In an ordinary time of devotion, with a deep desire to be intimately connected to God, the Lord spoke.  It was Oct of 2013, I was reading Exodus 33, I found myself deeply moved by the heart and desire Moses had to not pass into the promised land without the Lord but instead to stay in His presence.  It was impressed on my heart that just as Moses was being moved into new territory so was I.  God was prompting me to a new level of leadership in ministry.  After serving for five years as a staff pastor at Bridgeview Assembly of God and stepping off staff to lead He Cares Ministry, a new plan started to unfold.  My immediate answer was, "Whatever it is, I'm scared!"

          Several weeks later, in another time of devotion, the Lord impressed on my heart  to plant a church in the Clearwater area.  The new level of leadership was revealed.  Even in all my uncertainties and insecurities my desire was to walk hand in hand with my Lord.  I found courage to say, "I will only go where you go, my greatest desire is to be with you Lord, I completely rely and trust You to help and guide me."  The Lord was so kind and faithful to give me visions and continuous confirmation as I set my heart for the journey ahead, trusting my Abba Father to lead me.  

          By the fall of 2015, a team of 18 was formed, consisting of three families.  We came together with a passionate pursuit to receive God's love and to love Him in return.  As a group we began meeting in a team member's home and then moved to meeting in our new home.  After much searching, waiting and prayer we all came to the realization that the Lord wanted us to build a building on our property for the church.  Between the cost of rent and the lack of rental space in the area we realized the property God gave us would be perfect for a church building. It continues to be obvious that we are just not a normal church, so why have a normal building.  We were blessed with 40 acres, which leaves us plenty of room for an extra building.  Often our plans are limited by our perspective, by our limited vision, but God's plans are greater than ours seeing beyond what we think is possible.  We went with God's plan!  

          The beauty of our journey with the Lord is we end up doing and going places we never thought we would.  We are so blessed that we get to be on this journey.  To imagine where we'll be in 5, 10 or 20 years excites me, but I know God's plans are beyond what I can even imagine.   I would have never guessed that my desire to be intimately connected to God would have led me to this place, my heart overflows with gratitude and love.  Our God takes what's broken and makes it so beautiful!

Pastor Emily Janzen