Pumpkin Carving Contest (After)

Contest Pumpkins (Winner on right)

Yesterday we had our first neighborhood get together.  We had nine people attend from the area.  As you can see from the picture we had five pumpkins carved and entered in our contest and a good amount of conversation with those who attended.  The attenders were an older couple who attend a local church and were very hospitable to Reagan and I when we were passing out invitations, an across the street neighbor that works with a para-church organization, the next door couple, their son and his two children, and a single middle aged man, who was kind enough to bring us some pumpkin bread after our invitation to attend the pumpkin carving.  Three of the nine attend church on a regular basis, while two of them have had bad experiences in church and they are currently not attending because of it.  The others do not attend church and are mostly indifferent to the idea of church.  The latter two opinions of the church are the most prevalent here.  It is our prayer that, this year, we can help repair their view of the bride of Christ.

Pumpkin Carving Contest (Before)

In response to one of the biggest needs in our neighborhood, lack of community, tomorrow we will be hosting a Pumpkin Carving Contest in our driveway. We invited four streets worth of people to come and carve pumpkins, meet the neighbors, and have a good time together. Pray that we have people come out, that the weather is warm enough (right now it is projected to be 59 degrees), and that we are able to begin building relationships with our neighbors that will lead to spiritual conversations. Tomorrow night, I will post about the Pumpkin Carving Contest once it is complete.

50 Days and Counting…

This past Sunday marked our 50th day on the ground in Colorado Springs. Granted, several of those were mostly wandering to learn the lay of the land and unpacking to settle into our new home. However, to think of all we have learned, experienced, and wrestled with in just 50 days is phenomenal and leaves us great excitement and anticipation of the remainder of our time here and our future time planting in Denver.
Though we are only in Colorado Springs for one year, we want to be open to any way God wants to use us. We have been given a burden for our neighborhood. When we took baked goods around door to door, meeting neighbors, we quickly learned there is no sense of community in the immediate area of our home, yet quite a few people were open to conversation and invited us in. We see potential for building a strong sense of community here and building strong relationships that will thrive and exist even after we move again. We want to share Christ with our neighborhood and believe it begins with getting to know them, helping them get to know each other, and being genuine in our love and care for them.
Pray for us and for our neighbors, please. Pray God will be our focus and guide, pray His Word will be on our lips and His love behind our actions. Pray we won’t be ashamed of the Gospel. Pray our neighbors will be receptive and willing to meet others, hang out, and hear Truth. Pray other Christians  will be revealed to us and have the same harvest mission.
Specifically, we will be hosting a Pumpkin Carving and Contest on our driveway on Sunday, Oct 28 @ 3 pm. The previous Sunday, 10/21, we will be inviting neighbors and distributing invitations to those not home. We have also entered a Missional Giveaway, requesting funds to jump start a Community Supper Club twice a month in our home, meeting neighbors and connecting those with similar interests. Even if we are not chosen to receive funding for this (decision will be announced Nov 3), we still plan to begin this in Nov, using some of the funds many of you are providing. Pray for these “events” and others God may prompt us to coordinate. May God be glorified in all we say and do and may we do these “as unto the Lord”.
God is good, all the time…all the time, God is good!!

You’re not from around here, are you?

One of the biggest tasks that we face here is becoming indigenous.  Right now our car tags, driver’s license, souther drawl and cell phone numbers give us away.  But, within the next year, we hope to be seen as a family residing in Colorado.  Our goal is not to bring southern culture, spirituality, and cuisine to the west, but to become westerners for the Gospel.  We are spending time out in the community and region, learning with each trip out of the driveway.  For us, this year is just as much about learning the people as it is learning about the nuts and bolts of church planting.  Part of this learning happens in the neighborhood we will plant in, but a lot of it can happen just minutes from our house.

Speaking of learning, we had our second weekend learning intensive, Cultivate, last weekend.  This session focused on developing healthy leaders and churches.  If the leadership is not healthy, the church will not be either.  We looked at symptoms of burnout and how to avoid it, as well as talked about some practical ways to remain healthy through the stress and pressure of ministry.  So far we are sponges, soaking up the lessons coming our way, but we are also looking for areas to be wrung out so we don’t sour.

All of this learning, whether relational, experiential, or formal, will hopefully lead to us planting a healthy church that will impact the neighborhood, city, state, nation and world.  We are thankful for the opportunity to follow God as He leads.

God At Work

Many prayers have been lifted up by us and on our behalf, praying for God to be at work here in Colorado Springs. Just wanted you to know He is!!! How? Well, I’m so glad you asked!! 🙂
Just after we followed a prompting of the Holy Spirit last weekend and went door to door meeting neighbors, relationships began to develop. Our next door neighbor came and brought us fresh veggies from his garden, as he closes it to end the season…another opportunity to chat, show thankfulness, be blessed and be a blessing! Coupons and samples of baby formula arrived in our mailbox, addressed to a former renter, and I was able to deliver them and a few other baby goodies to the expectant mom behind us whose husband is deployed. This time we talked longer, specifically about why we moved here, and she is intrigued by the Gospel in us, joy yet a believer! Also, while walking one of our dogs, Eric met a neighbor across the road (area not yet canvassed) and he is a believer, employed by a parachurch organization, active in a church here…praying he will help in reaching out and ministering to our neighborhood! We may host a fall gathering outside in the next few weeks…pray God will orchestrate that as only He could’ve orchestrated these other interactions!
Also, as many of you know, our contract on our house in Demopolis fell through after we settled into our home here. Financially, that is discouraging, but God continues to provide through many of you. We are still certain He has a PERFECT plan, as His Word tells us, and we are trusting in that plan! We’ve had a couple of calls about our house, one to schedule a showing, in the last couple of days! He knows our buyer by name and He strengthens our faith with each month we trust Him for provision!
Speaking of provision, you can make a tax deductible donation toward our life and ministry in CO if the Lord leads. You can mail a check to Vanguard Church, c/o Church Planting, 3950 N Academy Blvd, Colorado Springs, CO 80917. Just be sure to note “Sanford Family” on memo line, please! Also, online giving is now set up for one time and monthly recurring donations. Just visit https://vanguardchurch.ccbchurch.org/login.php, enter your first and last name and email address, and our receptionist, Andrea, will send you login info. You can give with a debit or credit card on the secure site, even choosing when $ will be drafted. Thank you to so many of you who have given so generously and sacrificially. You are a huge part of what is happening here! You can still sign up to pray with us and receive our monthly prayer updates…just email us at eric@sanfordfamily.org and we will add you. Prayer is vital for this journey and we are grateful for over 100 current prayer partners!
Another opportunity God provided this past weekend was for Eric to be able to bring 3 men from a local rescue mission to Vanguard for Sat night worship. We were privileged to meet them, hear their stories, and introduce them to our church family. God is at work in these 3 lives. Pray for strength and victory over addiction, salvation and/or spiritual growth. A lady we met at the block party a couple of weeks ago was in the Sat night service the past 2 weekends. She asked many questions of us at the block party and she and I talked again this weekend. She is searching. Pray God will be evident to her and she will respond to the Holy Spirit’s gentle nudge in her heart and life.
Provisions and opportunities abound…may we never cease to be full of praise, giving God the Glory and being filled with His Word and His Spirit, so we may overflow into others. May God guard us and guide us so our lives may be a pure example of Him to these He continues to bring into our paths. We covet your continued prayers that we are being obedient and that our lives and service are God-honoring!!