Greater Days Are Here In New England

We prayed for greater days ahead. We now celebrate greater days are now here!

After serving in New England for ten years, it was so refreshing and rewarding to experience all that God is doing in the north east. Here are some thoughts on my recent visit to Boston to be with our NAMB church planters. It was so good to see many old friends, and meet many new ones. (Desh is still mad at me that she couldn’t go.)

Prayer. There are an army of prayer warriors in New England. It was so encouraging and also challenging to join with our passionate churches and church planters who are praying in New England as it is in heaven.

Partnerships. The receptivity of the gospel in the northeast is not lower, it’s just slower. It takes years of investment and meaningful partnerships. We praise God for the partnership of churches from other regions across the country joining in. They share the same passion and commitment to see New England come to Christ. There is also great collaboration with the Baptist Convention of New England and church plants helping and sharing resources with one another on the field. Great things happen when resources and partnership is viewed as y[ours].

Indigenous Leaders. Indigenous leaders are being discovered, developed and deployed. David Livingston once said, “Africans will reach Africa.” New Englanders will reach New England! We are confident of this. It was so good to reconnect with the many leaders that I served alongside and poured into. David Holland was my very first “who’s your one” in the city. Now, the pastor of Cornerstone City Church, Pastor David Holland drove up from Norwich, CT and we celebrated all that God has done and continue to do. The future is bright in New England.

Persist. The ground is hard in the northeast, but our God is greater. One of our interns penned these words when we started to serve in New England in 2017, much has happened since. We are moving rocks.

Moving Rocks

I’ve been working hard all day. My hands and knees are bloody, and my brow is wet. But you don’t see large fields of wheat, No, I haven’t planted just yet … I’m moving rocks. I’ve toiled, hunched over day in and day out. Been out in the field since sun-up, But do I see the results of my labor? No … I’m moving rocks. I have bags and bags of useful seed, And the skies are filled with water. What good will all of that do to me? With a field still full of rocks.

“How will your harvest go,” you ask me. “What will you yield without seed in your field, Or water moistening the ground?” But I look around me to see something you’ve missed. An essential job to still be done. Before planting. Before the watering. Before the harvesting.

I’m moving rocks!

The gospel light reset in New England. May it shine bright!