Posted on October 26, 2009 - by Stephen Murray

New York Trip: Part VIII

It’s all over (although my jet-lag isn’t quite yet)! We left the States on the 21st of October at around noon and arrived in Cape Town on the 23rd, around noon (local time). We’ve spent the weekend trying to get our internal clocks back on track.

The final week of the intensive went off well. We were all a little jaded and starting to think about getting home. It was quite sad to say goodbye to the other planters and their wives not knowing when we’ll ever see each other again. We had a send-off lunch with the RCPC staff and then each one went their separate way.

Our way took us to one more stop before the long trip home: St Louis, Missouri. I was in St Louis in February 08 visiting friends and the Journey Church which is one of the more influential churches in the Acts29 Network. On my previous visit I was really impressed with the Journey and the setup they had in St Louis so I really wanted Robin to see it and experience their community a little. So we spent 5 days catching up with friends and attending functions at the Journey. I had the chance to meet Darrin Patrick, the lead pastor, and spend some time getting to know him and talk about church planting both in the States and in South Africa. It was a worthwhile time of building relationships and getting further learning on the subject. We also had the chance to attend the Midwest regional Acts29 quarterly. By this time of our trip I was completely conferenced out and so I was expecting to doze off during most of the quarterly but they had Jeff Vanderstelt out from Soma Communities and he did 2 brilliant sessions that kept me wide awake.

So here’s my thoughts on the whole trip: God seems to be doing something huge through both the ministries of Redeemer Presbyterian and the Acts 29 Network – when you’re around these guys you really get the sense that something big is afoot in the world of church planting. And so in many ways Robin and I are completely humbled by the fact that we get to play a small part in this global movement. We were truly blessed by our time and I can confidently say that we were both affected and changed deeply by it. We come back to Cape Town with new eyes on a number of important issues. We’re also really grateful for the many friends we made along the way and are looking forward to building those relationships in the future.

I’d like to thank everyone, both at home and in the States, who helped make this trip possible. We are enormously thankful to God for all of you.