Three years ago we made some big moves. After many years of being involved in Zambia through a non-profit organization, we decided to become recognized as a local church. We felt the Lord begin to place the pursuit on us to ‘give the Church her identity back’, in the city of Choma. At the time, we anticipated this would be an adjustment, though we had no idea how massive this change would be. Though we are still learning the long-term effects, we have already seen major shifts in the last few years.

I could write a book, or at least its own post about why we did this and what we have already learned. But in short, being a local church has changed how we are perceived by the community – we are no longer seen as an organization to receive from, but rather a body to participate in. It changed what is required from us – no longer are we able to meet a need or provide a service, but we must walk with and walk through every space and season of life with friends. It changed the circles we are connected to, and who we have influence with – other churches, ministers, and leaders. And, maybe above all, it has changed what we inadvertently communicate about the role of the church, the power of the Gospel, and our faith in Jesus Christ to redeem the world. Though we have always believed that Jesus is enough – being the church has put His name on us. And as we continue to pursue absolute and complete transformation in every sphere of society in this city, we communicate that this role is intended for the Church.

Over the past three years, our church has grown. Although, it’s hard to say how big our church is and it’s even harder to define how the Church should be counted. Of course, we desire growth in the size of the church – but we desire growth in the collective body here in Choma, not just in our own numbers at a Sunday morning service. And beyond that, we really desire that our church body grows in maturity, in faith, and in their activation in the mission of Jesus.

As a team, we are seeking to understand what it means to ‘give the church her identity back’ in this city, in this culture, and in this generation. I believe this is a loaded statement; a pursuit soaked with undoing patterns that have solidified in the culture and the church, and drawing out and building up that which is good and already established. We are using the Word, the examples of the New Testament Church, the history of the Church, and the current and active movement of the Holy Spirit in this nation to guide and inform us.

What we know is that God is after this nation. He wants to build His Church with the people in this city, as active participants in establishing His Kingdom and growing His family here and now. He has hidden His nature and His strategy within His people here.

And we simply want to unearth it, we want to draw it out.

But to do this, we need to go deeper. And our church, the Church in this city is ready for more; ready for more opportunity, ready for more growth, and for more training. Ready to go deeper in their relationship with Jesus and their participation in His work. We want to be part of leading her there, of launching her into every unique, creative expression God has called her to be in this city. There is so much goooood work to do ahead of us. We can’t wait to see what our future holds.

But in the present, we have started something new to begin to go after this with our own church body. On Sunday, August 22, 2021, we launched Poetice Houses. Our houses are groups of 6-20 members ages 15 and older. Poetice House Members will gather together at least once a week in the House Leader’s home. They will learn about God together, fellowship together, and worship God together. We believe that Poetice Houses will allow our church members to grow in their relationship with Jesus, get to know and be known by one another, share in life together, witness each other discover what they are called to do and become, and partner together to see our city transformed. We believe it’s going to take us deeper.

Right now we have six different Poetice Houses and over 100 people signed up to be a part of these new Houses. All of these individuals completed our first-ever Membership Retreat a few weeks ago and have chosen to commit to this Poetice family and our mission. It’s really beautiful and it’s going to require a lot of us, a lot of our church, and a lot of God. I can’t help but think, what an incredible place to be.

– Abby

“How did we get here?” I have often found myself wondering this at the beginning of this wildly interesting year.

I love this question, and I love it when it comes to the surface of my reflections, for it has always revealed the evidence of what my heart most desires for my life, and Poetice. When walking with the Lord, I have found that this question is most often an indicator, a litmus test of sorts, that reveals simple obedience to Jesus.

While Jesus is compassionate, invitational, and kind, He is also unexpected and delightfully mysterious and radical. As we continue on this journey with Him, I hope to see more and more of His life reflected in ours. As we learn new things about His heart, His truth, and His justice, I pray we lean in with open ears and willing hearts to change our minds, and change our course. Therefore, as we journey on with Him, we should find ourselves in the middle of raw moments wondering how our feet have wound up where they have. We should look at our life and wonder how it looks as it does, quite simply because our life is not our own.

This year has been a test of our hearts, our faith, and our confidence in the Lord beyond what our eyes can see. We turned 10 in August of 2019, and with a decade under our belt, we anticipated another year staying the course and celebrating this incredible milestone. Rather, we have experienced a monumental transition in our leadership, and the coronavirus has reworked nearly every plan we had in place. Our events have been postponed, adjusted, or canceled, grand openings delayed, immersion trips dismantled, and financial support disrupted. Things did not begin as we expected.

Yet as the year has already begun to take shape, this has proved to be only half of the story. The Lord has created space for us to hear Him whisper, and reveal His plans full of promise, redemption, and vision. He has already lifted us financially in ways we never expected. We have been able to draw up plans and are finally able to begin to build a beautiful new pavilion and cover our outdoor dining and kitchen area. Both of these projects have been in the works for nearly 3 years, and while our Build the Future campaign is not yet fully funded, we finally can begin to build.

We have learned new ways to generate unity and strength through cross-cultural diversity of our team, and believe the Lord is giving us the vision to passionately spur the global Church on to do multi-cultural teams in unprecedented ways. We have been able to sit in the presence of the Father and minister to His heart. We have had space to contend for breakthrough for ourselves and one another as the Lord lays a foundation to do far more than we would ever dare to ask for or imagine.

And so we sit before Him, silently asking this question full of a giddy hope, loaded with possibility and promise, “How in the world, did we get here?”. We are free and we are on fire. We hope that you will continue to join us as we press further up and further into the delightful mystery of this adventure with Jesus to empower His Church to fight for justice.

Stay connected with the movement by following us on social media platforms or signing up for our newsletters! I invite you to use these platforms to know how to pray for us and be informed of what is going on. We love you. And we cannot wait to step into what is next, together.

✌🏽

Abigail Van Peursem | CEO