Developing. Equipping. Forming. Revealing.
Developing. Equipping. Forming. Revealing. This is what God is doing in my life right now.
I often am asked “How is your program going?” and as much as I want to stop and spend hours telling everything that’s been going on, there is usually not enough time so I give the blanket answer “It’s going really well!”. It is going really well, but this is how it’s really going…
God is developing me as a leader.
He is equipping me to do the work.
He is forming my philosophy of life and ministry.
He is revealing purpose in my life.
Each week of the Residency has been different, but there have been 2 constants each week:
(1) Weekly Spiritual Growth time on Wednesday mornings where we walk through 2 devotionals together along with one of the Adult Discipleship Ministers.
(2) Weekly Leadership Seminars on Thursday mornings. So far, we have learned about church governance, the theology, philosophy and methodology of worship, church planting and revitalization, and missions and evangelism. The seminars to come include conflict management, pastoral care and counseling, personal financial management, developing and casting vision, coaching and mentoring, capital fundraising, personal and organizational power, hiring staff, and supervision and delegation, establishing church staff and culture, organizational alignment, and critical thinking.
The Missions Residents have had an opportunity to visit with and spend time learning about many of BBC’s ministry partners (see below). Our general Residency requirements include a list of core experiences we must complete before the end of the year. Some of the core experiences I have participated in include:
- Discipleship Training (2 week session). Learned about BBC’s theology, philosophy and methodology of discipleship. I was especially impressed with the aspect of partnering with parents and equipping them so that discipleship begins at home!
- Storying session (verbally communicating the stories of scripture). This is really fun!
- All Staff Meetings (once a month)
- Leadership Summit (once a quarter)
- Student Missions – Helped the Student leaders mobilize 600 students to serve in the community in one night.
- Missions Prayer Time. There is a group of people who spend almost 2 hours every Sunday praying for local, national and international missionaries. This is a powerful time!
I have also been able to observe and evaluate the worship services at 4 of Brentwood Baptist’s campuses (Woodbine, Station Hill, West Franklin and Ave South). This Sunday, I have the opportunity to observe the Deaf Church, located at the Brentwood Campus. I am excited to spend time in worship with the Deaf Church. They have a world class worship center that was featured in the Guinness Book of World Records. You should come experience it!
Finally, there is reading to be done! For my book worm friends, here is a list of the books I have read so far.
If you’ve read them or are interested in knowing what they are about, I’d love to discuss!!
If you’ve read them or are interested in knowing what they are about, I’d love to discuss!!- Running on Empty, Fil Anderson (Don’t kill yourself for the sake of ministry!)
- The Art of Neighboring, Jay Pathak & Dave Runyon (Change communities and demonstrate the love of Christ by loving your actual neighbors)
- Live Sent: You Are a Letter, Jason Dukes (Live a life on mission every day)
- Spiritual Leadership, Henry & Richard Blackaby (currently reading)
What’s next?
In the next week or so, I will identify the area of ministry I will focus on for the remainder of the Residency. What I know is that I want to spend my life in service to others. That’s kind of broad right? I know! So far, I am praying about serving in three areas:
- working alongside the Community Missions Minister at the Brentwood Campus
- working with the community missions team at the West Franklin Campus
- working with the Christian Women’s Job Corps (see CWJC below)
We’ll see how it all pans out!
So, that sums up my long update! Thank you so much for taking the time to read it!! Please continue to pray and as always, please let me know how I can be praying for you!
Prayer Requests:
- Please pray that God would reveal to me what my focus area should be. It may be a combination of all three!
- Pray for financial provision! I still have to raise 46% of my support and our medical insurance premium is going up $100/month in January.
- Pray for Nailah in her senior year. She was accepted to Columbia College Chicago!!! Praise! Pray for financial provision for her college costs as well!
- Pray for people who don’t have family to be with during this holiday season.
- Pray for the homeless! Pray for the churches offering the Room in the Inn ministry.
- Pray for people who feel like there is no hope, would know the hope that is found in Christ!
Ministry Highlight:
Brentwood Baptist’s Mobile Medical Dental Unit (MDU)
BBC has a mobile medical/dental unit they use as an evangelism tool. This is not a converted ice cream truck that hands out tooth brushes and bandaids (which is what I thought). This is a 40-foot custom built trailer with a full service dental clinic! This MDU—as it is called—reaches people in need all over Middle Tennessee with the hope of Christ while offering quality medical and dental care. The only dental service offered is tooth extraction, which is a cost-saver, but more importantly a life-saver because a bad tooth can cause lots of other medical problems including infection, and possible death. The cost for a tooth extraction can be over $100. For a person with little to no means, that is not 
affordable, or at least not a high priority. The MDU offers extractions at no cost. The MDU also has volunteer nurses, doctors and PAs who offer other medical services as well. The MDU volunteers are intentional about talking to each person who visits the MDU, learning their stories, sharing the Gospel with them and praying for them. I will have an opportunity to serve with the MDU unit this Saturday on the evangelism team!
affordable, or at least not a high priority. The MDU offers extractions at no cost. The MDU also has volunteer nurses, doctors and PAs who offer other medical services as well. The MDU volunteers are intentional about talking to each person who visits the MDU, learning their stories, sharing the Gospel with them and praying for them. I will have an opportunity to serve with the MDU unit this Saturday on the evangelism team!To learn more about the MDU, visit http://medicaldentalunit.com.
I wish I could highlight all the ministries I have visited; there is so much good work happening here in Nashville! Maybe I’ll write about them as the weeks go by. For now, here is a listing of the ministries I have visited in case you are interested (descriptions provided by BBC Missions Department):
Sweet Sleep – provide beds to the world’s orphaned and abandoned children, demonstrating God’s love for them and improving their quality of life.
Video: https://youtu.be/Yo1VAw5ku8Y
World Relief Nashville – embraces refugees who have been forced to leave their countries by meeting their physical, relational, and spiritual needs.
watch this video to learn a little more about what World Relief is doing to help refugees. I hope it would give you a new perspective on the needs of refugees in America
CWJC – provides a faith-based adult educational program (GED, English classes, computer classes) and life-changing community (Bible study, mentorship) to individuals living on salaries below living wage.
Video: https://youtu.be/4xpH6CvCqkk
The Next Door – provides a continuum of evidence based services for women and their families impacted by addiction, mental illness, trauma and/or incarceration with Christ-centered compassionate care.
Video: https://vimeo.com/142641326
Siloam – cares for the uninsured in Middle Tennessee by providing affordable, whole-person care that addresses the physical, emotional, spiritual, and social aspects of health.
Having lunch with the guys at Set Free
Set Free Church – church start reaching out to the homeless, addicted and disenfranchised in the shadow of LP Field.
Testimony: https://youtu.be/csFJksS2hDs
Video: https://youtu.be/N4mp7zybEYo
Project615 – raises awareness for the homeless community in Nashville.
Hope Clinic for Women – equipping women, men, and families to deal with unplanned pregnancies, prevention, pregnancy loss and postpartum depression.
Mission Increase Foundation – provides support and training for nonprofit ministries.
Modest Musings 