Pray for Portland

Here's a link to the acorn article if you missed it: http://www.thecamarilloacorn.com/news/2013-01-18/Faith/Couple_takes_a_journey_of_faith.html


Update from Trevor:

the time to leave and plant is rapidly approaching us. our plan is to move on march 1. however before we move, there are some things that we’re hoping to get lined up before we officially leave. thankfully Jesus has been so faithful to us and His church thus far, so we have no reason to worry or stress that He will not continue to provide for us now. 

with that said, i wanted to share a few prayer requests and updates as well as let you know about our prayer meeting that we are starting this upcoming sunday. 

I. prayer requests: 

julie and i are heading back to portland february 8-10 for Lord willing one final trip before we move in march. here are three of our prayer requests:

1. we are praying that God would lead us to the neighborhood He would have us start the church. our plan is to start the church in our house. we want to be intentional about reaching out into our community and neighborhood to serve and minister to the people. we are praying that God would provide us a house that would accommodate room for a bible study, room to grow, and parking. we want to be strategic re our location so that we can be most effective to the people God would have us serve.

2. while we are on our trip, we will be having interviews with prospective jobs. both julie and i plan on working jobs outside of starting the church. our prayer is that God would provide us with jobs that will be flexible enough for us to spend enough time investing in the church plant. 

3. portland is a great city, and is in desperate need for the gospel. currently, oregon is the least religious state in the country, with portland as the main collection of the diversity and differences in religion. we are praying and trusting that Jesus has called us to make a difference in the lives of people for His glory. we’re praying as well that God would help us to be faithful to what He’s called us to do despite it being hard. we have a huge burden for the people of portland, specifically those who are young and searching for something more then themselves. 

II. prayer meeting: 

we are convinced that the best thing we can do to affect change for Jesus is to pray. we are going to have a prayer meeting every sunday night during february. the prayer meeting will be at the lewis campus from 6pm-630 in the energy lounge. we welcome anyone to come out and plead to God on behalf of the people of portland to do a great work for His glory.  we will be transitioning to our nexus @ night service after the prayer meeting. the service is a bit different then a normal sunday am service. there is extended times of worship and prayer, along with studying the scriptures. 

Next Steps

Thank you all so much for taking the time to read our blog. We truly appreciate all of your love and support- it has been quite overwhelming. As you read in our last blog, Trevor had an amazing trip to Portland with Pastor Bruce and it was only confirmation of the plans we are beginning to walk through. Trevor and I have booked a trip back to Portland mid February. Our goal is to have some job interviews lined up and find a place to live. We are still planning to move to Portland March 1 and that date is coming soon! While we are so excited for this new season, the reality of leaving Camarillo is beginning to hit us. Thinking about things like leaving our friends and family, leaving our home group, not raising our kids with some of our best friends are all things that cross our minds daily.

Sometimes it's hard to trust that God is leading us when I know it will be hard to walk through the next few months. I know there will be days where I will be lonely and miss Camarillo like crazy. I KNOW I will miss In-N-Out and I'm praying there's at least a Chipotle up there. God has really been pressing on my heart to trust Him even when I can't see around the next corner. I am currently reading through C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia series. In the 4th book called Prince Caspian, there's a scene that gave me a great example of how we are to follow Jesus. In the books, Aslan represents Jesus. Lucy, one of the main characters, and her brothers and few others are trying to find Prince Caspian to help him in battle. They have never made this journey before and don't know their way. They have choices to make about which roads to take. As they are deciding between two different roads, Lucy looks up and sees Aslan in the distance. But no one else saw Him. She insists she saw Him and that He wanted them to follow Him but no one believes her and they end up going the wrong way. After a long trek in the wrong direction, Aslan awakes Lucy alone in the middle of the night and asks her why she didn't follow Him. She says that no one believed her and she had tried her best to convince the others but she certainly was not going to follow Aslan alone for that would be too dangerous. As soon as the words leave her mouth, she realizes her mistake. Aslan had called her to follow Him and this was to be obeyed whether or not others followed. She goes to wake the others and convinces them to follow her as she follows Aslan even though the others cannot see Him. Lucy follows Aslan who is leading her from a distance. She asks Him to slow down and let her catch up and it seems that every time she gets close enough, He goes around another corner or down a hill to where she can't see. From the others perspective, it looks like a crazy chase in which Lucy has no idea where she is going. Aslan stays close enough that Lucy can follow, but distant enough that she has to trust Him. In the end, they reach their destination and realize how much quicker it would have been had they just believed Lucy and followed Aslan in the first place.

This has been somewhat how our journey has been. The past few months we have had no idea where we were going and what would happen. We knew we wanted to church plant in Portland, and knew this was what God was calling us to do. But the details have been unclear. Part of me wishes from the beginning there was a plan laid out perfectly so I would know how it would all happen. But God often leaves us somewhat in the dark, so to speak, so that we can trust Him. If we knew the way, it would be easier to trust in ourselves and we would have no fear. But with God leading us a distance, we must have faith. Our faith has been strengthened so much and I can honestly say God has been there every step of the way leading us and guiding us.

Keep your eyes out in the Camarillo and Thousand Oaks Acorn tomorrow! There will be an article about our journey.


Here's another picture from Trevor's trip.

Multnomah Falls

Thanks again for reading!

From Portland- by Trevor

portland trip: 

pastor bruce and i have been in portland for 2 full days now. it has been an incredible experience and God continues to open doors and confirm our calling. over the past two days we have driven all through the city of portland, and have met with a total of 10 pastors in the area. during our meetings, i had the opportunity to ask questions about the area and ask where they see need as well as field questions that the guys had for me. overall, we sensed that the meeting couldn't have gone any better! the time was a huge blessing and it was an honor to speak with the guys. each brought great wisdom, encouragement, and insight for us. i'm excited about the new relationships that were formed. Lord willing they will continue to grow when we move up here. for the most part all of the guys were very excited and extremely supportive of the work that julie and i feel called to do. 

tomorrow is another full day. we have narrowed our location down to essentially two areas: metro portland; which is a young college area with a lot of diversity. and is located in the heart of downtown portland. the other area that we are praying and considering is the north east side of portland. it is just outside the city, and from our conversation with the guys, we were told that currently there are not many, if any, healthy gospel centered churches in that area. north east portland is a culturally diverse place. you don't have too drive far to see different races, socio-economic standards, religious views etc. with that being said, we are hoping and praying that as we continue to drive around portland that God would give us a more specific sense of which area and which group of people He is calling us too. 

this has been the most fruitful and exciting trip that i have ever been on. i have also never been so excited and sure that julie and i are called to plant a church in portland. God has been very gracious thus far in leading and guiding us, and i cannot wait to see what He has in store for us in the months to come. 

portland is a wonderful city. a city that desperately needs Jesus and the gospel. it is exciting and humbling to play a part in furthering the gospel and the kingdom of God!

"therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. we implore you on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God. for our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 corinthians 5:20-21    

Beginnings: a distant dream

The Beginning:

I can't believe I am writing this now. This is the beginning of something that has been a long time coming. I never imagined we would be in the spot we are at age 23. I guess what I mean is that when Trevor and I had talked about church planting, it was always this distant dream- something we knew we wanted to do and something we knew we were called to, but something that was always in the distant future. It was never something we could plan for or make concrete goals about. It was only something we could prepare for and hope it would some day happen. We thought maybe in our late twenties or early thirties. Never now. But here we are.

My story:

I grew up in the church and had a heart for missions at an early age. I was as involved as a child could be in church and youth group and all that jazz. I knew I wanted to be a part of ministry so I joined every single one. From kids ministry to worship, refreshments to dance (please dont ask me to explain this one as I have pretty much blocked it out of my memory), drama to youth. It took some time to narrow down what I wanted to do and what I was called to do. When I really discovered what I was called to do, I was 17. I was on a missions trip to Mexico. I had been on missions trip to Mexico before, but this one was different. I had always done the typical reaching out to people, giving food, offering help anyways I could. However, on this trip, we visited a family that was pairing up with a local church to support them rather than come do their own thing. My entire view on missions was changed. I realized the importance of reaching people in a culturally relevant way, and that while the Gospel doesn't change, how we present it and how we reach people must. It was at this time that I felt called to reach people for the gospel by church planting. I didn't know how or where. All I knew is that I wanted to reach the unreached. Wherever there were people who had never heard the Gospel or had never been reached out to, I wanted to be there.

Trevor's Story:

Trevor grew up in the opposite way as I did. He never went to church and was never taught the Gospel. I met him when he was not saved (I'll tell that story another time). When he was in jr high, his aunt began to take him to church. She lived in the valley so he wouldn't go very often, but whenever she had the chance she would take him. He would attend youth events just for the social aspect. In the fall of 2002, he attended the Billy Graham Crusade at the Rose Bowl. And while part of the reason he actually went down when they had the alter call was simply so he could walk on that amazing field, he ended up getting saved. Shortly after, he overdosed on drugs, and truly committed to walk with the Lord since he knew his life had been spared. It was at this time he felt the call to be a pastor. From almost day one, he had felt this call on his life.


So here we are today! I chose to start this blog today because this morning Trevor and Pastor Bruce landed in Portland. They are visiting to meet with several pastors in the area to get feedback on the best place for us to church plant in Portland. Lord willing, from this visit things will be much clearer and we will have decided on an area to plant. We are planning to move up to Portland in March to plant Nexus Portland. The next two months will be a lot of preparation and job applications and house hunting! We are so excited for what God has in store. Please keep us in your prayers as we embark on this journey. Pray for provision, open doors, wisdom in our decisions, and the city of Portland.

My friend Emily made this for me for Christmas - there's a heart on each city we have lived- Camarillo and soon to be Portland. 

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Thanks for reading!

Julianne