December Update

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from the end of 2008! As I sit here in the Wells family kitchen and look at my surroundings, I’m thinking that by describing what I see, I can give you a few clues as to what our life has been like this year.

On the table is an assortment of markers, papers, sippie cups, and Christmas paper plates. On the floor I see a green stuffed snake, a few random balls, several pez dispensers, a baby rattle, and some soggy cheerios. The high chair is sitting next to me, cereal and baby food hardening and crusting as I type. On the wall is a brown construction paper squirrel with a dead brown leaf for a tail, a black and white drawing of a head with mismatched magazine cut-out facial features, and some manilla construction paper covered in colorful scribbles…and just beyond that is a stack of moving boxes waiting to be unpacked someday. The sink is full of dirty dishes, and the counter top is littered with dirty bottles and empty baby food jars. I hear Christmas music on the TV, Michael Card’s lullaby CD over the baby moniter, oh – there went the dryer buzzer. And mmmm…that coffee brewing sure does smell good.

Isn’t life grand?! 2008 was busy – we had a baby; Conner fell and knocked out his two front teeth; Bret resigned from his job as the preaching minister in Louisiana and we began raising funds to join the church planting endeavors of Christ Journey in Burleson, Texas; we potty-trained Micah; we evacuated for Hurricane Gustav; we moved over 600 miles in October; we began our new job as domestic missionaries; and we are now in temporary housing while we are trying not to stress out about finishing our fundraising.

Conner turned five in August. He is into The Backyardigans, Pokemon, superheroes, and reading just about anything he can get his hands on. The other day I actually found him reading the glossaries of a few books! (A little Bret in the making?)

Micah is now two, anxiously awaiting his Spiderman birthday in February. If you ask him, he will be eight. He is proud that he is a “big bo-wee” now and can make coffee for his daddy, as well as pull up his own pants and underwear. He is into anything his big brother likes. Conner is Micah’s best friend in the world; Micah absolutely adores him.

Josiah was born in March. Though state lines said that he was born in Louisiana, rest assured that there was a bag of Singleton, Texas dirt under the bed. He is a Texas boy! Joey is into Cheerios, cruising along the couches, pulling hair, and laughing at his big brothers. He is NOT into having his diaper changed. He is a joy and definitely fits right in.

Bret, now a church planter, is loving his new job. The verdict is still out, however, on his true feelings about “officing” from home (a small table in our bedroom). He is super-excited about his role as the father of three boys, being in Texas, his new gas grill (we had been saving for quite awhile), and the Bunn coffee maker that we were given for our eighth anniversary this month.

Me, well, when I’m not chasing three preschool boys or listening to my husband talk, I am into making and cleaning up messes like the one described above.

And yes, the Christmas card is so very appropriate – it looks like those crazy boys are lying beneath the tree eagerly scheming mischief of one sort or another…no doubt resulting in another mess for me to clean up!

We continue to have so much to be thankful for – including you, our friends and family. It in part because of our financial partners -- many of you, your trust in us, and faith in God that we are where we are today.

Merry Christmas from Bret, Rachel, and the Well brothers –
Conner, Micah, and Josiah

Special Prayer Request

**By Bret

Dear Friends,

We have a special prayer request to ask of you. Over the next couple days two different church missions committees will have our names before them as they make decisions regarding support for the next year. As you know we are living in faith right now that God will raise up partners for us in this mission work and the timing of these two conversations could not be better. If it is appropriate and you have the opportunity to have your congregation or Bible classes lift this issue up in prayer tomorrow morning we would greatly appreciate it.

We are so grateful that we can count on so many people to surround us and kneel before the Father on our behalf.

Grace and Peace,
Bret, Rachel, Conner, Micah and Josiah

Greetings from My Couch - October Update

**By Bret

This short (for me) post is special; it is my first “from the field” of church planting. After 6 months of fundraising we were finally able to make the move to Burleson. We have nearly 50% of our monthly commitment raised, but the blessing of one time and special cash gifts has given us enough to cover our first three months – the goal we set for relocation.

The last couple weeks have been unbelievably hectic for our little family. We reached our goal on a Monday (Monday Money Days, part of Rachel’s recent prayer schedule, have been incredible reminders of God’s faithfulness – if you haven’t heard about this, check out Rachel’s blog post). A couple large gifts from churches caused us to leap forward to a goal we were anticipating would still take a while. After the shock wore off we let our family at Tammany Oaks know that we’d be leaving in four weeks.

So we packed our belongings for move number 8 in our almost 8 years of marriage. Tuesday morning with the help of some great friends, we loaded everything we own into two Penske trucks. That afternoon the Chris’s (Chappotin and Robey…who, for clarity, were referred to as Pablo and Coach respectively) flew into New Orleans. Wednesday morning we threw the remaining things in our trucks and the four vehicles headed northwest around 5am.

Saturday the big brothers came home after 11 days at my parents’ house and we were SO ready for them to get here. If you follow Rachel’s blog then you’ve gotten most of the scoop on the exhaustion, mix of emotions and rollercoaster events that comprised our transition from Mandeville back to North Texas. We are exhausted but incredibly excited.

Yesterday Rachel’s mom drove over to help us unpack. In the afternoon Jodi, Robert and Ira brought dinner and around 8:30 Chris and Lydia called and said they needed to kill some time before their movie…so they swung by our house. Everyone went home when they were ready – a process which required neither a day’s drive nor a trip to the airport.

So here we are…I’m sitting on my couch, watching my TV, listening to Josiah’s nighttime cd over the monitor, Rachel is laying the big brothers down and the news just said that the humidity was UP to 56 percent today…

To those of you who have partnered with us financially, through prayer or in other ways, we thank you. I am so looking forward to sending you future updates with stories of our life within this community – both the community of believers we refer to as Christ Journey and the community of people loved by God we refer to as Burleson and the south Forth Worth area.

We are of course still in the process of raising our support – nearly 50% raised means we have a little over 50% to go. We ask for your continued prayers. If you know of anyone who may be interested in partnering with us financially, please let us know.

But for now I am about to go to sleep…in Texas.

Messy Desk - September Update

**By Bret

My desk is a mess. That sentence is almost always true, but today it is especially so. Right now I can see several books I’ve been trying to read during my (hopefully) short time of not taking any classes. There is a stack of stuff that Rachel asked me to take care of (it’s actually a very small stack – she really spoils me). There are a couple to-do lists with the most random assortment of chores - including making a list of the book titles on my bookshelves…seems strange, I know. I’ve got a box that I need to take to Tod next week (when I’m at Lectureship in Abilene), several coffee cups and assorted papers from different projects. Then there are two stacks of study materials; one from this past week’s sermon here at Tammany Oaks and another for my upcoming sermon at Christ Journey this Sunday.

The desk is quite representative of my life right now. There is a lot going on in the Wells household. As you know, 5 months ago we announced our decision to enter the domestic mission field and partner with others in the ministry of planting new churches. Many of you have blessed us tremendously by deciding to partner with us financially in this endeavor.

Currently we’ve raised a little over a third of our total monthly goal. However because of the generous support we’ve already received through special gifts and monthly checks, we have raised enough to cover 3-4 months.

So we’re moving!

This Sunday I’ll be preaching at Christ Journey (hence the study materials) as I’m on my way to Lectureship, where hopefully we’ll be able to talk to more people about partnering with us financially. After that we’ll have two more Sundays here and then we’ll be Uhaulin’ it west. That explains the need to put together a list of books on my shelf…I’m not going to have an office at first so I need to know what books are in what box!

That means that October 5 will be our final Sunday at Tammany Oaks and our tentative move date is October 7.

Tammany Oaks will always hold a special place in my heart. As I told the congregation yesterday, this place has ruined me for many ministries…and strangely enough, that’s a good thing! Over the last two and a half years we have experienced things that I could never have anticipated. We have truly learned how to pray, hurt, weep, rejoice and walk with people. We’ve been given the opportunity to experience very real moments of ministry – walking alongside an entire family as they moved from bitterness and distrust toward Christians (and complete disinterest in church) to being excited and growing members of Tammany Oaks; helping a 58 year-old Vietnam Vet, recent widower and single father of an 18 month old as he simultaneously battled past demons, began to hear the stories of the Bible for the first time (with a youthful excitement that was quite contagious) and fought for custody of his child; spent countless hours with folks at the end of their rope in their marriages, with their emotions (depression, anxiety, hopelessness, despair), with serious mental and physical health issues, drug addictions, financial crises, unemployment…just to name a few.

Make no mistake, it has been exhausting and at times I wasn’t sure we’d make it through. There were days and weeks (even months) when just getting out of bed each morning was painful and difficult. Many of you know quite well how hard things have been and how unsure things were during the first 18 months or so. But as I once said on my blog, periods of wandering in the desert can, overtime, reveal great things – both in oneself and in the landscape. The initial exposure reveals a harsh, barren desolation. But over time one realizes there is tenderness beneath that harsh exterior and what was first seen as barren and desolate is eventually cherished as beautiful. It is beautiful because of what it reveals. It is valuable because of what it forges. The bitter shrubs of the desert become sweet and fragrant flowers. But not quickly; not for a while.

We experienced times of desert wandering, but that isn’t to say that everything here is desolate or barren. We’ve developed wonderful friendships and experienced tremendous compassion and generosity here. While we are very excited to pursue this next stage in our journey; to participate with God in bringing life and light to areas of darkness and despair; excited to return to the land of our forefathers, to the land of Mexican food and grandparents, we are also a little sad. We will miss our unbelievably crazy small group – where the small children outnumber the adults nearly 2 to 1. We will miss this church and our family here at Tammany Oaks.

And we’re a little scared too. Like I said, we are FAR from through in our fundraising. We’re praying that a church or two will decide to support us (there are a few that are currently considering it). One reason for moving now is that we believe it will be easier to cast vision and invite folks to partner with us if we can meet with them face to face…rather than over the phone from another state! I am confident that God will provide and I believe we’ve done our homework and are making the right decision…but still 35% is considerably less than 100%!

So my desk, my schedule and my life are all pretty messy right now. But if I’m totally honest, I don’t really like a clean desk…

We're Moving!

**By Bret

Dear Friends,

As I hinted a couple weeks ago, we have now reached our relocation goal! We’ve set October 5 as our final Sunday at Tammany Oaks and are tentatively planning to drag our stuff to Burleson on the 7th.

We’ve raised a little over 35% of our total monthly goal so far. However, we’ve been blessed with several significant one time and special gifts. So about a month ago we decided that if we could reach the point where our monthly commitments and cash on hand could cover 3 months of support then we would relocate.

And that’s exactly what we’ve done. This next week I’ll be in Abilene at Lectureship where I’m hoping and praying for opportunities to share our vision with lots of potential partners. We also have several churches that are considering support – either large one time gifts or a substantial amount of monthly support. We would like to ask you to pray specifically that these will come through.

I'll post something a little more detailed soon. We are very excited to have reached this next milestone and are looking forward to being on the ground in this ministry. We thank you for your prayers and support and we’re glad that we have such a large community of friends and family who are on this journey with us.

Grace and Peace,
Bret

Fundraising and Hurricanes

**By Bret

Dear Friends and Family,

I am writing this email from the cockpit of Wellsforce 1 (our minivan) as we soar through the hill country of Texas . Last night was our fundraising dinner in San Antonio . It was great, we saw some old friends – some of whom we haven’t seen since January 2003 when we left Corpus Christi . These folks were very supportive and encouraging.

We are very confident that the date of our relocation is drawing near…hopefully we’ll have something specific to update you with soon.

However, there are other issues, as you may be aware, that are causing us some concern. As Hurricane Gustav continues to strengthen just south of the Gulf we are prayerful for the people of Cuba and anxiously awaiting what path the storm will take tomorrow and Monday. As you have probably heard (the media loves this kind of story) the 3 year anniversary of Katrina was yesterday. Folks in the New Orleans area who were there Pre-K are saying that this storm has reminded them a lot of that one.

It could well be that any storm near the Gulf right now would be reminding our neighbors of past experiences, but in any case, will you lift up prayers on our behalf? Specifically I’d ask that you petition God for his Spirit of peace – that which is available even in the midst of chaos.

We of course also ask that God will protect us from the elements. We do not pray that it will turn and thus inflict damage on someone else; we pray that the Lord will deliver all of his children. We are mindful today of those in Cuba , Jamaica , the Cayman Islands, Haiti and the Dominican Republic . I rejoice that we do not serve a regional god, only powerful enough to be concerned with one people group; our God is mighty to save all whom he loves…and that, my friends is all of us.

Because of the scheduling of our fundraising dinner we have, in effect, already evacuated. Bret, Rachel, Conner, Micah, Josiah, Chicory, two vehicles, wedding pictures and important documents, three softies (and the Coach/Freds…see Rachel’s blog), extra pull-ups, diapers and formula, two computers and all of the Backyardigans movies are safe and sound in Singleton, TX. My books are still in Mandeville though…

Should the storm make landfall in or near New Orleans we will keep you updated on any disaster relief needs. In the meantime, let us lift a chorus of prayers to our father and express our gratitude for the gift of technology that gives everyone forewarning of events like hurricanes.

Thank you all for your love and support.

Grace and Peace,
Bret

August Update

**By Bret

One of the most impacting books I remember reading in college was Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl, a survivor of the Nazi death camps during WWII. The primary point that I came away with was that the one thing that cannot be taken away from you is your ability to choose how you will respond to or view your life’s circumstances.

The concentration camps did an excellent job at taking away people’s family, their freedom and even their dignity. But as Frankl saw so many people, even after the war, slip into the living-dead state of despair, bitterness and hatred, he realized he had a choice.

We get to choose our perspective. I know from first-hand experience just how easy it is to allow oneself to feel like someone has stolen your hope or your joy. It is easy to say, “They made me so mad!” But in truth I am the only one capable of choosing whether or not I will become angry, or bitter, or hopeful or anything else.

As we wrap up month four of fundraising for church planting I am realizing just how important Frankl’s point is in our lives. Several weeks ago I found myself struggling to maintain a positive outlook. It seemed like there was no end to the list of folks who were saying, “We think that what you’re doing is great, but we can’t help you. Good luck.” Most frustrating were those who expressed confidence in us personally, in our passion, our calling and our ministry…but because of the non-traditional nature of our church plant they weren’t going to be able to officially support us.

This was beginning to have a negative impact on my perspective. And then God decided it was time for me to stop acting like a baby!

Through a series of events I met and had coffee with a church planter from the Assemblies of God. After having visited Tammany Oaks and talked with me only once he offered some incredible encouragement and affirmation – both on our calling and the content of our message. He even expressed a desire to maintain contact as his church plant may be interested in helping us once they get established.

I left that conversation with a choice. I could continue in my frustration at minor setbacks or I could realize that God has been so much more than faithful in sending us a constant stream of blessings, reminders of his love and affirmations of his calling.

I decided that I was going to choose a better perspective. And I believe that (in part) because of that choice, God has opened even more doors. At the time of my conversation with this other church planter we had no congregations seriously considering support. As I am writing this there are four different churches who are going to be making decisions about substantial one time gifts and/or continuing monthly support.

We have raised 35% of our total goal from individuals and families and we’re expecting confirmation of at least two more commitments in the next few days. We are heading to San Antonio this weekend for a fundraising dinner and Chris is meeting with another mission’s committee regarding our support.

Our family here at Tammany Oaks continues to remain supportive of us and I’m constantly being told how much we’re appreciated here. Our biological family continues to make sacrifices, work tirelessly and pray constantly for us. And 22 different individuals and families have already expressed their support through special gifts and monthly commitments. Chris and Heidi have been focusing on raising support for us, when they could justifiably say, “Sorry we’ve got our own mountains to climb.”

It seems that every time I turn around I’m talking to someone who just had a conversation with someone else who was telling them about what we’re doing. We are getting very close to seeing this dream become a reality.

At the end of the day, I have nothing to complain about. I have cried out to God in my despair and he has continually shown himself to be quick to save. I will continue to put my hope in the Lord for in him is full redemption.

I am very grateful to everyone who has partnered with us so far – either financially or in other ways like hosting events, spreading the word, etc. Many of you have committed to prayer; I believe that these prayers have provided a buffer between us and exhaustion, frustration, anxiety, and so many other forms of darkness.

If you’ve been thinking about making a financial commitment but have been unsure because of the economy – I understand…trust me I REALLY do! Let me encourage you, if you haven’t done so, to put this before God and ask if He is calling you to step out in faith in this way. I will not make any claims that if you send this money that God will send it back ten-fold…you guys know what I think about that business.

Honestly, your participation with us in this ministry may bring you much persecution. But I believe that we will be blessed and refined by this fire. I believe that partnering with God in his mission will ignite within us something rich and deep…something we were created to experience but often miss because we are afraid. I look forward to sitting down with you sometime in the near future and telling you about the individuals who have hope and light and life where before there was nothing but despair, darkness and death. This is God’s mission of reconciliation and God will not fail.

Grace and Peace,
Bret, Rachel and the Wells brothers

July Update

**By Bret

Dear Friends,

It’s been a month since our last update. It was helpful for me to reread last month’s – we’ve made so much more progress than it sometimes feels like in the midst of all this!

We’ve had a few snags and setbacks, but in reality they’ve been very minor. As of today we have raised over 25% of our total goal and there are several more commitments and donations that we are anticipating in the next few days. Sixteen different individuals and families have partnered with us financially so far! To all of you, your love and support continues to strengthen and encourage us during this exhausting period.

Our Dallas dinner did not happen as planned, but no worries. We were still able to have a great evening with the Prudes, Robarts, Swindolls and Williams – it was great to see old friends and laugh together for a while. Rachel and I appreciate our friends’ willingness to help us out and work on behalf of this call to ministry.

Over the last month, Chris Chappotin and I have been developing a great working relationship. We’ve had several opportunities to spend time with Chappotin family and they are rapidly becoming dear friends and faithful spiritual companions. Chris and I set aside time each week for a staff meeting via video conferencing (free thanks to Skype!) for planning, strategizing and prayer. We’re currently in the process of building up the different leadership development groups at Christ Journey. We decided it would be good for me to begin working with the group responsible for house churches and perhaps expanding that to include other areas of spiritual formation. Obviously there are limits to what can be accomplished over the phone and internet, but our prayer is that the distance issue will be remedied very soon!

Rachel and Heidi have agreed to work together as co-children’s ministers as well. Heidi will focus primarily on the elementary age kids and Rachel in her area of expertise – preschoolers. We’ve adjusted our fundraising goal to include part-time compensation for Rachel – and our 25% raised reflects that total goal figure. I personally am very excited about this because I’ve seen Rachel minister in tremendous ways over the last several years in the lives of preschool kids and their families. Here in Mandeville I have been so proud of the way that Rachel has been a teacher, friend and role-model to several young women and young mothers. People see her with our boys and just know that God has gifted her in some very incredible ways.

On a sadder note, we’re headed back to north Texas tomorrow morning (Wednesday) to attend Rachel’s grandfather’s funeral. Peepaw was one of those rare men that are truly hard to describe. He was able pull of the crusty-old-rancher, always giving someone a hard time (especially the waitresses at Dairy Queen and Sonic) and yet simultaneously was a very godly compassionate man. When I met Peepaw nearly a decade ago he immediately welcomed me to the family by systematically calling me by the names of Rachel’s old boyfriends! Peepaw’s faith in God sustained him for many years and now we continue as part of his legacy.

I am grateful for all the men and women like Ira Conner who have passed on their faith to a new generation. In that same spirit we will, by God’s grace, pass our faith to a new generation of Christian disciples beginning in Burleson / south Fort Worth and spreading on as we are swept up in the advancing Kingdom of God ! Thank you for being a part of this journey with us.

Please feel free to forward this update to anyone not on the list that you think would like to receive it. If there is someone we need to add to the list, please let me know. We are progressing toward our goal but we still need partners in this effort.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.

Grace and Peace,
Bret, Rachel and the Wells brothers

June Update

**By Bret

It is happening!

A lot has taken place since my last (well, actually my first) email update about 6 weeks ago. There are several new people on this email list which is appropriate because the number of people praying for our transition has increased tremendously.

After spending a couple weeks in prayer and discussion with our elders here at Tammany Oaks we announced to the congregation that Rachel, the Wells brothers and I are going to be relocating to the Burleson, TX area to plant new churches. This has been an emotional time with our church family here, but I’m so excited that we are walking through this transition together. As we’ve had the opportunity to tell people more about what we’re doing the response has been overwhelmingly supportive. It seems that this call on our lives is evident and that has been very encouraging to me personally.

May and June have been incredibly busy for us. I spent a week in Abilene taking (hopefully) my last leveling course before starting a doctor of ministry program sometime in the next year (depending on when we get transitioned to Burleson).

I had the honor of performing the wedding ceremony for my little sister and new brother-in-law the weekend following my class in Abilene . Then we were back home for a little over a week before packing up again and heading back to Texas for our first fundraising dinner (in Granbury) and then a week of Mission Alive Strategy lab in Plano.

The dinner went quite well. It was the first time I’d addressed a group of people regarding our desire to plant churches and I didn’t come away with the impression that people thought this was a huge mistake!! Everyone was very supportive and Mike and Susan Blevins ministered to us tremendously through opening up their unbelievable home. I have to throw in this plug for my in-laws too; Bob and Bonnie have been incredibly supportive. They have been some of our loudest cheerleaders and their vote of confidence has meant so much to Rachel and I.

Our week in Plano was good for several reasons. Of course training and chances to think strategically are always helpful, but the main benefit was actually more relational. We stayed with our good friends Tod and Candace Vogt (and Hannah and Lucas!). For those that don’t know, Tod was the preacher who hired me at Tammany Oaks. The Chappotins (our co-workers in Burleson) stayed there also as they were helping facilitate the strategy lab. It was good to see old friends and to begin to grow closer with new ones as well. I came away extremely encouraged about the potential for our families to not only work well together, but to experience a real friendship and community.

I realize this has been a little long for an email…but both of you who read my blog will likely have suspected nothing less! Thankfully, there’s a lot to update!

Here’s a brief look at what’s coming up for us and some areas over which we’d like you to be in prayer:

In the next week we hope to send out a fundraising letter to over 100 people. About a week later (once folks have gotten the letter) I’ll begin following these up with phone calls.

We’re going to be updating our blogs and facebook accounts with specific information on our efforts to raise support.

We are in the process of planning a couple more fundraising dinners (with the added possibility of a 2nd dinner in Granbury!)

I’m continuing to work with Chris and Christ Journey in whatever ways I can. I’m also going to be working with Ryan Porche (a church planter in Dallas ) to put together a retreat focused on worship, spiritual disciplines and the blessing of ancient Christian practices.

I ask for your continued prayers as we work through this transition with Tammany Oaks and Christ Journey. While we are ready to invest in lives in the Burleson area, specifically those who do not presently enjoy the blessing of life with Christ, we also want to bless Tammany Oaks in every way possible.

To those who have partnered with us financially, we again thank you. Your support allowed us to travel to Texas for the fundraising dinner and strategy lab without putting more money on our credit cards! We were also able to purchase supplies for presentation materials at the dinner, as well as for the fundraising letter we’re about to send out.

If you have not made the decision to support us financially in this ministry, Rachel and I would like to ask you to prayerfully consider doing so. If you are interested in hearing more, or if you know someone who may be, we’d love the chance to talk in person or over the phone.

Thank you all for your prayers, encouragement and support!

Grace and Peace,

Bret, Rachel and the Wells brothers
http://www.wellsbrothers.blogspot.com/ / http://www.deepwells.wordpress.com/

email us!
http://us.mc385.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=bret@christjourney.net / http://us.mc385.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=rachel.wells@yahoo.com

April Update

**By Bret

Hey Everybody,

Greetings from sunny New Orleans , where the only thing murkier than the water is the air!

The small list of friends who are aware of our dreams and plans in church planting has grown somewhat, but we’re still waiting for the public unveiling! In the meantime, I thought I’d send an email to those who have heard, just to update you on our progress and plans.

Over the last month we’ve had four different couples/individuals decide to partner with us, several more suggest that they’re interested and a couple that have given some one time gifts (which have already helped with travel for support-raising!) We are excited to say that so far we have just over $500/month committed – which means we are on our way!

We’re in the process of scheduling several dinner conversations with old friends - some of whom are old because we’ve known them for a while others are old because they were born a long time ago! Within the next several weeks we hope to meet with friends in Granbury, Dallas and San Antonio (nearly all the people we’re going to meet with in San Antonio are actually friends from Corpus that left the beach for Sea World!)

This morning, I met with a graphic design artist that is going to turn a handful of documents and blurbs about our ministry with Christ Journey and church planting into a slick and professional looking packet with information, vision and goals for this ministry. I hope to have these completed very soon and we’ll be sending them to anybody and everybody who might be interested in partnering with us. Our artist, Amy, even has an editor that will work with her to perhaps come up with some, as she called them, “teaser sheets” (I’ll tell you what those are when she shows them to us!) Amy is so excited about what we’re doing that she is going to donate most of her time for this project!

Thanks to the internet I’ve already had the opportunity to begin working with the folks at Christ Journey. Chris Chappotin has begun a workgroup blog that allows several of us to discuss and process through the text for Sunday’s worship gathering. Because of this, Chris and I get a chance to begin working and thinking together, and I get a chance to interact with other leaders at CJ – building the rapport that is going to be so vital when the Lord brings us all face to face.

Please continue to be in prayer for our family as we prepare for this transition. We are extremely excited and ready to invest in this community. However, before that can happen we want to give special care to this end of the transition. As most of you are aware the past few years have been very difficult for us. Though we’ve never really felt like insiders here in Mandeville, this family has become very dear to us. Our prayer is that Lord will guide our interactions over the next couple weeks, particularly as we reveal our plans to the community here.

While a certain degree of pain is unavoidable when a preacher leaves, we truly want to do whatever we can to minimize the difficulty. We believe that this transition is a part of God’s call in our lives, just as I am convinced that the Lord directed us to this place 2 years ago. In many ways I owe my level of preparedness for this new leg of the journey (however much or little that may be) to Tammany Oaks and this community.

Again, we covet your prayers as our preparations continue and if you or anyone you know would like to officially partner with us for financial, prayer or emotional support – we welcome you! Christ Journey is already set up to receive donations for the Wells family, and in fact has already received some! Thanks to you all for your encouragement.

Grace and Peace,
Bret, Rachel and the wellsbrothers