Friends and Family, I got back home to Durham a week ago today, and I have been longing to write this update ever since. I have an abundance of things that I want to share, so I will jump right in. First, thank you so much for the outpouring of prayers over the church plants that we went to around the US, over my brothers and sisters, and over me. It has truly been such a pleasure to be able to partner with each one of you in this way. We were able to see so many answered prayers while we were away, and we were awestruck by how faithful God was (and is) in answering those.
I went into Nashville expecting to be surrounded by the stereotype of a bunch of white people who are trying to get their music career off the ground. Although that is what it is like in Downtown on Broadway, that is not the case anywhere else. We were surrounded by all different people groups, ethnicities, and backgrounds everywhere we went. Nashville was absolutely amazing and I do not even know where to begin other than to say that I want to move there after I graduate...I think I am going to just walk you through what our week there looked like. On Friday 6/25, we arrived to our Airbnb. The 15 of us became really close really fast in that three bedroom two bath house. We were all a little on edge at first, but, very quickly, we truly began to emulate the body of Christ and what it should look like. The whole week, people were so quick to serve out of reverence for Christ and do everything with intentionality, sincerity of heart, and adoration for God and his children. Everyone was so quick to encourage one another and all of the church planters, and we were truly marked with the sense of unity that I had asked for prayers for in my previous post. The entire trip, all of us were taken aback with how we were able to tangibly experience God's love through the way other people loved on us. The next morning, we all woke up, spent time in the Word together, and then went to the Nashville Farmer's Market. There, we were able to meet up with people from Proclamation Church, play games with them, eat lunch with them, encourage them, and get to know them better. Some of us were also able to prayer walk around Bicentennial Park which was right next to the Farmer's Market, and we had some great conversations with people that filled our hearts with more love for God and his people. There was one specific girl, Abby, that my friend Emma got to talk to for a little bit that was a college student at Vanderbilt. On the bus ride to the Farmer's Market that day, Emma had felt that God was going to lead her to a Vanderbilt student, so she prayed for that, and God delivered! They did not get to talk for long because Abby had to leave, but we were all praising God for Emma's faithfulness, as well as reminding ourselves that God gives the growth and that, at that time, we were just called to plant seeds. We are continuing to pray for Abby and that she would be led to Jesus. That night, we got to go over to a married couple's home (Tina and Daniel) from Proclamation and serve them by staining their deck, moving boxes, and playing with their 11 month old, Ada. We were met with such hospitality and love that it fostered bigger servant's hearts in us to see how grateful they were to have us there for a few hours. On Sunday, we actually got to attend Proclamation's service! Before that though, we brought breakfast in for the volunteers and got to just hang out with them before they served at the service that we would be attending. They do not ever really get the opportunity to have a nice breakfast and be encouraged by people, and to see how thankful they were by us coming that morning was amazing to us. The service was absolutely spectacular, and we loved being there. Since Proclamation is only about a year old, they are still growing, so the atmosphere still gave off a very new vibe. Since all of us were coming from the Summit (11,000+ people), we were not used to that small of a congregation, but we absolutely loved it. To see how they interacted with one another like true family, preached the Gospel with purpose, and worshipped like we had never seen before, it captivated my heart and drew me back to the book of Acts and reminded me what the Church should look like. Some of the team shared with us that there is this one Hispanic family that does not speak any English, but they come to church every weekend because of how they see the people at Proclamation love each other. Isn't that crazy?! Because of this family, they have spurred on a thought process about what it would look like for Proclamation to start something that would be able to reach other ethnicities!
After service, we got to have lunch and a Q&A with some of the launch team, and that was one of the most impactful parts of the trip for a lot of us. There were about 8 of them that were there with us; coming into the Q&A, we were not expecting to be met with such vulnerability by all of these people, but God blew up our expectations. The team was sharing how hard church planting actually is, how real spiritual warfare is, and how many personal struggles they had been going through since coming to Nashville. However, right after everything they said, they would follow up with how worthy God is, how faithful He is, how He continues to show them that Nashville is where they are called to be, and so much more. Hourly, they remind themselves that it is not about them or their comfort. Every single one of them strategically live in places for the sake of the Gospel, even if it is uncomfortable to be there. There is one pastor who shared that, on his left is a couple that sells drugs for a living, and on his right is a Muslim family. God has shown this pastor what it looks like to be a neighbor to these people, and the pastor has loved every step of the way. He and his family have adored how they have been able to see God provide in unimaginable ways through their obedience to live there. To hear how challenging of a process church planting can be, yet still see how grounded these people are in their faith, it drew me into the idea of wanting to pray through what it would look like for me to go with a church plant after I graduate. Sunday night, we got to babysit for some kids of the church so that the parents could go out and have a night of their own. After the fact, some of them shared with us that they had not been able to do that for the past year. It broke a lot of our hearts, but we were so grateful that God allowed us to be able to serve in that capacity that night.
On Monday, we got to go and prayer walk, share the Gospel, and invite some people to church all throughout the neighborhood behind Proclamation, as well as two parks in the area. We were not able to have a ton of what looked to be like fruitful conversations, and because of that, many of us came out a little discouraged. However, we were reminded over and over that God does way more than we can ask or imagine. To know that we filled three specific places around Nashville with prayer for almost two hours, we became overjoyed with God's sovereignty and how He reminded us that prayer is just as important as sharing the Gospel, as well as what a privilege it is to be able to talk to God. That day, we recognized how God's power is made perfect in our weaknesses. After we got back from prayer walking, we found out that some of our team did not get good rest the night before and that they were dreading being there, and it was clear that the enemy was attacking on their minds and bodies. However, after they confessed that to God and to each other, God moved miraculously and showed them that He does not need them to be perfect, but that He is worthy of them being uncomfortable and pushing their limits for the sake of the Gospel. On Tuesday and Thursday, we got to volunteer with Urban Promise. This is an organization that has been around since 1988, but was launched in Nashville in the fall of 2020 by Jonathan and Shawna Sheahen. Nashville is home to over 60,000 refugees from all over the world. Jonathan and Shawna have a desire to raise up the refugee children of Nashville to be Christian leaders all across the world that serve the community and glorify God. In UP Nashville, there are between 30 and 40 elementary students who are in this summer program who are hungry to improve their academic competency, develop positive relationships, accept trauma healing, and form their faith. As we were there for only two days, I fell in love with Jonathan and Shawna's vision and all the kids that were there. It was amazing to see, firsthand, how they are invested in truly making disciples of all nations and how that calling has reshaped what they are doing with their lives. Wednesday was our free day. We got to go to 12 South Street, The Country Music Hall of Fame, Five Daughters Bakery, walked the Broadway and Downtown area, walked the pedestrian bridge, went to Assembly Food Hall, and then went to a Sounds baseball game. We packed so much in but had an absolute blast. Go look at the "photos" tab to see pictures of our adventures! On Thursday, we got to go to Trevor and Keva Atwood's house. They had no idea who any of us were, yet they welcomed us into their home with open arms and led conversations with vulnerability and freedom in Christ. They have led up a church plant in Murfreesboro, TN called The City Church that was planted in 2011. They have been married for 22 years and have three sons--two of their own and one that is adopted. The City Church is very adamant about genuinely caring for people and the community through counseling and discipleship rather than trying to herd people in for the service, and part of that is because of Trevor and Keva's own experiences. In a nutshell, they got married their junior year of college, but while Trevor was in seminary in North Carolina, they were going through a ton of challenges individually and as a unit. Trevor went into seminary thinking that he was on top of the world and all he had to do was get a piece of paper that said he knew what he was doing. Looking back, he thought of himself as very self-righteous and independent. However, those traits were quickly torn down when he was surrounded by other leaders. God truly humbled Trevor like never before. Keva ended up having an emotional affair with another pastor at their church, and she wanted to leave Trevor. Coming from a past of hurt and brokenness that she had never dealt with before their marriage, it all bubbled over in their marriage. By God's grace, she ended up surrendering to God like never before, and He truly changed her from the inside out. Trevor and Keva got pregnant in 2010, gave birth to their kid at 27 weeks, and their child lived for 25 hours before he died in Trevor's arms. Through all of these traumatic experiences, they were still able to see God's sovereignty and trust his promise that He would weave it all together for good. They decided to plant a church with the people in mind that had a two-dimensional view of the Gospel, and thus, The City Church was born. Friday afternoon, we had the opportunity to go to Vanderbilt University and Centennial Park to do the same thing that we did on Monday, but we came out of that time being more on fire for God and his sovereignty! We then got to debrief the week and hang out with more of the launch team of Proclamation Church that night as well. Very early on Saturday morning, we had to say goodbye to Nashville. It was insanely hard to leave, but we are all still praising God for the people we got to know and talk to in Nashville, for the gifts that God has given them, as well as for our Nashville City Project team and how unified we are. Personally, I left feeling clothed in God's armor and I have a desire to stay feeling like that going into the Fall. I want to go into conversations thinking about the other person and how I can encourage them rather than thinking of myself. I want to lean into the gift of diverse community and press into how that helps us see more of who God is. As I get ready to transition to UNC, please pray that God would lead me to a life that does not make sense apart from faith in Him. Pray that I would live a life of evangelism even when it is extremely uncomfortable. Pray that I would be sensitive to the Spirit's leading for my future. Pray that I would count my life as nothing and that I would see everything in this life that is not advancing God's kingdom as Monopoly money--it will just go back into the box when my life is over. Thank you for partnering with me this summer and for allowing me to see more of who God is and what He has called me to be. Love and Blessings, Katie Parler
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