When You Are Draining the Swamp

Recently, on an online forum of pastors - an intimate group - I was led (by what or who I am not sure) to publicly state what I would love to see happen here at New Hope. My friends there are all men who have put a lot on the line to follow Jesus. I value, love, and trust them. And when they read what I had written, they got all excited for my "vision".

Then I wrote, "but it isn't going to happen." And all heck broke loose.

Since then, I've been pitied, prodded, questioned and one friend even wrote and asked "you okay?"

One fellow even worried about me spiraling down into inactivity. I laughed out loud when I read that. Here's the idea that got me pounded:

I think it is a "vision thing." Hadn't really given it much thought. When I came here, I drove into the parking lot and saw a Little League field 50 ft away, and an elementary school 300 ft away. So I figured we should try to grow through reaching kids and partnering with those guys.

Then as we did, we had neighborhood kids coming by the dozen - walking or riding bikes. We'll have 3-5 bicycles outside most any time. I really saw New Hope as a neighborhood church.

Valparaiso is about 1800 homes. Eglin AFB is snug against it. Then Niceville FL with maybe 8000-12000 homes borders us on the other side.

Niceville is covered with churches. 2 of them run 1000, one 2500 and a bunch of 150s. Breakout is 25% Baptist, 25% UMC, 25% Catholic and 25% nondenom. Probably 40% of the people would fall into one of those once a month.

Valparaiso is forgotten territory - that place you drive through on your way to somewhere else. Older homes, income level is less. AF Officers live in Niceville or Bluewater Bay, enlisted men with families live in Valparaiso or drive 30 minutes north to Crestview. There's no gym here, no HS here - that's in Niceville.

So my vision (pitiful though it is) really is to reach into Valparaiso's homes and help people find the Savior and through Him find real life.

If we moved, we'd lose kids. Then we'd lose the "door" they provide to their parents. Some of the kids we started with seven years ago are really coming along in their walk with Jesus.

If I had unlimited funds, I'd build a multipurpose building on our present property, and buy a coffeehouse that's for sale down the street. We'd open the multipurpose building to the community - call it the Valparaiso Community Life Center. And we'd have large group worship there. The coffee house would be our base of operations and provide office space and small group and intimate worship space. Those are big dreams for us and wholly impossible at present. But it's what I can see.

Neither location is in a great location. The coffee shop is just off the main drag and visible from it. We're only on Valparaiso's main street which isn't used by most. But I would probably not move away from our ministry's heart. Unless God thumps me.

So I was saying that my goal was changed lives. To reach into the homes through the kids and partnerships with the networks around us. Then I mentioned "If I had unlimited funds..." and the natives went nuts. They seized that last two paragraphs and got excited - overly excited.

So I wrote, "Vision and reality are not always friends."

And the pounding began.

Yet the reality is that we cannot at this time even seriously contemplate such a dream. We're 200K in debt, only own 2.5 acres, have no worship leader and are thin everywhere else. Land here is $100K an acre when you can get someone to sell it, which is hard considering two families own almost all of it that hasn't been developed.

So am I faithless, a coward for not aggressively pursuing the idea?

No. I just don't have time to waste when people are in danger all around me. If I fixate on buildings, I'll lose the focus on changed lives. It's sort of like the old adage, "It's hard to remember your objective was to drain the swamp when you are up to your armpits in alligators."

If through that God gives me the opportunity to see my idea come to fruition, I'll leap at the chance. But right now, I'm building... people.