For the City

It's an unusual thing to fall in love with a city you've never lived in and have only visited a handful of times but that's where my wife and I find ourselves: dreaming, and praying, and planning for the city. Of course, it didn't start out that way. When we first heard of the pull God had placed on Phil Smith's heart to move to Huntington and plant a church, our passion for and desire to be a part of church planting fueled our interest. Then one day, not long after, we met on the Smith's back porch where we collectively scrawled the word "yes" onto small, torn pieces of paper and threw those crumpled, naive intentions into a bowl. The next day we realized that a passion for church planting, though a noble and exciting - even Biblical - motivation, would not alone be enough to hold us to that "yes." So we set out to pray for unity and clarity through the rest of July and August of 2016. We asked God for 40 consecutive days to show us decisively what His will was for us and for the city. While we began with the caveat that we would go only if everyone - all 6 adults and 7 children - would commit to going together, we ended those 40 days convinced that even if no one else would go, our family would go to Huntington even if it meant going alone. Each family, on their own, came to this same conclusion. [God taught me a lot about obedience and having the faith to take Him at His Word during those days, using the parable of the talents to drive home the lesson time and again. Ask me about it sometime, I'd love to tell you about my journey to this point in more detail.] Ultimately Christ's love is what compels us... to move to Huntington, to start a small church that is focused on lifting Jesus high and making disciples, to give up comfort and family and "good enough" in exchange for the unknown "great" that we know God has in store. But with Christ's love our primary motivation, we also found ourselves drawn to a city and a people. Huntington, imperfect as she may be, has charm. Huntington boast hills and rivers, creeks and parks, Marshall U, idealic neighborhoods and a downtown with real history. This city takes pride in its past, but also in its present. There are many faithful visionaries who are devoted to and working toward Huntington's best days, which they believe are yet to come. We're moving not to start something new, but to join them in what God is already so clearly at work in. (Here's a look at where Huntington is today, through the lens of some of it's most prominent leaders. http://wchstv.com/community/river-cities-report/the-state-of-huntington) Where others see economic depression, we join those who see opportunity. Where some see a university annually shipping out its best and brightest, we see a system perfectly arranged to influence all of Appalachia and far, far beyond. Some will make an impact by going, but some will choose to be a part of the change and they'll stay. Buying into the vision of what could be, those students will be catalysts and key leaders of the church, the marketplace, the start-ups... they'll be catalysts for civic pride and they'll reimagine downtown Huntington as a place that sets the pattern for the rest of America to build from. This is a city positioned to influence and inspire all of Appalachia. We envision and are praying for Marshall University to become an epicenter of missionary sending in the United States. That no school would send out more missionaries, church planters, and Gospel-centered world changers than Marshall. That nowhere would be found a more unified and mission centered Church than the body of Christ in Huntington, who united in one Christ exalting cause would allow their King to set the agenda and find their similarities far more binding than their differences are divisive. Heroin is the elephant in the room in this town, and region. Often it feels like the strangle hold that belabors every breath. Heroin has taken a lot of life from Huntington but it cannot take away hope. God has THAT market cornered and He has spoken decisively about it. "These three remain: faith, hope, and love." More than federal grants, an ebb to the flow of drugs pouring into the city, or the return of healthy industry - vitally important as they are - Huntington needs these. Faith. Hope. Love. The solution in one word. One name. Jesus. Huntington needs Jesus. People need to see Jesus re-presented to them in flesh and blood, real life, day to day. They need Jesus in the neighborhood. They need Jesus in their schools. They need Jesus doing business with them. They need Jesus caring for their kids like their own. They need Jesus walking through the valley of recovery with them. They need more Jesus with skin on. We pray that the Church in Huntington, not just City Church, but all the churches, will become excellent in doing good. Will be truly known by the way they love. Will not just make inroads to the community, but will live in and with it. They will hurt where they hurt and rejoice where they rejoice. We pray for a city so filled with love and given to a purpose larger than itself that one day every nook and cranny would be filled with the presence of God in and through the people of God. We will live and work and invest for the city. We will sacrifice and dream and pray for the city. We will open our homes and our lives for the city. And we will see God orchestrate His will for the city. Because what God orders, He pays for. What He wills, He accomplishes. And we believe transformation is His will for the city.