On Multiplication

4 Years ago on a Tuesday night at 7:30 PM a community group was formed. Amy and I were both new to the city, new to Redeemer, and new to ministry in NY, but the one thing we both knew was that we wanted to invest in the lives of women.  We both had come from a background in college ministry and we wanted to continue on with ministry in this great big city we now called home. And so our community group was formed. Each girl that entered my tiny apt on Columbus Avenue was new to me. They were beautiful and confident and quite frankly completely intimidating to me. I had no idea on this night that some of those girls would be my closest friends in the city.

For many months Amy and I wondered what we were doing.  we felt lost in this new ministry and often questioned if God was at work. We wondered if we were doing the best thing by leading this group and would there ever be any fruit.  Through the course of 4 years we have we have had girls come and go. As we have said good-bye to many we have said hello to more. Our group has gone through different seasons of pain and rejoicing but with each season we continued to meet on Tuesday nights.

As I look back on this time I am in complete awe of the journey the Lord has taken us on.  Together we have walked through new relationships, engagements, marriage, babies, death, job loss, singleness, broken hearts, and many other life matters.  We have cried together, prayed, together, laughed together, danced together. We have been a community in God's word learning what it means to take up our crosses and follow Jesus.  We have experienced growing pains together and continue to learn what it means to walk daily with Jesus.

I could write story after story of how the Lord has worked in and through this group. It is an incredible story of the Lord's sweet love and faithfulness. I can honestly say that these women are my heart.  Specifically in this last season together we have bonded in a new way.  We have leaned on each other greatly and have fought for each others holiness. They are my closest friends in this city and I cannot imagine my life without them.

But tonight on September 11, 2012 we began a new season.  As Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2  ^"And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others".  We have passed the torch.  We spent this last year really discipling our girls with the purpose of multiplication.  So on this night 2 new groups were formed out of our one group.  The Lord has been gracious to raise up leaders out of our group to now teach new women.  It is an exciting time to see these women who have sat in a room with us for so long now have the opportunity to lead.  Between 2 groups tonight 25 women were present. 25 women who are eager to know God and make him known.  25 women who desire to live out the Gospel in this great and powerful city we call home.  The harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few, but prayerfully more laborers will be raised up through these 2 groups.  Prayerfully our groups will once again multifply in the coming years.  Prayerfully the Lord will use the women who sit in our groups at this time to reach the harvest field not only of New York City, but for our world.  

And so after 4 years Amy and I will begin a new role as we embark as leader coaches for Redeemer, receiving more training ourselves and shepherding more community group leaders.  In many ways this new season is scary.  It was comfortable to gather on Tuesday nights and I will miss this sweet time dearly. But in more ways it is such an exciting time.  I am so thankful for this opportunity to expand our community, to teach more women God's word, and for more of the harvest field to be reached.  

Amy and I will continue to invest in the lives of these women.  We will continue to labor beside them in prayer, meet with them, and do life together in New York City.  We are excited to see the Lord's work being done. Amy and I went on a prayer walk tonight as these 2 new groups began.  We prayed that this woud be the beginning of something great.  It is not easy to pass the torch, but we feel confident this is what the Lord wants.  We are his servants and we are following the path he is leading us down.  Excited to see the journey these groups will take and how the Lord will work in and through the lives of these women.  

As I remember this sweet group, I posted a few pics of the last 4 years.  

Christmas Party 2008
Amy, Erin, Catherine, Maggie, Amy, Michelle, Misty, Bethany

Summer Dinner 2009
Misty, Bethany, Krista, Maggie, Amy, Catherine, Candace

Volunteering at the Family Reteat together in the Poconos Winter 2010
Daniela, Amy, Joanna, Bethany, Lauren, Catherine, Caroline

Caroline's Baby Shower  April 2010
Daniela, Amy, Deirdre, Maggie, Leah, KJ,  Bethany, Joanna, Carolina, Erin, Catherine, Danielle, Lauren

Celebrating My 28th Birthday 2010
Lauren, Amy, Caroline (and baby Charlotte), Bethany, Maggie, Catherine, Deirdre

Christmas Party 2010
Joanna, Amy, Katherine, Bethany, Stephanie, Misty, Lauren, Natasha, Jen, Daniela, Deirdre

Community Group Fall 2011
Misty, Joanna, Robyn, Katherine, Emily, Daniela, Erin, Bethany, Amy

Serving in Cape Town together November 2011
Amy, Joanna, Katherine, Bethany, Erin

Joanna's wedding shower April 2012
Katherine, Misty, Becca, Joanna, Robyn, Daniela, Emily, Amy, Bethany

It has been such a great 4 years.
Here is to a new chapter......