Did God tell us what He wanted us to do, or just give a head’s up on what He was going to do? Was it a prayer or a prophecy?
These are the kinds of questions I’ve been asking myself as I stand in awe of what God has done in the past year. Last year, God spoke to us to catalyze 10 networks of multiplying disciples and churches in Raleigh-Durham (RDU) by 2030. My wife and I broke that down into smaller, short-term chunks, and we made a goal to find 6-10 potential church multipliers by August 1, 2026 (aka, earlier this month).
When I started making posts on Substack chronicling the 365 day mission plan, I was nervous to put myself out there. “What if I publicly declare these goals, and it just doesn’t happen?!” But God has shown up and I am happy to say that the goal was achieved.
What amazes me so much is how it happened.
Vision Recap
Before we dive into what happened, here’s a quick recap of our ministry direction for this year.
The overall vision God put on our heart:
The gospel to every person and a multiplying church in every community of RDU until there is No Place Left.
The current 5 year strategic objective:
Our goal is to have 10 networks of multiplying disciples and churches using movement principles by Dec. 31, 2030.
The current short term objective:
Identify 6-10 potential church planting multipliers, which will lead to 3 more actual multipliers by August 1, 2026.
For more explanation on this, read the previous post
What God Did
As I mentioned in my last post, before the end of April, God had sent 7 potential catalysts. Most of these reached out to me, and I didn’t do much of anything to find them. Since then, I’ve met 3 more potential catalysts bringing the total to 10, which means we have achieved our goal. Again, all of them found me, I didn’t find them.
Of the 10, I believe 3 are the most likely to go from potential to actual catalysts. Now, I’m not counting the others out or anything, but these 3 are all-in on the vision, while others have other opportunities pulling them away from multiplication.
The three:
Are not a part of any other ministry
Are not a part of any other kind of church
Are actively sharing with lost people
Have a God-sized vision
Have developed a pathway for multiplication (or are trying to)
Have Christ-like character
The other 7 are great, but don’t quite have the same mindset.
What I Did
As I reflect on everything that I’ve done, what stands out is the almost two years of praying and fasting I did with my wife before ever getting this 2030 vision. Deep in my soul, I believe that was the real work. Spending time in the woods alone listening to God. Pushing through our tiredness to pray after we put our kids to bed.
Sure, we did other stuff. But I don’t think that is where the fruit really came from. We only bear fruit when we abide in Christ, not when we fill every second of our time “because that’s what a good disciple-maker does.”
I have realized that in the last year, I haven’t really prayed that much. At least not as much as I did when I was asking God what vision He wanted us to pursue. And that doesn’t sit right with me.
Why Do I Only Pray When I’m Frustrated?
As I look down the road ahead, I want to make some 2027 targets to shoot for, but I haven’t taken the time to pray with my wife and teammates about what those goals should be. So I’m going to decline saying what next year’s goal will be, but one thing I know for sure. I want to commit to praying as fervently as I did in that previous two year time frame.
We prayed diligently for two years before God spoke the vision He wanted us to pursue. Do you know why I prayed so much? Because I was frustrated in ministry. We hadn’t gotten to no place left in RDU, and I didn’t see how we ever would.
I wasn’t just frustrated, but I was scared. I was scared of being a failure thinking, “what if we never get to no place left?”
Fear and frustration drove me into the woods to pray. Now, those seem like terrible reasons to me. Why don’t I supplicate before the Lord because He loves me and I love Him? Why do I seek Him when I’m feeling upbeat, and not just when I feel down?
That’s something I want to change by the end of 2027. I want to abide in Christ and go to Him for no other reason than His Glory and His love. Praying more is the most important strategic shift I need to make in the next year.
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This is a great encouragement and reminder to me. Walks in the woods with the Lord are not a waste of time; they are the root of any future ministry fruit.
Way to GO Rodger! And may the Lord Jesus bless His work in and through you even meore!