GATEWAY RESTORATION NETWORK
"…seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper…" Jeremiah 29:7 (NIV)
PROPOSED GATEWAY RESTORATION NETWORK
|
Intro |
Networking |
Discipling the Nations - seven influential sectors of society
PROPOSED GATEWAY RESTORATION
NETWORK
(this name is just a proposed name which can be changed
when we meet)
Do You Have a Heart to See the Gateway/Whalley Region of
Surrey
Transformed by the Love and Power of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ? If so,
please read on...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
January 2005
Dear brothers and sisters!
Over the past number of years there have been growing numbers of local Christians that have been experiencing an increasing passion for God and a growing desire to see the Kingdom of God and His indescribable love lived out and experienced in every aspect of life by the people of the Gateway/Whalley region of Surrey as the Body of Christ WORKS TOGETHER in cooperation with the Holy Spirit in seeing His restoration taking place!
They seek to do this by developing deep relationships with the Lord, with each other, and with those that the Lord brings them into contact with (as able) in the Gateway/Whalley region. They seek to do this through praying together, through worshipping God together, through reaching out and ministering to those the Lord brings to them in the marketplace in Gateway/Whalley. They seek to see the life and Presence of Jesus lived out in every aspect of their lives, families, work, ministry gifts and callings, businesses, professional lives, etc. They believe God has a heart for the people of the Gateway/Whalley region and that He is calling them to work together with the others that God is calling to this region as well...whether through business, education, politics, through the arts and entertainment, through the health/medical field, etc. etc.
For a helpful article about this, see
the following article:
DISCIPLING
THE NATIONS: Seven Influential Sectors of Society Hold the Keys
PART OF GOD's DESTINY FOR GATEWAY?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The theme of God's desire to bring restoration and the theme of the Kingdom
of God have been major themes He has been impressing on the hearts of many
of His people locally and internationally the past few years and especially
the past couple of years.
Numerous passages in Isaiah, especially Isaiah 61, 60, and others have been deeply on my heart.
A verse which I believe is one of His verses of destiny
for the Gateway/Whalley region is Isaiah 61:4 - 4 "...They
will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations..." (NIV)
Another similar passage is Isaiah 60 (also from the New
International Version - NIV) which includes the following verses:
10 "Foreigners will rebuild your walls,
and their kings will serve you.
Though in anger I struck you,
in favor I will show you compassion.
11 Your gates will always stand open,
they will never be shut, day or night,
so that men may bring you the wealth of the nations-
their kings led in triumphal procession.
12 For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish;
it will be utterly ruined.
13 "The glory of Lebanon will come to you,
the pine, the fir and the cypress together,
to adorn the place of my sanctuary;
and I will glorify the place of my feet.
14 The sons of your oppressors will come bowing before you;
all who despise you will bow down at your feet
and will call you the City of the LORD ,
Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
15 "Although you have been forsaken and hated,
with no one traveling through,
I will make you the everlasting pride
and the joy of all generations.
16 You will drink the milk of nations
and be nursed at royal breasts.
Then you will know that I, the LORD , am your Savior,
your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
17 Instead of bronze I will bring you gold,
and silver in place of iron.
Instead of wood I will bring you bronze,
and iron in place of stones.
I will make peace your governor
and righteousness your ruler.
18 No longer will violence be heard in your land,
nor ruin or destruction within your borders,
but you will call your walls Salvation
and your gates Praise. (New International Version)
Note the interesting references to GATES, considering the name of the region being 'GATEWAY'...The Bible has many significant things to say about 'gates', as well...for more info on that, check under RESEARCH
PROPOSING THE NETWORK
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is to this end that I am proposing the GATEWAY RESTORATION NETWORK
There has been a growing awareness among numerous ones that God is raising up others that share similar vision (and I am aware of several smaller groups that have already been ministering together or praying together in and for that region for some time).
The common cry is that we need to begin to develop relationship with each other, find out what the Lord is saying and doing through each of us, find out what He wants to do in this region as we seek Him together, find out what He is putting on our hearts, and praying together / supporting each other in these things the Holy Spirit is leading us into.
There is a desire to see how we can WORK TOGETHER to see God accomplish His purposes in and through us as we take steps of faith together. So much more can be accomplished as we WORK TOGETHER than if we do things on our own...and then we are all blessed, as well, and God is glorified!
It seems that God has been raising up various folks with various types of specific expertise that share similar vision - whether in working with sex trade workers, or street people, or youth, or in the education system, business, in the arts/entertainment field, in politics, or in the health/medical field, etc., but each of us can only do so much on our own.
In order to see TRANSFORMATION occurring, we need to work together! A great biblical model of this is in the book of Nehemiah - see: http://disciplethenations.org/index41.html#NETWORKING
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE SO FAR
----------------------------------------------------
There may be other things that have happened so far and I would love to hear
about them and pass that on to you as well in the future, but the following
are some things I am aware of to date:
As mentioned earlier, several groups have already been meeting on their own for various periods of time.
Many individuals and some churches have been praying for this region for some years.
A couple friends and I have begun to do some historical research on this region over the past couple years and I will look forward to sharing with you some of these findings when we hopefully meet in the future. Some of them will be posted under RESEARCH on this web site in the future as able, as well. If others of you have done some research as well, it would be great to know that!
We also have a couple of laminated maps of the area - one where we would like to plot all of the Christian-run businesses and ministries, etc. of folks who are located in that region, so that it can be helpful for us as a network once we potentially begin to meet.
The other map is one where we can plot other significant places/buildings, businesses, etc. which we also need to be aware of or praying for, or which we want to network with in some ways as we reach out into the marketplace as the Lord leads and opens doors.
A FEW PROPOSALS TO PRAYERFULLY
CONSIDER
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I believe God has in mind a potentially bright future for the Gateway/Whalley
region and that it is located in a very strategic place - spiritually and
geographically. I believe that what happens here will have potentially great
impact not only in the Lower Mainland but beyond...
Once we hopefully have our first networking meeting, I would be happy to share more with you about why I think that is....perhaps others of you have things to add in that regard as well!! :)
I do not think transformation will come easy, but I believe that God wants to do the impossible and see His healing springs bursting forth in this region which has been seen as a wasteland by the city and surrounding regions!
As the Lord leads us, we desire to find out what the spiritual roots of these devastations are and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, seek to see the foundations of this region rebuilt on the True Foundation and into a place of flourishing as is His desire for all people!
I believe that a couple of the ways that we can begin to take some steps of faith in this direction are the following:
1. Proposed Networking Directory
-------------------------------------------------------
I have been involved in developing international and local resource networks
for many years and have seen that there are usually several key components
working together to seeing a network thrive.
No one thing on its own seems to be very effective...just like us as the Body... If we do things on our own, we have limited effectiveness, but as the Body works together and the gifts God has given are complimenting each other, we can go FAR - Psalm 133
I believe that a helpful part of a network is a networking directory - one of the components that can really help to begin to get people who share similar vision connected.
To that end, if you share similar vision and would like to be included in such a networking directory form, please contact us at: info@DiscipleTheNations.org
This would begin as an internal e-directory. We could decide, as a group, in the future, to make it available to others through the web site, too, perhaps, but not at this point.
This directory would include your name, contact info, a bit about your vision and your current or envisioned involvements, perhaps some of your gifts or services you could offer, perhaps some of the needs you have in terms of the vision, etc. That way you guys can begin to connect with each other even before our first potential networking meeting.
2. Proposed Initial Gateway Restoration
Networking Meeting
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once we have an idea of how many people are interested in potentially getting
involved together with the rest of us, I would like to see us have an initial
networking meeting where we:
+ get to know each other - each of us should have an opportunity to share some of our vision, what we sense God is wanting to do in this region, some needs/opportunities that you have that others may be able to work with you on, some services/resources you can potentially provide, pray for and minister to each other, plan some next steps together, etc.
I'm thinking that perhaps we could consider meeting together sometime in late spring or early summer, 2005.
I know that's some months away, but it would give us a chance to get the directory out, begin to network through the e-newsletter, would give a chance for some more of you to get to know each other already, a chance for us all to continue to seek the Lord about His heart for this region and to lead us together in His ways; to seek Him for His spirit of unity and His wisdom, timing, and a chance to continue to pray for this region, etc.
It would also give us a chance to put together some information for you re the historical aspects, etc. which could be helpful in seeing us move forward into this region, and other preparations for the first meeting.
At that first meeting we could also prayerfully consider:
+ what we might wish to call the network (if another name is preferred)
+ a vision statement that we have come up with TOGETHER as the Holy Spirit
leads
+ choosing a facilitation team to help move us forward
+ someone to facilitate the network in the future
+ some next steps to take together
3. AN OCCASIONAL NETWORK UPDATE
/ e-NEWSLETTER
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In order to help keep us connected with each other and able to support each
other effectively, I will begin to send out an occasional network e-newsletter....the
contributions of all of those involved in the network would be greatly appreciated!
- through related articles, resources you would recommend, upcoming events
to be aware of, prayer needs and answers to prayer, others that we should
know about who share the vision, needs and opportunities to work together,
etc.
A BIT ABOUT WHY I'M PROPOSING THE NETWORK
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I have been living in the Riverside region of Surrey for about 11 years.
I have felt for many years that God has some significant things He wants to do in this whole Lower Mainland region, but that the Gateway/Whalley region is a very strategic place and a major spiritual battleground - the very name GATEWAY is very interesting and I have felt God impressing on my heart many things about the significance of 'gates' and gateways from a biblical standpoint, as well, as mentioned earlier.
God has been giving me a growing desire, over the past couple years especially, for the restoration of the Gateway/Whalley region, and continues to connect me with people that share similar vision - who believe God wants us to work together as He leads) and people that have information which I believe is helpful to know in moving forward with things step by step.
My desire is to see the love and power of God transforming this community and seeing the Kingdom of God increasingly lived out in this region as God's people work together as true disciples, allowing Him to work through every area of our lives as we seek to reach out into the marketplace as the Holy Spirit leads us.
Some of my journey which has brought me to this place has included my involvements in missions for the past 24 years, about a decade or so which included being part of church planting in various locations in the Lower Mainland. My heart is to see the nations discipled and the past 24 years or so the major focus has been on multicultural peoples, and especially a couple specific religious groups. I have also had a growing heart for postmoderns for the past 15 years and a growing heart for the poor and to see believers standing up for righteousness and justice & social issues as the Holy Spirit leads.
My main role, however, is in encouraging God's musicians and artists to utilize the arts, from a biblical perspective, in seeing the Kingdom of God expanded and seeing whole-hearted, total-life worshippers of God being developed locally and internationally. It is to this end that I have been running the Great Commission Worship & Arts Center here in Surrey for the past 8 or so years.
There are also other related developments which I believe are directly related (with regard to the arts working in conjunction with the rest of the Body) to what God is wanting to do through the Gateway Restoration Network. More about that in a coming edition of the e-newsletter. The re the arts will not work, either, unless we are WORKING TOGETHER with others in the Body...and we believe that we will be able to assist many of you and vice versa in seeing community transformation taking place as we all do our parts and as we seek to work together as the Holy Spirit leads.
---
May the Holy Spirit direct and confirm our steps as we prayerfully trust Him to lead us step by step! May His Kingdom come and HIS will be done in Gateway / Whalley and beyond!
Many blessings and may God do FAR MORE than we have asked or IMAGINED!
G. Wiebe, current facilitator/e-newsletter editor