Gathering the Core2009 is here! And with it has come some new things: a new President, a new governor of Illinois (a little joke there), the Cardinals in the Super Bowl and the Gators are National Champions! But in the midst of all the excitement, there has been one major thing going on in our hearts. 2009 is the year of August Gate. In 6 months we will be launching a brand new church in downtown St. Louis. The next 6 months hold a lot of challenges; namely, people and resources.
This month we began officially gathering a core group to plant this church. On January 24th, we had 16 people over to our house to cast vision for August Gate. It was an amazing time as I saw the people that God had been connecting over the past few months hear the vision for this work and grab hold. But we’ve only begun. Over the next few months we are going to be sharing the vision for August Gate and challenging people to be a part of it in some way.
This means you!
For years growing up I heard this somewhat annoying commercial on the local Christian radio station. It had an old man praying for God to show him how he was to serve God. As he is praying he gets a couple phone calls with opportunities to serve in his local church, but tells the callers he is too busy and goes back to praying for an opportunity. Finally, his own daughter asks him to read his grandson a Bible story, but once again he is too busy praying for God to send him a sign.
My fear is that much of the church is just like this man. We are anxious to serve God, but many times the thoughts of that service are so romantic in our minds that when God opens doors, we don’t walk through them. Most of our newsletter recipients have been getting this newsletter for months. Several are givers to this and other ministries. But some are friends and family who want to keep caught up on our lives. Let me ask you an honest question…have you been praying about how you can get involved with August Gate? As Christians, we can miss out on some amazing blessings and service to Jesus if we don’t open our eyes to the opportunities around us.
Two years ago, Heather and I left Eldorado to follow God’s call to plant a church. Though the road was a bit bumpy, we have arrived at the destination. The challenge was huge. We had to leave the comfort of home, a job, finances, family, and all the plans we had made for our own lives. How did it start? It started by us getting on our knees and asking God for His purpose to be worked out in our lives. What a tragedy it would have been if we had written off every nudge of the Holy Spirit and every open door God was giving us!
We are calling people to pray about some big stuff. We are asking people to get on their knees, ask God to lead, and commit to one of three things; pray, give, move. And here is why we are challenging you. We believe in the sovereign plan of God. We believe that God cannot and does not make mistakes. He is not some divine play director standing behind the curtains trying to fix things as the actors forget their lines. God is orchestrating everything perfectly. Because of this, we don’t believe that God connects people by mistake. It is undeniable. Every single person that was at our house this past month for the vision meeting was connected to us in one way or another, as random as it may have seemed. We believe that we are connected to you for a reason as well.
So how can you get involved? We usually state these the other way around, but I am going to state them in reverse. The first way is by moving. We need strong, dedicated Christians committed to seeing God’s work fulfilled in St. Louis to move to the area to be a part of this church. You can live in the city, South County, or the Metro East. I know it sounds crazy, but why not at least pray about it as a genuine option? If this may be you, call us, and we’ll speak more in depth. The next challenge is to give finances and resources. We know that not everyone can pick up life in six months and move. We know that because of other commitments in life and ministry people are placed in other locations. But all the while, we know that God blesses so that we can be a blessing. We need to raise a tremendous amount of money to launch this church. Would you pray about giving? Finally, we are challenging people to pray. We need people praying for us daily, asking God for wisdom, finances, resources, and people. Everyday we inch closer to something bigger than ourselves, and everyday the battle gets more heated.
Items for prayer
§ Facilities: We are asking God to open doors…literally. There are two buildings in the area that would be perfect for us to use. Currently, they are unavailable to us. Pray that God opens doors for us to get into one of them or to provide for another building in the area.
§ Finances: As I mentioned earlier, starting a church from the ground up can be a costly endeavor. Pray that God would bring in the money needed for salary, rent, and resources.
§ Resources: God recently answered a prayer by providing a partial sound system from a local church. Praise God! We need to continue to pray for other audio/visual elements including a projector and screen and the other elements of a sound system.
§ People: We are currently gathering a core group and will begin weekly meetings with them on Sunday nights. Pray that God would connect us with committed people.
§ Soulard: In 6 months we will be launching a new church just south of downtown St. Louis. Pray that God would begin opening the hearts of the lost to hear the Gospel and respond in faith.
Ways to Connect
- Email: Heather and I still use gmail. heatheroldham@gmail.com and noaholdham@gmail.com. But you can now connect to Noah and the other leaders of August Gate by using firstname@augustgate.com.
- Phone: If you would like to hear what’s going on at any time, give us a phone call at 314-835-7690 (noah) or 314-835-7164 (heather).
- Website: August Gate currently has a splash website up. We are continuing to work on it and when finances begin to come in we will be able to have one created for us. www.augustgate.com .
- Blog: You can still get more frequent updates at noahandheatheroldham.blogspot.com or see what Noah has currently written at www.missioncontend.com.
