plant and run
anybody wanna buy a house?
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So our NOLA house has been on the market for about two months now with nary a bite. Sad. Not worried…just a little concerned since our moving date is creeping closer. I we have done some price adjustments recently and I feed a lot better about things. We have a nice cozy house…in an amazing location…if you only want two bedrooms. Most people want [need?] three or more bedrooms. Most houses are three or more bedrooms [including most of the comps we ran]. We just need to find the right person and we are confident our house will sell.
Anyway, perhaps you are wondering, “why are they selling their house when they are moving back to NOLA in 10 months?”
That, my friend, is a great question.
We want to plant a church that is squarely focused on restoring the neighborho0ds of Gentilly. It will be hard for us to help lead said church if we don’t live in that area. It will be difficult to shepherd people who are rebuilding their homes and lives from the high and dry Westbank.
Don’t get me wrong, we love the Westbank. We have really enjoyed our time on this side of the River. For this chapter of our lives, God is beckoning us to Gentilly.
Of course, all that is contingent on our house selling. At some point, we might have to shift to plan B…namely renting our house. That might mean that come next May, we have no choice but to move back into our same home in Algiers.
I guess God will have to take care of that. We are trusting Him to sell our house.
Just Courage
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I sat down this morning at PJs and read Just Courage by Gary Haugen. 
Amazing book. I’m gonna have each student going on our Summer Wilderness Adventure trip read it. If you don’t know who Gary Haugen is, he runs an organization called the International Justice Mission. Get to know them.
Anyway, [bear with me] I wanted to share with you a portion of the first chapter. Really great story/metaphor:
…on this particular summer day I didn’t want to go on. We had been walking with hordes of tourists along the gentle asphalt trails outside the Paradise visitor’s center, admiring and naming the fabulous wildflowers. At the top of the meadow trails, however, the paved trail ended and a large warning sign indicated the beginning of the trail used by climbers on their way to the summit. With a text undoubtedly drafted by lawyers, the sign warned of every conceivable horror that awaited those who ventured beyond. I wasn’t feeling particularly tired, but my little stomach ached as I looked up at the massive rock formations and snow fields that went up and up and up. My dad suggested we try to reach Camp Muir, the base camp used by climbers headed for the summit, and my brothers eagerly accepted. Dad assured me I could make it, that he would help me and that the view and the triumph would be more than worth the effort—and that it would be marvelous to do together. I however, was thinking that we ought to pay more attention to the lawyers who took the time to make that nice sign. After all, all manner of things could go wrong. What if Dad is wrong and I can’t make it? It will be so humiliating to be the one who needs help again. And what if Dad doesn’t even know the way up there? What if it becomes too aggravating for him to help me, and I get stuck? With these mounting anxieties beating in my little chest, I responded the only way a ten-year-old can to such a proposition and simply said: “No. That looks boring.” Instead, I suggested, I’d like to hang out at the visitor’s center. Indeed, the Paradise meadow had a huge and magnificent visitor’s center with exhibits and video displays about the wildlife, the history of the mountain, the drama of those who had tried to climb it, and even a wildflower quiz for kids that I was sure I could win. Dad tried a few more times to woo me up the mountain and explained that it would be a long day by myself at the visitor’s center while he and my brothers were climbing, but eventually he relented. I scurried back down to the visitor’s center and was quite pleased with myself while they headed up the mountain. The visitor center was warm and comfortable, with lots of interesting things to watch and read. I devoured the information and explored every corner, and judging by the crowd, it was clearly the place to be. As the afternoon stretched on, however, the massive visitor’s center started to feel awfully small. The warm air felt stuffy, and the stuffed wild animals started to seem just—dead. The inspiring loop videos about extraordinary people who climbed the mountain weren’t as interesting the sixth and seventh times, and they made me wish I could be one of those actually climbing the mountain instead of reading about it. I felt bored, sleepy and small—and I missed my dad. I was totally stuck. Totally safe—but totally stuck.He goes on to say: Likewise, it is my sense that many Christians are starting to suspect that they are stuck at the visitor’s center. They suspect that they are traveling with Jesus but missing the adventure.
Yes! That is it. What a great image. I am tired of living my faith the same safe way that I always have. I’m ready to stick my neck out there and see if He can use me. I’d love for you to step out into the darkness with us and see if we can shine some light onto these dark French Quarter streets.
5k training
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I mentioned in my last post that I was going to adjust my training for the summer. Starting this past Monday, I’m using Runner’s World’s Smart Coach to crunch my numbers and spit out a training schedule. I’ll follow this until the Spillway Run and figure it out from there.
it is June in NOLA…
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Yeah, remember when I said that NOLA heat is preferable to Texas heat? Yeah. Well that was a pretty dumb thing to say. I don’t know what I was thinking.
It is hot in NOLA and I was reminded of that yesterday around noon.
Even in high school [while running Track and Cross Country], I wasn’t a year-round runner. So adjusting to seasons is a new experience for me. I’ve decided that my summer strategy is to decrease mileage, increase speed and work on my 5K time. I plan on trying on the Spillway Classic this year. That will be a good target for my training.
A day at the Rock/h[s]
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Back in the NOLA. Alf is here to spend a couple of days primarily focused on his new house. While he is in town, though, we figured we would spend at least a couple of hours doing some factfinding.
Alf's new house
NOLA is a unique city. Yeah, everyone knows about the Quarter and the food and the jazz. That makes it unique but that is not what I mean exactly…although that is part of it. It’s bigger than the weirdness that a tourist observes on the surface of the city.
The culture of New Orleans is cut from a foreign fabric. It’s complicated. It was French and then Spanish and then French and then American. It is a port city with all of the ethnic influence that comes with. It is Catholic in a Belt of Protestantism. It is supersititious. It is gumbo incarnated.
and then there was this storm.
The status quo just doesn’t fly here. If you wanna dig deep into the souls of New Orleanians, you can’t just franchise any old successful church model from another city. It just doesn’t work that way here.
So as we begin blueprinting a church for Gentilly, we are thankful for model churches around the US, but we know that we need to learn from the guys that are swinging here in NOLA.
On Tuesday, that led us to the Rock/hs.
St. Roch Community Church is focused on the St. Roch community that is due South of Gentilly. Ben, their Community Development Pastor was kind enough to show us around and tell us their story. What struck me the most was the fact that they know their turf. They know it really well. They have taken the time to understand the unique needs of their immediate neighborhood and they are intent on changing it. It will take things like: mentoring a couple dozen teenagers to follow Christ and go to college, moving two families away from predatory landlords and into their own homes, and doing tax returns.
Do that for 25 years and you’ll begin to overcome generations of poverty for Jesus.
The second church we visited was Castle Rock Community Church. We met with John [Pastor] and Laura [Development Director]. It was really cool to see a church that is a little older [pre-dates Katrina] and kinda in the next developmental stage. Their turf is Central City. We talked a lot about the complications that come with a church that has developed into a place where a people from diverse backgrounds have ownership and are in leadership. It is a beautiful problem to have.
Some overall impressions from these two meetings:
-We need to focus on Gentilly. New Orleans will only be changed by mission outposts that focus on bringing Jesus to their immediate neighborhoods. If only we had one of these in each area of the city…
-We need to be in this for the long haul. Don’t get me wrong, St. Roch and Central City are both very different neighborhoods than Gentilly. But I don’t want to have rose-colored glasses and pretend that this will be easy.
-Being native New Orleanians isn’t enough. We can’t assume that just because we grew up here means that we are experts. It doesn’t mean that we aren’t missionaries.
-So we need these guys. We want to be their friends and hang out with them. All too often churches in New Orleans are struggling to stay alive and don’t cooperate too well. We want to know their struggles and we want them to know ours.
-It is friggin’ exciting to see concretely where we hope to be in a couple of years. I’m so dang excited.
Okay, I’ll stop typing now. If you are still reading, thanks for your patience while Doug rambles yet again.
Allen Heat 5K
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Just ran my second run here in Allen, TX to a park near the Brechner’s house. It was hot. I don’t miss the Texas heat. I think I prefer New Orleans where the heat doesn’t beat down on you. It is in the 90s. I guess June is here…
DFW
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So, I’m in DFW with Lawrence and Alf and it has been a great trip thus far.
The hilights include:
- -Meeting with Glen Brechner and John Stanley at Chase Oaks to talk about the vision of the church plant. It was really great to hear John [Community Impact Pastor] talk about the impact NOLA trips has had on their body. We are excited to see how our partnership with them will continue and deepen.
- -Staying with the Brechner’s. Haven’t seen them since I left Dallas 7 years ago. Their life has changed as Glen has taken on new responsiblities at the church and their children are now teenagers. I’ve enjoyed hanging with their kids. I am gonna miss being a youth pastor.
- -I met Damien [my brother] and Trey Backes [friend from high school] for lunch at Cafe Brazil [i miss that place]. They both live in the Dallas area. I haven’t seen Trey since high school. We were on the cross country team together. Trey was a BEAST back then. Now he runs…oh…about 3 marathons a year. He told me about Team in Training. Looks pretty cool. I’m gonna check it out, especially for while I’m in Little Rock. He told us lots of running stories. My fav had to be his experience as a guy running the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco.
- -We visited DTS. It really didn’t look that different. My favorite moment was walking into the student center and it still having the same musty smell it did 10 years ago. It is funny how your memory is linked to your sensory experience. That was probably the most nostalgic moment of the trip. Lawrence [my suga daddy] bought me a new book to read from the DTS bookstore. yay.
- -Speaking of books, Alf and I checked out the massive Half Price Books store that was right next to where we both used to live in Dallas. I bought some used books this time around.
- -Attended the Friday night service at Chase Oaks. Glen took us on a tour of their new building. I was impressed. The building is really nice. I was afraid it would just be too much and that would [honestly] turn me off. It was intentional, focused, simple.
- -This morning we had breakfast with Jay O’Brien. He will be in the FA residency program with me and is planning on planting in Columbus, OH. Great guy. I am looking forward to hanging out with him in Little Rock. We ate at the Original Pancake House. Another place I miss.
- -Lunch was with Kenny & Allison Courtenay. They are former Bereanites who now live in the area. Kenny works for Stonebriar in Frisco doing graphic design. He offers to lend us his sweet skills to help us out. Yay. It was great to catch up with them and to hear some good feedback from some natives that have intimate knowledge of where we will be planting.
So, our big meeting with the Chase Oaks folks is tomorrow [Sunday] morning at 11 am in the Legacy Room [their large adult meeting room]. If you live in the metroplex, we would love for you to come by. If not, please pray for us.
Johnson City
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So it is Wed morning and I am typing this from “Camp Nelson” [the little two bedroom cottage that Alf and Aly are living in temporarily before the move to New Orleans]. We are having a great time. We spoke last night to a group of approximately 40 people that Alf is connected with here in Johnson City. The meeting was all about sharing with them the vision for the church plant.
It went really well. It was a momentous occasion for us to see this vision that God has given us out in the atmosphere as it literally infected a room of people. Wow. Some days you think your insane for thinking this whole thing can really happen. Last night was one of those moments that God used to confirm to us that we aren’t [t00] crazy.
We do it all over again tonight for more of Alf’s friends. Yay.
Well, I’m off for a run around Johnson City. My plan is to run a 10k…
