Vision: Explosion

I touched on the vision in my previous post. A trip down to The Basement in Birmingham, Alabama helped give this new vision a clear direction. Brad Mullinax and Jon Miles, two of my mentors from Oasis, came along and offered invaluable insight and guidance. We brought home several principles that will shape the way we gather students by the masses to be changed by the gospel.

• Controlled Chaos - students feel comfortable and are fueled by the excitement given off by structured chaos.
• Corporate Movement - this means geographically and physically. Students must be able to do it simultaneously.
• Culturally Relevant - it has to be familiar and in a language/tone with which they can identify
• Canny Safety - this involves but is not limited to 1) turning the volume high enough so that no one can hear a student sing if he is tone deaf, 2) freedom from presumptuous judgment, 3) distant but available security personnel, and 4) available Love Team personnel who are willing to talk and offer a hug at a moment's notice.
• Compelling Message - one that is not only heard, but seen and felt. The deliverer must come from a personal standpoint that is often his testimony.

Please pray for favor from the community and our spiritual siblings in Christ as we push on to turn Amherst County upside down.

A Baby, Vision Expansion, and More Green Machine News

God has definitely turned up the heat in our lives in the last month. It has been incredible to experience another level of abundant life He has led us to.

Lindsi and I recently learned that God is granting our desire for a child! We are so excited about being new parents this year. The newest addition to the Richardson family should arrive around the end of September. Lindsi is so excited, she can hardly contain herself. I wouldn’t be surprised to return home and find her painting the baby’s room.

The Basement continues to grow. Two weekends ago, around 14 students packed into our home, devoured scrumptious tacos, and discussed the vision and values of the Oasis Church student ministry. Their commitment to Scripture and reaching the lost gave a huge momentum boost to our efforts to turn Amherst County upside-down. Our vision is to see one hundred middle school student baptized by this time next year.

Luke 18 has shown us that prayer is the most effective thing we can do. God is the one who causes each good change for which we long. As we strive to see the lost come to Christ and lives changed by the gospel, we have recommitted ourselves to prayer. Will you join us?

This past weekend, Lindsi and I hosted a sleepover for a Girls’ Slumber Party and a Guys’ Night out. Lindsi had over 15 girls at our home and I had more than 10 guys packed into a friends’ basement. We all joined up at our home for breakfast and ultimate Frisbee the next morning. Lindsi baked up 75 pancakes and 35 waffles. Teenagers have no issue consuming and burning that amount of calories. Using the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar, I challenged the students to live up to the highest expectations of God’s promises through the gospel and to not be short changed by low yield alternatives.

The Green Machines have experienced three tough games since the last time I updated you. We held a lead of at least six in each of these games, but lost by a margin no greater than three. Alex and I continue to put the gospel in front of these 9-11 year olds and are beginning to see ministry opportunities flood in.

That’s the latest and greatest news. We appreciate your prayers and would love to hear what God is doing in your lives. Keep us posted.

Blessings,
Stephen
strichardson@liberty.edu

The Green Machines

The Green Machines' Debut

Coaching. It's something I did not think I would get to do until we had kids of our own, but God has opened up an incredible opportunity with the Amherst County Recreation Department to coach a basketball team of eight 9-11 year-olds this winter. They call themselves, "The Green Machines!" A good friend of mine and junior at LCA, Alex, is co-coaching the team with me. We're having a blast.

The Green Machines have been practicing since the beginning of December. Tomorrow is our first game. Alex and I will get our first try at herding a crowd of energetic, neon green clad boys in our first game of the greatest sport ever played! I'll keep you posted. So stay tuned...

I've Been a Stranger

Updating your blog for the first time in nine months carries the same feeling of calling up your best friend from high school for the first time since graduation one month ago. Nevertheless, it is necessary and should be done with a humble attempt at style. The last year has left me to feel incredibly undeserving of the good experiences it contained. Hopefully I can catch you up at the pace of the first 60 seconds of a TV episode that was to be continued.

After praying for the majority of a year that God would cause the Oasis student ministry to take root, He brought along several families with hearts that burned and yearned for Jesus and His church. Since then, we have seen students step up to the proverbial leadership plate and several come to know Jesus for the first time. These students come together every Wednesday at what has become known as “The Basement.” We bear with pride the notion that we have never met in a venue that was above ground, but continue to pray for a place that will enlarge our capacity to do what we do with excellence and in greater multitudes. If you’re going to turn the world upside town, you might as well start somewhere deep.

In August, Lindsi and I moved from Lynchburg to a house on a farm in Monroe. This location is right in the middle of our mission field and maintains a reasonable commute to our jobs in Lynchburg. We added Charlotte to our family. She’s a boxer puppy that was born in mid-July and adds an entire dimension of life to the house. There is no word of a human addition, but that is not to say that it won’t be used to entice potential grandparents to move closer to their potential grandchildren.

I want to tell you one of my favorite stories from 2010 before I sign off. It was another exciting night at The Basement and the band had just finished playing John Mark McMillan’s “How He Loves Us.” I was walking up to the front to teach when Chris blurted out, “You don’t have to preach tonight; I think they just did.” Chris was an atheist Goth we had been praying for and living life with for nearly a year. I asked him what he understood the song to say. He responded with a tone of conviction, “That God loves us.” A few moments went by and he continued, “I’m ready to get saved.” It took several seconds for us to pick up our bottom jaws from the ground and fight back tears. Students broke into applause and the band played a few more songs in celebration. We decided to end the night by celebrating at Mariachi’s, the local Mexican food restaurant. The Chris I rode home with that night was a different person. I probed to make sure he understood the decision he was making. There was no doubt that he had come to grips with what God had done for him.

We continue to walk the journey of sanctification (the process God uses to set us apart for and to Him) with Chris and several others like him. Pray with us that God would continue to multiply Christ followers like Chris and bring more people like the old Chris with whom we can share our lives.

Another quick update on Lindsi…

The docs identified the bacteria: abiotrophia. They are waiting to verify that this variant of strep is susceptible to the antibiotic treatments she is receiving. She should be discharged if test results reflect this tomorrow (Monday) morning. The plan is to do 4-6 weeks of at-home Penicillin G and Tobramycin treatments through the PICC in her arm. Further echocardiograms will be done at the end of this period to monitor for severe mitral valve regurgitation that could lead to heart failure in the future.

We are asking God to completely heal the valve so that surgery is not necessary. Also, we continue to hear of more people each day who are praying for us and we are convinced that we could not have made it to this point of our journey without your prayers. God is so faithful. Thanks, again and again. We’ll continue to keep you posted.

Update #2

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

– 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Since the last update, Lindsi’s symptoms of pneumonia and leg spasm-cramps have been long gone. Last week, we experienced two “normal” days without a fever until Friday, when she began experiencing lower-left abdominal pain, which then spread to her shoulder Sunday afternoon. Once the pain reached a certain level, we came into the ER early Monday morning. The hospital staff were critically and urgently analytical and began running an array of tests and sent us home with some meds to help us wait out the results. We came back in Tuesday morning and Lindsi was admitted for IV antibiotic treatment and an echocardiogram. The echo revealed an infection in Lindsi’s heart (endocarditis), specifically in her mitral valve. Today’s transesophageal echocardiogram will provide for a more specific and conclusive indication of what we are dealing with. As of now, proposed treatment will include daily out-patient IV antibiotics for 4-6 weeks.

As we pass through the fog, we are realizing the continual story of salvation and preservation that God continues to weave. It may not seem convenient, comfortable, conducive to routine ministry, or cheap, but there is an underlying stream that makes all of this relevant to what He has called us: the gospel. Paul said it well, “For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.” Difficulty is another area of life that we must allow the gospel to permeate. I saw so much of the gospel through Lindsi’s patience with a new nurse who continually inserted a needle in the wrong spot on her arms. It’s moments like these that we need Spirit-induced swag to communicate the gospel through the way that we react and respond to them and our circumstances.

Please pray that God would strengthen us to bear His name in a way that brings glory to Him. Pray for Lindsi’s continued healing and comfort. Also, ask Him to orchestrate the last eight weeks of Lindsi’s nursing school. Thank you for all the support and kindness that you have already shown us. We truly bear a debt of love to all of you.

Much love,
Stephen and Lindsi

An Update on Lindsi and God's Goodness

So many of you are praying for us right now and I want to update you while there is a lull in the action. God has been so faithful throughout this entire time. In a nut shell, what seemed to be flu symptoms ended up being pneumonia settled deep in Lindsi’s lungs. The doctor prescribed antibiotics on Monday, and after five days, she seems to have kicked it. We are so thankful that the Lord prevented the pneumonia from causing other complications. Another issue arose Monday evening when her right calf cramped up in likes of a “Charlie horse.” The problem was that it remained spasmodically cramped. After some indications of clotting, the doctor arranged for an ultrasound on Wednesday morning. The results were not indicative of a clot. This caused the doctor to associate the cramping with Lindsi’s ten days of bed rest, and prescribed some muscle relaxer. After the condition worsened with swelling and discoloration on Friday, the doctor inspected the leg and ordered another ultrasound. Again, the results were clear. Next, a CT scan was done of Lindsi’s abdominal region. The results were clear, ruling out a vessel-kinking or nerve-pinching tumor, lymphatic swelling , and other potential issues. At this point, the plan is to relieve the swelling in her leg through homeopathic methods (ice, elevation, etc) and discontinuation of the use of any meds with the side effects of clotting. Visiting a vascular specialist may be necessary after further assessment on Monday.

All of this cannot go without saying how good God has been during this time. As C.S. Lewis wrote, “God, who foresaw your tribulation, has specially armed you to go through it, not without pain but without stain.” The pain is thick sometimes, but He has not left us to walk through it with bare skin. He’s clothed us with perseverance, wrapped us in the love of His church, and covered us with the prayers of the saints. In Paul’s words, “We have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.” God gets the praise for good reports when danger loomed in the form of a spot on a CT scan. He’s thanked when we realize the friends He’s given us when they are sitting with us at home or in the hospital. His love is tangible when we taste the warmth of a timely prepared meal. The Lord’s sovereignty is reckoned when we pray for healing . In all of it, His identity is projected into and through our circumstances. That is why we go through it, not that it is our choice, so that He can be seen.