8/7/2019 The Gathering Prayer Support Letters: Part 2

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Thank you again for receiving our prayer letter. This is the second in a series you willreceive over the next few months since it is our desire to bring you on this journey with us. Wewant you to see where and how God is working in this endeavor, therefore, you will be betterequipped to pray with and for us. Our rst letter was basically an overview of the need forintercessors such as you, while this one deals more with the need that is present in thiscommunity to which God had led us.

In August 2010, we conducted a door-to-door survey of our community. We askedquestions related to the spiritual temperature of those living here. Of course, we could just makean assumption as to what people think and believe, however, it is always better to just ask them.We found that our assumptions were correct in this case. In a nutshell, we found that our littletown, although religious, has been lulled into an apathetic and complacent sleep – a very dangerousplace to be.

There are over 140 churches in our county. If you were to walk up to me and tell me,without our knowledge of other statistical data, I would likely say that sounds like enough.However, after researching the subject extensively, I have come to learn that if you lled each of these churches to capacity 5 times (current attendance to maximum seating rate is under 50%),there would still be people standing outside! Allow me to repeat that – take everyone who lives inCarter County and assume that everyone of them wanted to go to church on the same day. Eachchurch would have to host 5 services to get them in. Couple that with the knowledge that many of these churches are preaching a subverted form of the gospel, this number sky rockets to a newlevel!

Yes, I am stating that many of the churches in this areaare not focused on The Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20),or The Great Commandment (Mark 12:28-31). Though it is

not uncommon in the Bible Belt, many of our churcheshave become cultural country clubs with a “John-Boy andBilly” understanding of Christianity. Many are meeting toget their obligations met - “It’s my duty to come tochurch,” etc. Or, most of our social connections are foundat this place set aside for worshipping God. In addition, wehave become so inward focused that if someone did havea desire for what we have, they would have to comeand get it – we’re denitely not going after them! And,

“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest,therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Mark 9:37-38

8/7/2019 The Gathering Prayer Support Letters: Part 2

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once they come, they are going to have to work hard to puncture current relationship circles andthe established status quo.

This is upsetting, but maybe not in the way you would think. It doesn’t make me as angry asit breaks my heart and shows me even more that we need churches, both new and existingchurches, who must see the error of their ways and be transformed back into the soul-winning andequipping stations God intended for them to be. Should this not be the desire of all our Christianchurches?

This is our heart’s desire for Elizabethton. We have been here for over 19 months as of this writing and are just now in the position to take our message to this community. There havebeen setbacks that have frustrated us because we wished to move faster. However, it is our belief that God’s timing is more important than our own. During this time we have learned importantlessons about our community that will assist us in assisting them. We have learned about ourselves

– our weaknesses and our strengths. We have had the privilege of connecting with some wonderfulfellow Christ-followers who wish to take this journey with us, and lastly, we have learned lessonson how to ask for help from our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Of course, this is one area you come in. WE NEED YOU TO GO BEFORE US IN PRAYER!

We seek a harvest that only God’s hand can provide, but we need the stamina requiredduring the preparation of the elds. Whether we are on the receiving end of the harvest each timeis God’s call, not our own. Please pray that God will receive the glory in every action we take. Wehave included 5 areas we nd as very important and integral to our success in our new churchplant. As you read over them, please pray for God’s direction.

We are seeking to be:

REFRESHING in our approach to ministry.

CHALLENGING in our preaching and discipleship.

CELEBRATIVE in our style of worship.

RELEVANT to the culture we’re trying to reach.

...and lastly,

PURPOSEFUL and intentional in every action our ministry takes.

Humbly,Bryan & Angie Smith