s what we hope to pursue immediately
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Rideshare – We will be about an hour from the airport so I hope to be able to continue the better-paying private rides in this new location.
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Sound and Technology – Pray for opportunities to consult, train, install, and fix sound, lighting, video, web, and other technologies that I have expertise in.
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Podcast subscriptions – Hope to focus more on hippiepreacher.com content and generate more paid subscriptions.
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Disciple-making training – Looking for opportunities to train disciple-makers in other churches or through conferences and online. I’ve been building a disciple-making training and connection web app in my “spare” time. Hope to complete that in this transition.
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Voiceover opportunities – Perhaps it’s time to put my “radio voice” to use.
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Possible employment – Open to anything…
2. Downsizing. The Tawakoni house is smaller than any house we’ve ever lived in. It’s perfect for the two of us but we will have a lot of stuff to liquidate
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Pray for wisdom to know what to sell and what to just give away.
3. Getting the house ready. Things were so tight, we hadn’t even seen the place in over a year. There’s a lot more work than anticipated just to get it livable.
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I’m great with technology… hammers, not so much. But God is! Pray for the wisdom, strength, and resources to get ‘er done.
That’s where we are today. Thank you so much for your support and prayers. I’ll probably over-communicate about this more in the future.
Got a few boxes to start packing first though. And chicken coop research! Yes. Tangi wants some chickens. 🙂
Thank you.