if it will take a miracle, then a miracle it will be.

I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. (Matthew 21:21,22)

For the past 18 months "theReynoldsFam" has been settling into a new city, a new neighborhood, a new school, new job... We said when we moved to Madison that we would be patient and take the first year simply to live here and get to know the community. (We hit the ground running in La Crosse and have learned much about missions since then.) Madison is a city that is broken up into smaller neighborhoods, sectioned off by an isthmus there are 5 areas that are marked by very different characteristics. Much like any city, there is the "East side" the "West Side", the "North side" the "South side" and the "Downtown". These areas, while part of the same city, are very different. In Madison the biggest variance is between the East and West side. We live on the North side. We chose this area because after interviewing Madison natives, we learned that this is probably the place where the boundaries between the various ethnic and socio-economic background are the most blurred.

"May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."

We dream of seeing a community of faith that is made up of rich and poor, black, brown and white all living the Kingdom life together. We felt we were positioning ourselves in a neighborhood that would be receptive to that. That is where the "mountain moving" comes in, I suppose. It has been suggested to us that it cannot be done or at least that it will take a miracle.

We are in a process of discerning what God is doing to draw people, how we can follow the Holy Spirit in His desire to bring abundant life to our friends here. We have personal preferences, we have ideals, we think we know how it should look. Ultimately we want to look a bit like the church in Acts 2, who had all things in common and devoted themselves to the Word of God, who prayed and were in awe of God. We want to be a community simply discovering together how to love God more and love each other better. We desire to be free of the barriers that seem to distract people outside the church, things that weigh down the church - money, bureaucracy, hierarchy for example. (Another dream of ours about which we here it will take a miracle.)

So, since it will take a miracle to get this thing off the ground...we are counting on a miracle. As we do all the stuff we do to prepare - designing newspaper ads, mail pieces, door hangers, preparing a message, music, food, personally inviting everyone we know, one on one discipleship - we are praying! This weekend we will be joined by friends, our team, and some folks from a couple GLBC churces to distribute 1000 door hangers and Prayer Walk our neighborhoods. On Sunday we will be holding our 2nd "Preview". This is a gathering of which our goal is to worship together and welcome a couple new families into this new adventure. Honestly, having done 2 prior public meetings here in Madison, having planted a church before, we know it will take a miracle, and by definition we would have it no other way.

So we are praying for a miracle.


If you would like to pray "on site" with us you could experiment with a "virtual prayer walk". Google maps satellite offers the opportunity to actually view the houses represented in the neighborhood we will be walking on Saturday. It's probably warmer this way. Let us know if you are able to take a few minutes and pray blessings on these neighborhoods, homes, families, individuals. Just click here on the Map and off you go!