We are going to take the next few posts to catch everyone up on what has been happening with Circles, Safe House and The Post.
Many of you have been following our life story for some time now. Some of you have walked with us through Jahva House days, when we owned a coffee shop and spent years building relationships with our employees and customers. God taught us so much about living a life that is missional through our actions and through the arts. We hosted live bands, had open mic nights and featured artists on all three floors of Jahva House. We were also part of a group called XScape that really operated like a house church for many years. We worshipped and prayed together. We did life together and we reached out to the Xers, especially at the coffee shop. We had a meeting on Sunday nights that was an open discussion on faith. At any given time we had wiccans, buddhists, muslims, christians and atheists in a room discussing their faith. It was an incredible time of growing in the art of listening, not judging and really letting our own faith be put to the fire. After we sold the coffee shop, God had us go into missions training with YWAM (Youth With a Mission). We took our family (6 of us at that time, there are now 7 of us) to Hawaii, China and the Philippines. There are so many things God did in our lives at that time...He gave us a heart for the nations, for loving the oppressed...He filled in cracks in our foundations, our value system...He gave us a way bigger picture of who He is...He taught us what it means to live by faith, to live in community...He taught us the beauty in our diversity...allowed us how to worship in different languages...He showed us what it means to serve our brothers...and He birthed in us a vision for Circles Ministries.
Kristin was in a lecture one day and God whispered the name Circles to her. A month or so later, Devon was in prayer and God gave him a vision of drops of water hitting a larger body of water. As the drops hit and the ripples went out, they began to overlap one another and invade each other. This was just the beginning of what has been a 6 year journey of listening, waiting and moving on what God wants Circles Ministries to be.
From YWAM, we went back and served at our home church for two more years. We lead the college ministry and took short term missions teams to South Africa, Ukraine and Philippines. God began to show us the type of leadership style He wanted us to adopt. He gave us a passion for serving others and helping them find their giftings, their passions and their calls. It is about serving one another so that we can all become what God has intended. It says in Ephesians 4:12-16 (paraphrased) "we have different giftings...when we operate in our calling it prepares God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built us...reaching unity...becoming mature...so we are no longer infants, tossed by the waves...we will grow up into Him, Christ. From Him the whole body will be joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work." It's when we ALL are walking out our callings and using our giftings, that the Body of Christ matures. Really, it's a leadership style we should all adopt. If we serve one another, encouraging our brothers and sisters to be all that Jesus called them to be...whole, well, healed, delivered, and restored...we get to grow into maturity as a body. Jesus designed His bride so that we need Him and we need one another.
But, four years ago, God had us leave our church and start Safe House...but, we'll save this story for part two.
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