102B Answers

Joe Chebat

Connection: Joe has been attending one of our house churches for a while now. He actually has been praying for the couple that hosts the church for a long time.

Meeting: Joe and I had lunch last Wednesday. Joe owns his own consultant company and offered his services to The Well. Many companies and professionals pay him top dollar to come in and facilitate fierce conversations that lead to measurable goals.
Joe has a heart for God and willingness to use his talents for the Kingdom. He is also very excited about what The Well is doing. Joe has a vast knowledge of the Bible and could easily facilitate one of our house churches. It will be exciting to see how God will use this “harvest worker” in the future.

Keith Giles

Connection:
Pastor Rich Mathisrud of The Main Place Christian Fellowship sent me Keith’s name and number. He told me that Keith was "doing the same thing I was doing." I looked up his blog and determined that we were definitely on the same page. We met at Krispy Kreme in Orange (one of my personal favorites).

The Meeting:
Keith is an associate director of Soul Survivor, a youth ministry organization that organizes camps and conferences. After helping with a local church plant God was working on his heart to plant a church. Keith and his wife Wendy were led to start a simple church in their home. They started their church three months ago and already are talking about multiplying and starting another group.
We had a great conversation. Again it looks as though God has brought me face to face with someone with a heart for this movement. Keith told me that this was the greatest thing he has ever done with the word church in it.
Keith is a harvest worker and I know we are going to be friends and partners in this kingdom work.

Larry Richmond

Connection:
Larry is a Southern Baptist Director of Mission from Illinois. Last Friday I had the opportunity to meet Larry at a pastor’s meeting.

The Meeting:
Larry was asked by my local association Director of Missions to an assessment interview to try to determine what needs my church has. Being a non-traditional church, we don’t have typical church needs. We spent the time talking about the Well and the house church movement. He was very interested. I believe that God will use Larry in some amazing ways. I am looking forward to dialoguing with him in the future. Larry is a Harvest worker and an answer to prayer.

Jeremy Henson

Connection:

Jeremy emailed Neil Cole and told him that he was going to be in Southern California and would like to connect with some house church leaders. Neil forwarded his email to me, Jeremy had a couple of days with no plans so I invited him to stay with my family and show him around the OC.
Jeremy is a United Methodist Pastor from the great state of Illinois.

Meeeting:
Jeremy arrived at my house last Tuesday just before dinner. We all quickly got acquainted and stayed up late listening to how God was working in his life.
On Wednesday we began a marathon of connecting with house church leaders and a marathon of food. We spent the day connecting with The Well house church leaders and in the evening we attended Neil Cole’s house church in Long Beach. It was a great day.
On Thursday we met with Danae Stewart from Project Unleashed in Corona. That evening Jeremy attended my leaders meeting.
By Friday Jeremy was on his was back to Illinois with many stories to share with his family and ministry team.
It was exciting for me to see and hear what God is doing in and around Orange County. We will continue to pray with Jeremy and his family as they seek God’s will. They are planning to come back to Southern California in August.

Josh and Jamie

My wife Ali met Jamie at a women’s community Bible Study. Jamie came to the Bible study because she was invited by a neighbor but she made it clear to the group that she wasn’t a Christian and wasn’t sure at all about Christianity.

Jamie and Ali quickly hit it off and became friends. Jamie is a photographer and after seeing some of her work Ali hired her to take some family pictures. The photo shoot consisted of two sessions. At the first session I met Jamie. At the second session I met Jamie’s husband Josh.

Ali invited Josh and Jamie over for dinner one Sunday night. Jamie warned Ali that Josh was a little hostile towards Christianity and might ask a lot of challenging questions. That evening the four of us had an incredible conversation about life, values, religion, and family. Josh and I found that we had a lot in common. It was a great night.

A few days later Josh called me and asked to meet. Josh felt that God had been working on his heart. He asked to meet with me on a regular basis to study the bible. I agreed and we have been meeting ever since at a local coffee house to study God’s word and talk about how it applies to life.

A couple of weeks after that we had Josh and Jamie over again, this time for Sunday morning breakfast. Again the conversation was stimulating. This time we took our bibles out and looked up answers to questions. As they were leaving Jamie asked if we could do this at their house the following week.

The next Sunday, Jamie and Josh, Ali and I and two other couples, along with our kids met for breakfast. After breakfast we broke out the Bibles and I read from John chapter three. A two-hour discussion followed and we ended with a time of prayer.

For the last couple of months we have been meeting every Sunday morning at Josh and Jamie’s house for church. Other friends and family members have joined. Last Sunday we had eleven adults and a hand full of kids.

This is how the Holy Spirit works. This is a 102B answer.

Darrell and Rebecca Pacillas

Hi bloggers.  Rich Dorkin checking in with another church possibility.

I was on an electrical service call in Corona and met a very nice couple, Darrell and Rebecca Pacillas.  We had some small talk about life in general and then they mentioned how they could tell that I was a Christian.  We talked a little about that and then  somehow stumbled onto how they were tired of the hoopla of traditional church.  I sat quietly and listend to them talk about how they miss the intimacy of a small congregation, and how they were tired of being entertained instead of taught.  At that point I felt I had to say something about The Well.  As they listend to me, they seemed more and more intrigued by what The Well was doing.  So they asked if they could attend one of our house churches to check it out, and that they would be interested in maybe having a church in their home.   Let's definitely keep this one in prayer.  I will see them next week.

Praise God for all that He does.

Bob Sears

Connection:
Bob and I met each other via email. Neither one of us can remember how we connected. It was probably through John White, he is someone we both know. After emailing back and forth for sometime we finnaly met in person about a month ago.

Meeting:
I met Bob before I started this blog but he is a harvest worker and deserves his own entry. Bob was a pastor at a local church for 12 years before leaving to persue a new kind of ministry. He has been leading small groups and people in recovery for last few years.

So far Bob and I have met for coffee a number of times and he has attending my leaders meeting once. We are coming to the conclusion that God has alligned us to work together, but we are still not sure what that is to look like. Bob has put together a workshop that is essentially a way to coach groups. We are thinking about giving it a test run for one of the Well groups.

Bob is becoming a good friend. His insight and humility is refreshing.

Thank you God for this Harvest worker.

Diane

Connection: Diane and her husband Gerry were youth workers for me at a church several years ago. I recently saw her at a funeral, of all places. She asked me if I needed any help with my ministry. Do I need help? That sounds like an answer to prayer to me.

Meeting: Diane called me today and said that she was ready to help. Actually, there are so many things that God is doing around the Well that it is hard to pick one project. I told her that I would think about it more and get back to her in a couple of days. Diane works as a project manager for Boeing. She is very administrative, a trait that me and most, ok, all of my leaders lack.
I have come across a few people who I believe God is preparing to start house churches. It will take administrative help to get these churches off the ground. I am excited to accept Diane's help. We will need someone to count all of these Harvest Workers as God brings them!

Dave Dixon

Hello There all you 102B blogger readers.  Rich Dorkin here.

The connection and meeting in one:

I played Golf on Friday morning with Dave Dixon, a man I have known (ie. church, golf, etc.) for a few years. He asked me about The Well and how we were doing.  After I briefly explained what was going on with The Well, he said that a Pastor friend of his told him a house church would be right up his ally.  Well of course I had to chime in at that point and asked him if he would be interested in starting one with The Well.  He said he would definitely be interested and already has a place in mind.  The Dunes in Newport Beach.  Coincidence, or Divine appoiontment, hmmm.  So let's be praying for that.

Thanks for listening to my babble.

Rich Dorkin

Randy McDowell

Connection:
About a month ago I went to the Orange County Southern Baptist Lunch and ended sitting next to Randy. He is a film maker, writer, actor and comedian.

Meeting:
Randy and I met yesterday in San Dimas for lunch. Randy is one of those guys who has many jobs, none of them pay well. Still, he has many projects in the works and has done a lot for his age. At 28 he has started an annual film festival, written a book and several scripts, acted in film and TV and is on his way. He also spends his Sundays preaching when he gets a chance.
I told him all about the house church movement and what we are doing. I believe that God has caused us to cross paths for a reason. I'm just not sure what that is yet. We talked about working on a project together. He has some great ideas.
Harvest worker? I think so. We will see what the Holy Spirit does.