week-end excitement

Last week-end 2 events were a highlight to the start of the fall for me.


Gathering Cafe kicked off with it's season premiere. After a 1/2 season trial in the West Island from a 3 year term downtown I was debating on what to do with the cafe. The West Island is so different from downtown. Downtown had a certain ethos to it that you can't get in the suburbs. We approached this new season (07-08) differently. Rather than trying to connect the cafe more directly with my church (eg. winter 07), we're going back to making it a separate community (though both communities will cross paths in a variety of ways: volunteers, participation, community presence, open to bring friends to it - any body can benefit from the cafe in this way). So far there's been great interest in growing our team and volunteer crew. I'm hoping for a 4-5 person navigational team and a 20+ volunteer crew, where both actively own and fuel the cafe with life, creativity, and passion to impact people's lives.

The season premiere was a hot night... seriously: hip-hop/rap/spoken word... comic blurb... short film... great discussion... new volunteers... a desert worker who has a passion for it... great atmosphere... new faces... good response for next month...

THEN...


Sunday AM we baptized 2 people at Westside. Cindy and Paul came to Christ from 2 completely different journey's or starting places. It was so amazing to hear their stories... watch their faces... pray for them... and immerse them in water as a result of their obedience to follow Jesus....
Cindy came out of the water clapping with utter joy.
It was a great day for our community, reminding us that God continues to reveal himself to people who seek him.