Giving Tuesday!! FREE Gift!

Want a Free Gift?  If you can help us out on #GivingTuesday, I will personally give you a free hug, bumps or handshake. You choose!  
   

On Tuesday, December 1st, you can make a huge difference in the Kingdom of God and in my family. Tuesday is #GivingTuesday.  It's a relatively new idea designed to show thanks after all of the consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  It's a chance to give and say thanks!  I am asking you to consider giving to support my family's desire to plant a church in Knightdale, NC. Currently we are making plans and preparing to begin a training residency with LifePointe Church in Raleigh, NC in the first few months of 2016. We are raising our salary for that year.  I will study and learn the ropes of church planting as well as travel and raise support for the work in Knightdale. The training is based around three main areas. Leading Yourself, Leading Groups and Leading the Church.  I'll be posting more about our experience soon.

If you would like to give a one time gift or begin supporting us regularly you can mail checks to:
ENCCMF c/o Ken Terry, Treasurer
931 Teakwood Drive
Greenville, NC 27834

*******Please put WALLACE or KNIGHTDALE in the memo.  

Whether you are able to give or not, please pray for us in this adventure!!!  Don't let me forget that free hug you've got coming!

Scary Steps: Lord Guide Us.

Dear Family,

       I know that most, if not all of you here at PCOC have heard what I am about to share with you, but it may be new to those of our extended family that receive the Clarion. Nevertheless, I wanted to share as much detail as possible with all of you in one setting.  

       I announced last Wednesday and this past Sunday morning in both services, that I have accepted the call to plant a church in Knightdale, North Carolina.  Knightdale is just east of Raleigh, NC. It is one of the fastest growing towns in our state. The population has increased 123% in 15 years. Even with all of those people and the constant influx of new people, there is not a New Testament congregation in the town.  It is truly a field ready for harvest. 

       At this point I will be partnering with the Eastern North Carolina Christian Men’s Fellowship and Christian Financial Resources as well as with another church planting organization that we are talking with.  This still leaves a tremendous amount of funds to raise from churches and individuals until the new congregation becomes self-supporting. But as always, God will provide.  We ask for your prayers!

      This decision has not been made lightly.  It has been one of the most difficult decisions of my life. Simply put, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to leave a loving, growing ministry where you feel like family. That being said, I’ve been preaching through books of the Bible and now “The Story” for several months. The text for my sermons have for the most part been laid out for me and it’s been my job to mine the message out of it.  In my preaching, I often remind you all that I preach to myself as I’m preaching to you. In many of the messages a resounding, recurring theme has shown itself loud and clear.  Faith! Not faith as the world defines it but faith as the Word defines it! I have challenged you all to live by faith and get out of comfort zones and go where the water is deep and the path is not clear when it comes to serving the Lord. I have been utterly convicted that if I am going to challenge you to live that kind of faith, I have to as well. 

      For most of my ministry and even in college, I have felt the desire to plant a church. Sometimes if would come raging into the forefront of my mind and I would entertain it for a short while but would then allow fear to take control and I would let it drop.  I became fairly serious about it about seven years ago and started some conversations with individuals that could help me in the process; only to let it go…again.  

     About six months ago I mentioned to a church planting friend that I still had the church planting desire lurking in my heart. In my mind it probably wouldn’t happen for 3 or 4 years if at all.  Two months later, he let me know that he had contacted a planting organization in Virginia and shared my name and interest with them. This was the same group I approached 7 years before. The director of the planting organization contacted a church in the Raleigh Area that is a 15 year old church plant and continues to plant churches and new campuses of their congregation. He told the minister of the Raleigh church that he knew a guy interested in planting a church in Knightdale. The preacher in Raleigh said, “Knightdale, really? We just got out of a meeting where we said the next area where we need to plant a church is Knightdale. We only need a preacher!”  

     Once I heard that, I knew that it was time to pray more intensely. There is a lot more to the story that has been eye-opening and faith stretching but to keep this from being “War and Peace: Part 2” I’ll share that with you later.  Ultimately, we have prayed as close to “without ceasing” as I ever have in my life.  We felt so torn because of our love for the church at Plymouth and how well our ministry has gone here. There are many reasons to stay here but there is one glaring, convicting, challenging reason to go.  People need Jesus. The Christians here are working hard to share Jesus with people. I want to begin a congregation in Knightdale that has that same passion. 

     At the risk of being trite, I have summarized my thoughts about our decision in a simple phrase.  I had a moment of clarity where the idea came to my mind that, “There is a strong church in Plymouth, and Lord-willing, there always will be; but there is no Christian church/ Church of Christ church in Knightdale.” I also want to stress that there is no negative reason we are leaving Plymouth Church of Christ.  My prayer is that you will not see us as “leaving”. My prayer is that you all will see yourselves as sending us out to grow the Kingdom.  

     So far, my family and I have been blown away by the love and support that all of you have shown. My greatest fear was hurting the people I love and you have shown once again why I love you all so much.  You love Jesus and others more than yourselves. My goal is to plant a church in Knightdale that has the same DNA as the Plymouth Church of Christ.  People who love Jesus and love people.  God bless you all as we continue to serve the Lord together and even when we serve Him with miles between us.  We will continue to update you all on the time line of our ministry transition which will take place some time in the first part of 2016.  

Thanking God for you,

Bobby and Shari Wallace and Family