Tomorrow, a team of five- Eric Lige, Erika Ho, David Rideout, Tim Buechsel, and myself- are heading out to the New Brunswick area to network and see if God wants us there for the next Ethnos site.  Why New Brunswick you ask? 

It started because I asked Linda Berquist. Linda is an amazing church planting strategist who had prayed over UC for a church like ours some decades ago.  Turns out she would formally assess me as a church planter (something all church planters go through), and become a huge advocate for us and Ethnos.  I had not contacted in years, but as we began to ask the question of "where" I thought- well, we should ask her and see what she has been praying!

Linda's first suggestion was somewhere in the Bay Area.  I personally wasn't to keen on the area, knowing of some great churches there already (she had suggested Palo Alto, next to Stanford). As we continued to talk, Rutgers came up, and... well, it has stuck since then.

This is an exploratory trip- there are no commitments being made to the area. During the trip we'll be networking with existing churches there, talking to church plant strategists in the area, and walking the various neighborhoods to see what God is doing. Interestingly, having lived in UC for 18 years and not meeting a Rutgers graduate (Rutgers is the major university there in New Brunswick), in the last few months I've met at least 3 Rutgers graduates.  What is God up to?  We're still asking...

Prayer Points:

1. For the team's emotional, spiritual, physical, and relational health during the trip.

2. For God to show us what He is doing there.

3. For good relational development with the people we're meeting.

4. For God to show us what He wants us to do.