IDF

IDF is a military term meaning "Indirect Fire". It is a situation where the enemy is firing morter rounds in your general direction without knowing your exact coordinates. The idea I get from talking with soldiers is that when you are taking IDF, you often hear the rounds explode in the distance, and often close to the base, sometimes too close, but rarely do you actually suffer a direct hit.

Granted, I am no expert on military matters, but soldiers I know that have been to Iraq told me that they could take IDF two-to-three times per week, sometimes daily. I never heard them discuss getting hit, though. In fact, the U.S. Army still didn't require their soldiers to wear body armor unless they were leaving base.

The reason I bring this up is that Mission: Brownwood has been taking IDF from satan's forces since May of this year, when we began the final preparations to move to Brownwood. Satan would seek to stir conflict in mine and Jessica's marriage via miscommunication. He would try to drive a wedge between me and my sponsoring church via miscommunication. Once on the field, he would attack through various people we met on the field.

Satan's attacks in these instances amount to IDF, in my opinion, because my family and ministry have been directly attacked by satan in the past. In various places in my ministry, I feel like he brought on an all-out attack. These attacks ranged from temptations to false accusations, to attempts to assassinate my ministry through the false accusations and rumors started by other preachers, to all-out rebellion by the members of the body of Christ where I ministered. I remember thinking in some instances that these attacks would literally kill me. Once, it almost did, but that's a whole other story altogether.

No, in comparison to previous experiences, these attacks have been mild... hence they are IDF.

The IDF we are experiencing right now comes from the apartment communities where my wife works, where I also minister. There are those there who love us and want us to continue ministering to them. Then, there are those who live there and would rather Jessica and I fall off the face of the planet. Neither these people, nor these complexes have ties to our mission-church, Grace Pointe. However, they still oppose our ministry.

So far, the attacks have been limited to lies, false accusations and rumor-mongering which has gained no traction with the ownership of the apartment communities, or the company for which my wife works. Still, it is annoying and is having a draining effect on my wife. (One courageous man boldly confronted my wife while she was alone in an elevator... yes, we have elevators in Brownwood). Others have also vandalized property.

Our plan is to stay the course. When God calls us to a ministry, we also understand that He calls us to a battlefield. Satan has no respect for God's people, or His creation, and will oppose the spread of God's word everywhere he can. We understand that. We just covet your prayers.

Last night, we had 10 at our Wednesday evening services at Market Place. Four were out of town at a funeral, one was having surgery, one was recovering from surgery and one was tending to her mother who just returned from surgery.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Oh, and things at Brownwood Apts. II are still going well. This will be where we build the core group (which is already taking shape) and be able to organize and launch the church.

Surprises on the field

Preparing to go onto the mission field in Brownwood, I prepared myself for a number of spiritual battles. There are the battles of temptation, the battles of getting up the courage to regularly evangelize, witness and share my faith with complete strangers, the financial struggles, the adjusting to a new environment, discouragement, etc. I expected to move to Brownwood and for no one to care that I was there, or for everyone to disdain my presence because "Why would we need another Baptist church?" (Actually, the only people to ask that question were the station manager at the Christian station and a local Baptist pastor's wife).

Things I was not prepared for were:

• Isolation- If you've never gone to church faithfully, you never miss church. However, if you have ever been a faithful church member, then were suddenly placed in a situation where you had no church family, you feel isolated and alone. I never realized how much strength I drew from being in the presence of other Missionary Baptists. Even at Denson Springs when things were going badly, members of the congregation still prayed for me, and a couple even took time to lift me up. I had one church member, that, even though we were at odds at times, he would still let me know he loved me and was praying for me and wanted the best for me. Things are getting better as we begin to see the beginning of the core group emerge in Brownwood, but the absence of regular Sunday worship drains a person.
• Newfound "friendships"- I have been approached by other groups wanting me to join their movement. It's not a problem, I am properly handling the requests, it just surprised me.
• The Enormity of the Mission- It is not easy to start a church with nothing. At Mission: Brownwood, we did not have the luxury of moving onto the field with a "launch team." (I'm not knocking missionaries who did, it's a great thing, when it's available). We did not have displaced Missionary Baptists on the field looking for an ABA church. We don't even have a meeting place, outside of my living room (which we are close to outgrowing). Nope. No buildings, signs, advertisements, history in the community, community ties, heritage or launch team members to rely on. We have to build the core group from scratch. Now, before I get a barrage of messages saying "God builds the church, not you, dummy!", let me say that the progress that has been made has been by God's grace. I think it was God who provided for us living in the neighborhood that we are in... which is next door to our best core group prospects. It was God who prodded the teenager who was on the brink of salvation to come to VBS so we could share the Gospel with her. Still, something from nothing is a tall order. With God's help, we'll fill the order. Let me just say that anyone who says "It's easier to start a new church than to put up with the traditions of an old one" is an idiot if they truly believe it, or, they've never planted a church. It may be easier to split a church and form a new congregation, but it is not easier to start a new one from scratch as opposed to pastoring. It's even harder to plant a church with a launch team and a meeting facility than it is to pastor one that has heritage and a history in the community. As much as I have been through in the pastoral ministry, that was easier than this. I just thought I'd throw that in there.

Things are going well at Mission: Brownwood. Y'all continue to pray for us. We saw God do a lot of good things in August at the apartment complex (VBS every Saturday), with two professions of faith and friendships being built with residents along the way. We just hope to be able to continue that momentum and ride it into a self-supporting church in the near future.

God bless you, thank you for your prayers and support.

Leland