Now What?

So, now what's next???

This is what we know for now.

We are no longer following the vision we had in the beginning - becoming a church that meets in a shopping mall - in our case, the Block at Orange. In the beginning it was a vision that I was introduced to by the outside organization that was willing to support us, and even though I once thought it was a right match with me and the core group of people who have been gathering around me, now it is apparent now that it was simply a mismatch. To give an example, out of the 20-30 people who have gathered to be part of the church, no one really lived close by the Block at Orange or considered it as their own community. Just looking at the people we now have, it's clear God has brought us for something other than ministering to the community at and around the Block at Orange.

Now the question is, if not for a vision to start a church at the Block, then for what is God bringing us together? Upon much prayer and reflection, the obvious reason seems to be something about our multicultural makeup. You see, we really had 2 major visions for our church. One was to become a "Mall church" and the other was to become a "Multicultural church". In the beginning we thought we could pursue these two visions concurrently, but now it seems clear that God wants us to focus on one over the other. And, the main one for us is to build a multicultural community of God, and if it doesn't happen to be at a mall.

So, we are no longer meeting at the Doubletree Hotel right next to the Block. There really is no reason for that anymore. For the month of December we are meeting at people's home - for more intimate fellowship and prayer. And, we will start meeting at an office space in Santa Fe Spring in January - while continuously looking for a more permanent place. As of now, we aren't completely sure of exactly which city, but it seems like God is moving away from central Orange County to somewhere in South LA county.

And, our overall vision? Becoming a church for many ethnic groups in LA that need churches. The Korean community, which I'm personally part of, has a lot of large and growing churches. But, some other ethnic groups, such as Indonesian, Malaysian, Vietnamese, and many Middle Easterners, do not have healthy growing churches to go to. Whether they are the first generation immigrants from these countries or their second generation children, they are in need of a lot of outreach and ministry. And, our church seeks to minister to them as best as we can. And, I believe the people God has already brought amongst us - from those countries mentioned above - are for this very reason. How wonderful it would be to redeem, equip, and send new followers of Christ from these largely unreached ethnic groups into the ends of the earth!

With this new vision, the numerical growth of our church might be slow. But, now that we are completely on our own - apart from any expectation and goals from outside, we believe all we need to do is simply be faithful to what God has called us to do. As I'm writing this, I'm being blessed by God in my spirit with a new ounce of joy and faith! May the Lord nurture and multiply this mustard-seed faith in us!

Lord, you are my Lord, and the Lord of our church! Be glorified!