We know, without a doubt, we are right where God has called us to be! That’s a praise! However, it’s hard. We are truly surrounded by lost, unchurched and dechurched neighbors, many of whom don’t see a “need” for Jesus. We can now call 40-50 neighbors by name and only 2 are already believers! The need is so great, it can be overwhelming. The prayers of family and friends around the world are what keeps us going, as well as the certainty of our call here for Kingdom growth purposes. Encouragement from a sweet neighbor we are getting to know never hurts, either…

James 4:7-8 continues to come to my mind and heart lately. It says, “Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you”. We are beginning to meet people from our new neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods weekly, often daily. Conversations are deepening with some, but the spiritual soil here is often rock hard, previously hurt or damaged, often never before tilled! Satan would love for us to become discouraged and grow weary in these early days, and give up on the call God has placed on our lives. But we will resist him, rebuke him in Jesus’ name, and he will have to flee! We know God called us to this neighborhood. We will not quit!
Conversations the past couple of weeks have included one who left a church in TX because evangelism was being taught and encouraged above service, even in children’s programming; one who is turned off to church and Christians because of hateful words and actions toward those of other races, religions, and lifestyle choices; and one who raised a foster child who is now an adult with a strong relationship with God, described by the former foster mom as “as bad as her ending up in prison or on the streets” because it has driven them just as far apart.
Hurt is around all of us. I’m not discouraged by it, but I am broken over it! I am drawing near to God and He is drawing near to me! I am reminded it is He Who changes hearts and lives and heals hurts! He has done it for me and I will boast in Him until all of Lowry hears and believes!!

Want to begin by saying that the kids and I are in Alabama visiting family and friends. We are having so much fun and making such great memories, all around the state. We miss Eric so much when we are apart for a time, but God has brought us generous financial provision through a holiday peak season job for Eric at FedEx, so he is staying busy driving and packing for our move to Denver. We are thankful for Gods provision, especially what many of you have sacrificially blessed us with! Thank you so much for your continued prayer and financial gifts.
This morning, I was reading Psalm 119. That chapter is full of some good stuff, y’all! I especially thought vs 89-90 jumped out at me today. These verses say, “Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast.”
We are to the point of actually packing and moving to Lowry, the neighborhood to which God has specifically called us to take His love and gospel truths. Denver as a whole is, honestly, like an unreached people group here in the US. It would be easy to think that our neighbors in Lowry need a very cool, very 2014 approach in order to accept Christ as Savior and Lord, to spend our energy trying to be “relevant” to the culture. It would be easy to worry that we won’t say or do this church planting thing “right”. These verses are a powerful reminder that Gods Word and His truths stand forever. We have spent over a year learning the culture of Colorado, while living immersed in it, which has been an invaluable experience! But, in Lowry, Gods truths will be as relevant as ever and will stand fast and will change lives! What a comfort and peace that brings me! God is gonna do it all and allow us to be a part of it. I know and believe it and that His way will be perfect and right!

Eric and I were blessed to be gifted two spots to attend the Multiply conference in Colorado Springs last weekend. We were privileged to sit under some great men of God, servants in His Kingdom in many different capacities, teaching us scriptural truths about how to make disciples and how to lead them in a way that they grow and make disciples and His Kingdom multiplies! This is our calling in Lowry, to make disciples who make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to obey what He has commanded.

The people in the Lowry neighborhood will need to see our love for Christ shine brightly in our love for them. As part of the Multiply conference, we attended small break-out sessions. The one where I learned the most and was challenged most was called, “The Art of Neighboring,” which is a book by Dave Runyon, who led this session. Jesus commands us to “love (our) neighbor as ourself” and that, of faith, hope and love, “the greatest of these is love”. You’ve likely heard the saying, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”! This is so true! We are called to love others. Perhaps Jesus meant our literal neighbors, perhaps not. We believe He has specifically called us to love a whole “neighborhood”, all 10,000+ people in Lowry! Another session I attended taught, “If we love our neighbors well, best case scenario is that a church is born out of that love!” I think I’m gonna put that challenge to our family in our home in Lowry! It’s so true! We are called “church planters” by NAMB and it is a quick, easy, truthful title for a short chat with others. However, we want to be “neighbor lovers” most of all, and if He births His church out of that great love, best case scenario!
Speaking of Lowry and neighbors, we have applied to rent a townhome there. We will find out this week if we are approved. If so, we will move and live and love in Lowry very soon! We are a perfect mix of excited and nervous! Please pray for us through this transition. Pray for that home to be ours, and to be prepared by God as a place where neighbors feel loved and welcome and hear of the great, life-changing Gospel love every time they enter! Pray also for additional partners as we prepare to leave our residency and planting gets real. We need additional individuals and churches who will pray for us and for Lowry, who will help support us financially (even $5-10/month helps so much), and/or will come be a part of life on mission with us throughout the year in Lowry! We are relying on God and we cannot do this alone. Thank you for your prayers for our neighbors. We hope you will join us in loving and serving them, and will practice the art of neighboring where you live, too!

We are in this as a family, in the shadow of the one who saved us and calls us His own!

2 Corinthians 12:10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I’m dwelling on this verse. I know my strength comes from the Lord in all things, but it isn’t easy to “take pleasure in my weaknesses…insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles”.

Each day lately, I’m leaning hard into Him and asking Him to be my strength. That way He will always be glorified when I am strong, for my flesh is weak every day.

In whatever you are feeling weak today, will you thank Him for it and ask Him to step in and be your strength?

If you read our local news, you will be reminded daily that we live in a very broken place that so desperately needs Jesus’ grace and mercy! This article is just one example from today…

http://m.krdo.com/w/feature/story/100310018/

However, in the midst of it, God is still at work and is still using us. This is a small bit of a text I received from a nurse we made a special connection with while I was inpatient after my recent emergency surgery…

“Your card and message were just what I needed, Amanda! Long story that I’ll share with you some day. Basically, I prayed in the car, on the way to work, asking God, to help me feel His love that day. You were an instrument in His hands. Thank you!”

I grieve over and pray for the brokenness all around me. I know it is everywhere, to some extent, but it’s so much more widespread out here, with way fewer committed Christians praying over it and piercing the darkness with the boldly spoken Gospel truth.

Once I was coherent enough to understand that I would be staying in the hospital for about a week, I prayed that I would “let (my) light so shine before men that they would see (my) good works and glorify my Father in Heaven,” even through my pain and lack of sleep! He did, y’all!

All around us AND YOU, there are people who don’t know the real love of God, people who have lost sight of Him and need to be led back that way, and people who know for sure they are saved, but need to be loved on by us. Pray every day that you’ll be an instrument in His hands. In this life, you WILL have trials, but TAKE HEART, for He has overcome the world! Ask the One true overcomer to dwell richly in you and use you as one of His instruments, for His glory!

Me, Amanda Sanford, speechless?!? Rare, I know!! As I sit and try to update our blog, that’s truly how I feel, though!

We spent a good bit of our day in Lowry yesterday, the neighborhood we will “soon” call home, the place of our specific call by God to live in and love on. We have been so fortunate to be introduced to a lady who lives there and has for 10 years, basically Lowrys entire existence as a neighborhood, rather than an Air Force base. She is a Christian, a lover of God and people! The insight she brings is truly a gift, confirming many things we’ve believed to be true, based on research and time spent in the area. I am still processing everything we were able to talk and pray about yesterday. She is an advocate and strong encourager for us! She wants to see a movement of God in her neighborhood and wants to be a part of our ministry in some way. She is already praying for us, like so many of you continue to.
What leaves me speechless is that she also confirms what hard ground we will live in, yet how wonderful the community of Lowry is! Lord, we pray you use us to redeem the current definition of community in Lowry and beyond. Help us and continue to prepare us to lead them into a desire for You and for abundant, eternal life, and true Biblical community.

Next weekend, we will be commissioned here in Colorado Springs, as a finale of sorts, for our time as church planting residents with the Frontline Church Planting Center. Later this month, we will participate in our formal church planter assessment with the North American Mission Board (NAMB), praying to be formally approved and “sent out” to be missionaries/church planters. This all means that our year of formal learning, monthly intensives, and assignments and training to prepare to plant a church will come to a close as of this month and that, Lord willing, we will be approved to officially be NAMB missionaries in Colorado!
Our call to plant/love/serve is specifically to a “neighborhood” of Denver called Lowry, as many of you know. Prior to our move from Alabama, and across the year we have trained/lived in Colorado Springs, God has repeatedly confirmed our call to this specific place and people!
Many of you will remember that we moved here, planning to be in Colorado Springs for one year for training, then move to Lowry immediately, on mission. Our training year will end at the end of August. However, God has presented us the unique gift of an opportunity to work for a ministry called Apartment Life when we move to Lowry, which will be an awesome platform for us to begin to build relationships with Lowry residents and for God to birth and grow a Missional community out of our home. We have completed the interview process and been approved for hire, but we are patiently and prayerfully waiting for a placement within Lowry. Because we feel this has been fully arranged by God thus far, we will wait until the placement is available, but pray it is before Christmas and are ready any day now. We will continue to live in Colorado Springs, continue to be mentored and coached, keep ministering and discipling here for now. Eric is seeking further employment here and the kids and I will begin our homeschool year next week. Though life will continue as it has been here, minus residency meetings and assignments, our hearts are still pulled toward Lowry and we long to be on the ground there, meeting needs and ministering daily.
Some days it is easy to question the delays, but God continues to make it clear that His ways are perfect, just as Psalm teaches!
In the past month, He has used His people to make known to us a single adult female, living in Lowry, who is a Christian. She described herself to Eric as just now being “ready” to see God do big things in her neighborhood and to be a part of it. She is excited to hear more about our family and our call, Journeyman Church, and our big prayers for Lowry! Just this past week, we found out that a young Christian family has recently moved to Lowry. They were formerly involved in a church plant in Oklahoma and we will be contacting them next week to see how God can unite us all for His Glory! So, even in days we see as delays, He is still going ahead of us, preparing the way for the growth of His Kingdom. Please pray we will be able to move very soon, and that God will continue to grow us and use us where we are until then!
If you are interested in specific needs individuals or groups can meet as we minister here and prepare to move, such as this recent generous gift from Courtland Baptist Church in N Alabama, please email us at eric@sanfordfamily.org or amanda@sanfordfamily.org.