What’s the Story of Haven so far?
Martin Boutros writes:
About six years ago, whilst serving at Diamond Valley Baptist Church, we identified the
new developments to the north of us as a good place to birth a faith community.
What was once pasture land, west to east from Kalkallo to Yan Yean and then north towards Beveridge is one of the fastest growing developments in Australia.
Over 100,000 plus people will be moving in over the next 10-15 years. And it’s on our doorstep!
So the dream was birthed to build a team that can prayerfully consider what sort of Christian presence and witness is needed in that area - and that it needed to happen sooner, rather than later.
There already are some fantastic community outreach activities happening in the west, out in the Epping North, Donnybrook and Kalkallo areas. We’re focussing in the areas more to the east, to the north of South Morang. That means doing the homework and launching a witnessing community in the general Mernda, Woollert, and Woodstock area.
I will be spending time this year in getting to know this area and it’s people, it’s stakeholders, businesses, schools, sporting clubs, associations, it’s challenges, its dreams. It will mean listening, encouraging, connecting, blessing, understanding and eventually discerning what God is up to. But we also want to birth a community of faith — people who live locally who can share in this work.
As Haven commences and the initial group becomes a ‘safe space in which we can explore faith with others and participate in the way of Jesus’ we are prayerfully hoping that others will join us. Together we would be asking: “What opportunities to serve is God opening around us? Who are the people of peace that is God bringing into our lives?”
As we discern together and build relationships we can come to discover opportunities to cooperate — maybe with with the estate developers or the local Council or the B.U.V. — and in time maybe to set up a third-space drop-in centre, or maybe a cafe, or a maybe a community centre or community garden or maybe even an op shop or a food-bank or a mainly music programme or a youth programme — but, of course, we don’t know as yet what the Spirit of Jesus is already up to; except, of course, that God is already at work amongst those peoples and places.
Please pray with us or wisdom and leading and for favour in the conversations that will emerge.
Pray too for leaders and partners to emerge and for the financial resources to undergird the project.