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Got to speak at CIY again last night in Cleveland, Tennessee.  Great night.  This time the Greg Frazee Band was leading worship and they did a phenomenal job — come out of a church back here in Indiana.  Nate Karnes was conference director again and I’m just super-impressed with that guy.

Cool thing after I spoke I ran into an old Suncrest friend who was there with her church from Indy — Sandy Jenkins.  It was great to see her and talk about how God has been working in her life and how Suncrest has grown so much since she moved.

So, I’m up at 4:30 this morning to fly from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Manchester, New Hampshire.  Ironically, I have a layover at O’Hare in Chicago (where I am now).  I have the pleasure of sitting here another 4 hours before getting on the next flight to Manchester.  Apparently a plane ran off the runway last night and damaged sensors on a runway — and they just announced that though they have 120 flights scheduled to land each hour, they are currently only able to do 40!  I hope it is only 4 hours…

So, I was in line to buy a newspaper in the terminal and ran into another friend from college — Nathan Horn.  He and his wife are on their way to New York City for a Mission trip.  Cool Stuff.

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I’ve been married to my wife Suelene for 28 years and we have one daughter, Rachel.  Rachel and her husband Anthony live in Merrillville and are involved with the East Campus launch.  I’m the Director of Community Relations and Marketing at Hospice of the Calumet Area and Suelene works as a legal assistant at Unterberg & Associates in Merrillville.  In February we adopted our newest addition, Dottie (look close at the photo), an 8 year old miniature from North American Dachshund Rescue.

Our family has been coming to Suncrest from nearly the beginning. We had been attending another area church when Suelene attended Suncrest’s first public worship as a show of support.  When she came home she was so excited.  My daughter, Rachel and I attended the second week and our family has been here ever since.

My biggest spiritual influence has been my wife.  Even though I was raised with Christian values (it wasn’t until I began going to church that I realized my mother often quoted scripture), our family never attended church.  I began to attend when Suelene and I were dating, and although it took me eight years to accept Christ, my wife never pressured me.  When I hear the term “Godly Woman”, I think of her.  I’m continually amazed at the impact she’s had on others and I strive for the relationship with Christ that she has.

I believe in Suncrest’s mission because it’s biblical.  Suncrest is a place where you can feel comfortable about inviting friends and family in order for them to either meet Christ for the first time or build upon an existing relationship.  That outward focus and passion for people has been a core value from the beginning, and isn’t limited to Northwest Indiana, but is invested in new churches both nationally and internationally.

On a personal note, I recently began a new hobby.  For my “Big 5-0”, Suelene gave me an SLR digital camera which gets me out of the house looking for the “ultimate shot”.  I’ve been fortunate to begin getting some of them published in various venues. 

Something that few know about me is that I was struck by lightening when I was 10 years old…which probably explains a lot!

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I know this sounds crazy, but for 4 weeks in the summer, our elders at the church ask me not to reply to email. 

It’s actually not just that, they bless me with 4 weeks to disengage from the day-to-day activity of our church so I can focus on the bigger picture of things and put myself in settings to experience personal renewal through Jesus, my family…and maybe even a golf course.

So, until August 11, I won’t be doing email.  If you need assistance, we have many capable people on our church staff (219-365-9000).

In case of emergency, my assistant Cindy Barker does know how to reach me or you can just call my cell phone which is 123-456-7890. 

Seriously…you didn’t really think I was really giving that out, did you?

Love ya…and see you in August (Unless you read this blog and then you’ll get regular updates).

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I have been married to my wife Karen for 28 years and we have four children.  Our two eldest (Brandyn and Christopher) are getting married this summer.  Casey will be a sophomore at IPFW this year and Geoff will be a senior at Lake Central.  We are soccer junkies….with all three boys playing the ‘beautiful game.’  (This adjective used to counter a comment once used by Jim Williams of Suncrest who said soccer watching was like “watching paint dry!”)   I am a school psychologist with the School City of Hammond and Karen is a guidance counselor at Lake Central.  

Karen and I have attended Suncrest since the church’s first year in 1994.  We were attending Southside Christian in Munster for many years but lived in Schererville and were excited when John Wasem took the initiative, with the partnership of our church planting association (CDEA), to found Suncrest in St John.  Finally!!

I grew up in a Christian home and had many positive role models through my church and during my college years at Taylor University.  My parents were my most positive influences.  My mother, now deceased, had a great sense of humor and love for children as she used puppetry as a tool in our church and as a librarian.  My father, still active at a Wesleyan church in Western New York, has often used the quote from St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”  Aside from teaching and his involvement in small groups, he and his retired friends still do volunteer work in the community and the church.      

I recall John Wasem using a warning of not ‘cocooning’ or becoming too interested in the comforts of our own church at Suncrest.  We have done the very opposite which, I believe, is true to the Great Commission.  We are an outward reaching church with ties to our community and world missions in bringing God’s message to others through words and our actions.

Few may know that I have an identical twin, Scott, who lives in New York.  There is a little extra ‘zip’ in our relationship when we get together, having shared similar friends and memories.  The local paper usually mixed our names in sports photos and I once convinced his oldest daughter (now 28 ) I was her ‘real’ dad when visiting as she was a toddler.  Scott was never able to pull that off since our appearances changed as we have aged (gracefully, I hope!). 

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I’ve been reflecting on a couple of intangibles about suncrest lately.  One-on-one with some staff.  With the elders last night.  With a couple other pastors in the area last month.  Here’s something I dream about…

Even though Suncrest is getting bigger and older, how do we keep it feeling younger and smaller?  Younger and smaller to me feels fresh, nimble, flexible, more relational than corporate, and (this is the big one) full of people who exist/serve for the cause, not for a position or a paycheck.

Here’s what hit me last night…an AMAZING percentage of people on our ministry staff team joined the team and served for a some time either for free or by working full time for a part time wage or by raising their own financial support or by volunteering altogether without pay.  Here’s the list of 9 (75% of the team) who have joined up with us sacrificially in this way because of the mission:

Sue Hertzfeldt

(Me)

David Vineyard

Mary Beth Stockdale

Scott Coons

Mike Moseng

Kevin Richardson

Julie Coons

Patti Richardson

So…maybe it is possible that with this type of DNA in us, we can be different from at least the “stereotype” of corporate mega-church.  I think the multi-site approach helps with this as well…always something new and mission-driven to launch, always creating smaller communities instead of the big show at the big church, etc.

Or maybe we are just saying…if you want to work at Suncrest, do it for free first and never expect to make much money. 🙂

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Big “vision-casting” is necessary for motivating people and creating positive momentum, but nothing great was ever done with just someone simply dreaming about the future. 

That’s why I love this season of our East Campus launch.  We cast a big vision in February, recruited a crowd of interested people in March and April (120 of us!), and got excited about a special offering to fund it in May and June (over $100,000 given so far).  That was all large group vision-casting.

But July, August and September is all about hitting the streets and getting the job done.  These things will be the real difference makers.  Doug and his east campus staff are finalizing leadership roles, filling the matrix and doing grassroots community events.  Among the first of these was a huge success — walking in the Hobart 4th of July parade.  Click here for a more complete Recap on the east campus blog.  Great job, team!

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I typed that title at first speaking of the idea we got back home to our house tonight after a long weekend away.  I guess it also fits that we went “Back Home” for our trip.  Jenny and I grew up 10 minutes from each other so we spent the holiday weekend with lots of family.  I love that.

Couple other cool things…

I got to speak at the church I grew up in on Sunday (pictured).  The people of that church have shaped my life in so many ways.  I got to spend about 90 minutes with their current minister on Friday morning.  He’s a really good guy and just 2 years out of college.  I know how thankful I was that guys who had a little ministry under their belt would give me some of their time when I was right out of school so I’m glad I could connect with him in that way.  Our time was meaningful to me and I hope to him as well.

I got to see my dad.  Please pray for him.  These last 2 weeks have been extremely challenging physically.  Still no nausea, but the fatigue has knocked him back.  He’s a trooper and he still made it to my nephew’s birthday party Saturday night and Abby’s party Sunday night.

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First, I felt like the 9:30 and 11:00 services went much better than 8:00.  Same content, but the presentation at 8:00 felt like it lacked flow and maybe focus.  I changed some things after 1^st service, included the story about the restaurant 4 year old for humor, etc.  Anyway, I did not feel good about 8:00, but overall I did about 9:30 and 11:00.

It was really challenging to me to look at faces while I preached it.  I’d look at one face —  a lady in our church whose daughter came out of nursing to be a leader in the pro-life movement in Illinois — and I felt like I should be harder on Barack, particularly about his well documented position on the abortion issue .  Her daughter has given her life to a cause that Obama has taken extreme positions against (not only abortion, but partial birth abortion and legislation called “Born Alive Infant Protection Act“).  When I’d see her face, I’d think “Shouldn’t I be more definitive about this?”

I’d also look at the face of someone who I know is coming to our church, but not yet even a Christ follower.  He is a spiritual seeker and I would think to myself…the moment he sniffs out our church taking “political” positions could be the same moment he gives up on this church as a place he can trust to help him walk toward Christ with no ancillary agenda.  When I’d see his face, I’d think, “Shouldn’t I avoid political perceptions if it might cost his journey toward Jesus?”

Personally, I felt like the sermon was kind of boring.  Nothing surprising or shocking or super-insightful.  Safe.  Which might have been the best choice, but one I don’t really resonate with.

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…and we get a lot done at them.

We had a 1 day staff retreat today.  We do 3 of these a year and 1 that is a Sunday through Tuesday.  Today we spent the day at the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City.  Seem odd?  To me it was perfect for a few reasons.

1.  Got to get away from the church for these.  ANY place is better than the same room you always meet in.

2.  I love going places where you get to experience the real life of your customers/target audience.  Since we are serious about reaching people who don’t go to church, what better place than a casino?

3.  I’m always looking for something interactive we can do.  (No, we did not hit the slots.)  One of our elders (Gordon Barker) actually is the Senior Project Manager for Walsh Construction as they build a $90 million hotel on the site.  Today, we spent a couple hours between getting an awesome behind the scenes tour of the construction site and some real-life leadership lessons from Gordon’s experience.  He also got  us a free conference room and a big discount on lunch.  Thanks, Gordon!

We’ve been intentionally adding fun and interactive elements to our retreats for almost two years.  We’ve done a tour of Fair Oaks Farm, we’ve done some trap shooting, we eat at great places.  On top of being great team-building experiences, I think there are lessons to learn in almost everything and I think it adds anticipation to our staff.  I usually don’t tell them where we are going and they are constantly trying to get clues from me or my assistant.

One last thing…best lesson I learned in the last 3 years on staff retreats was to put them on the calendars even when you don’t have an agenda yet.  Many times we waited to schedule them until we needed them and it would be a month or 2 before you could coordinate everyone’s schedule.  When you have them on the calendar every few months, it’s amazing how the main things you need to spend some team-time on naturally intersect.

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Of all the “one-time” things you could do to follow Christ more closely, can I recommend taking a mission trip?

I got two emails over the weekend from people in our church who went on the trips.  I’ll include one letter below and we’ll probably hear about the other one on a Sunday soon.  Here’s why I think they are so powerful.

1.  There is bound to be something you experience that you don’t think you can handle. And you find out you can…with God’s help.

2.  You have to humble yourself to ask people to support you.  Don’t just pay it out of your pocket.  Asking others for support is part of the growth experience.

3.  You come back with a bigger God because you experienced new parts of his world.

4.  You realize how stinking rich we all are.

5.  It becomes SO obvious that we get some basic things about life wrong.  Hit me when I read the letter below about relationships.

6.  You will probably pray a lot more.

7.  Every single time…you go to help others and you are the one who comes back changed.

Here’s the letter from Jack Goldsberry who just got back from Africa…shared with his permission.

Dear Friends and Family,

            Wow! I don’t even know where to begin. I guess first I’ll tell you a little bit about Uganda, specifically the district of Ntungamo. It is the most beautiful place I have ever been. The landscape is lush and mountainous, and the people are so friendly. They value relationships more than time so if something is planned for noon, most likely people won’t show up until around 1pm or later. They love white people and yell out “Muzungu” from everywhere trying to get your attention to chat. What really touched me was that when we would go work in the villages, building mud houses or working on the banana plantations, people from all over would come up and say thank you to us. Everyone was very appreciative, even the ones we weren’t directly helping and it was very humbling. I stayed with a host family and two other members of our group. Our family was just wonderful and took great care of us. The father’s name is Enos and his wife is Deborah. They have five children of all different ages and they were so much fun.

            We built four mud houses for families in the villages, worked on their banana plantations, and built places for them to bathe. It was a wonderful experience getting to interact with the families we were helping. Some of them were living with 12 or more people in little broken down shelters and it was great to see that we were actually making an impact.

            The rest of the time we were working with the children at the Compassion center. This location has about 300 kids from about age 8 to age 14. Seeing their smiling faces made our hearts melt. We would worship with them in the morning, and their beautiful voices would echo through the city. It was truly a joyful noise. Next, a few of us would give our testimonies and share why we love Jesus and why we came to be with them. After worship the kids would split up into different groups based on their year in school. I always went with the secondary (high school) group. One of the Peace Corps members was leading my group through The Purpose Driven Life and I was given the opportunity to teach them. It was amazing to be able to work through some of the tough spiritual issues they were dealing with personally. They had a lot of questions about baptism and being saved so we helped them through that and showed them the scripture that dealt with those issues. After that, we would talk about life questions. There are a lot of issues with corruption, sugar daddies, STI’s and AIDS, and peer pressure in Africa. We were given the chance to help them through some of those issues as well. It was a little tough to try and get them to talk and ask questions but they love doing formal debates. One morning that really got to me emotionally was when we asked them to tell us things that made them happy and then things that made them angry. The “happy” answers were the classic friends and family answers but the “angry” answers really hit me hard. They talked about abuse and people forcing them to have sex for money, etc…It was hard for me to deal with those things happening to the kids, especially when they talked about it like it happened all of the time. We played them in volleyball (they beat us), football (they beat us in a shoot out), and ultimate frisbee (we finally beat them). The kids are incredible and a true delight!

            I have been changed in ways I haven’t even begun to understand yet. What I do know is that I will truly appreciate relationships with people more than I did before. I realized how many things I take for granted and I am a lot more thankful for the things God has blessed me with since I’ve been back. Service will be forever a part of my heart. I have yet to experience a greater joy than serving people. I have learned that more money or material things will not lead to happiness. A lot of the people we met had hardly anything and they were truly happy. I will be less wasteful and use what God gives us right from the ground and the rain. They live off of the land and reuse the rainwater for their gardens and to drink. I know I will return to Africa one day, I’m not sure when but I know one day I will return.

Lastly, I wanted to thank all of you for your generous support and prayers. Without you we would have never gotten this opportunity to make a difference like we did. We taught them and they definitely taught us.  My favorite quote is by Margaret Mead…. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever does”. Thank you again for your desire to serve Africa and spread God’s love with me.

In Christ,

Jack “Mbabazi” Goldsberry

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