April 2007

Dear Friends:

A WIDER PLATFORM
There I was, minding my own business when, out of the blue, our sound tech calls and says he has 15 risers to donate. Someone had just told me that God was increasing our platform to speak to the region. I had something more ‘spiritual’ in mind, BUT, we did need staging too. Ker-plunk, 480 square feet of heavy duty staging becomes ours!

God has expanded the field into which our message is being sown. Red Bluff is ignited and exploding with action. 7 fellowships are teaming up with 40 Days of Grace, doing prayer tents, street clean ups, public worship and community development in their surroundings. Recently, Pastors Joshua John and Dr. Paul reported that a one hour pastors’ prayer time turned into a 3 hour open heart session. They spoke honestly to one another about partnering over the long haul to reach the whole city and not allowing division or offenses to hi-jack them. That is the fruit of those 2 praying for a decade! Shasta Lake’s Harold Luke tells me of plans to prayer walk every street there on Wednesday evenings this May. A BIG 1st! Both communities are looking to expand with us this fall. Anderson experienced a united gathering of worship last Friday as women came together before the Lord. The WeR1 band follows that up with a night of worship in Anderson on April 15th. Prayer tents will be out in record numbers thanks to the hard work of Hellen Meade and the dedicated team. Happy Valley, Palo Cedro, Shingletown, Whitmore and Cottonwood will join the above mentioned communities with their own prayer tents as well! GOOSEBUMPS ARE PLENTIFUL! This is truly a wider platform than we have ever had.

PREPARE THE WAY
The business lunch this month at CalTrans was another goosebump gathering! The Lord spoke through each person, weaving a beautiful tapestry there in the basement of that state building. Eric Hess, our new marketplace team leader, did an excellent job leading the meeting. It is very evident that the faithful prayers of Derek Willis and the CalTrans crew have caused a significant breakthrough. They are preparing the way of the Lord, building HIM a Highway! The next business gathering is the seminar at the Redding Convention Center, April 13-14. The cost is affordable, especially considering the fact that you are saving the airfare to Hawaii or Argentina where you’d have to go to get this kind of input. The impartation and inspiration you receive will be fuel to your life! Click here Marketplace Seminar for details.

TAKE THE SOUND TO STREET LEVEL
Sacrificial dollars are coming in right now for our SOUND EQUIPMENT. The WeR1 Band is donating from their heart. Businesses, churches and friends are also getting involved so we can be outfitted with a quality of sound that matches our message. This bullet-proof system will allow us to be rapidly portable without begging and borrowing additional gear each time we go out. This helps create a consistent sound and an efficient set up/tear down routine for our volunteers. We ANTICIPATE major opportunities to lift up the name of Jesus in public places all up and down this valley in the near future. We believe God is calling us to speak and amplify a practical but visionary message that unites believers in a working net and paves the way for community transformation.

GRACE-in-MOTION
As we establish a network of praying people everywhere, the next level of shepherding will be caring for felt needs. Being interconnected allows us to tackle grace-sowing projects together so that people see and experience the Church being the church on an ongoing basis out in public. Roy Meade is our team’s captain in that area. Pray for the finances to come in so he can dedicate his time to go out to put GRACE, in motion.

On March 31, 24 people from 7 fellowships took on 4 jobs in our community. A campus, a family/home, and 2 local ministries were assisted. It was great to see brothers and sisters in Christ co-labor to extend the gospel. The cared-for person on one project gladly received prayer and told us he’d like to mobilize with us the next time, or just hang out with us more! Praise the Lord. Grace is contagious!

PRAY FOR LABORERS
We have been able to announce and cast vision in more fellowships than ever. Though many resonate, the numbers who mobilize are relatively small. We are choosing NOT to be bummed about this. Jesus said, PRAY. He didn’t say to complain about the small number of laborers. Paul Revere rode through the streets sounding the call, the country folk mobilized and the world was changed. Imagine if they had only said, “Isn’t that nice. I sure have that freedom thing in my heart too.” It would be a different story! PRAY!! Seeing a united prayer movement come about regionwide will take more than talk, good feelings and desire; we must pray to see people mobilized in response to the call.

So, let’s look to the future
What do you see when you consider the future of this region? I foresee a day when....
A HIGH FIVE across multiple regions on the I-5 corridor happens, when all of us willingly partner in unity and help one another fill our communities with prayer and grace. Every environment in the city is being proactively shepherded by the Church working in harmony. Every campus, business, neighborhood and community group has a praying person who believes God can transform that arena for His glory. So, anywhere you go in town, you can encounter someone who is cognizant of ministering the power and presence of God in that sphere. Pastors now pray regularly together, and are a driving force for the concept of shepherding the entire city, filling it with prayer, songs of hope, righteousness, peace and joy. Drug dealers and prodigals of all types are giving their lives to the Lord and helping the community instead of taking from it. Grace-in-motion teams mobilize regularly to deliver hope to people in tough, hopeless situations. Barriers between the fellowships are gone. They now seek to help one another as a normal part of their weekly routine, and generosity is the norm. The Church is brimming with new solutions for community needs, and they mobilize quickly and efficiently. Everyone is hearing and seeing the gospel on a daily basis, and no one misses the grace of God.

To His glory and the expansion of His Kingdom in our day,

Jon Thompson
Redding Transformation Team Leader

Click here for previous newsletters