Starting a church is a strange experience. We were so blessed, to begin with, a team of 32. Some of them I approached, some approached me and all were approached by God. In fact, only a third of those I approached decided to come in the end.

So there was a group of us and now there is almost a church which has been causing me to reflect how one turned into the other.

My realisation has boiled down to two things. The first is the grace of God. It is absolutely remarkable that we were able to gain any traction on this vision and that others are willing to follow at all. That’s all on God. As is the other component. I have been reminded again and again of the power vision has.

The one thing we all have in common is we have been captured by this vision. On our team are people who have been closely walking with Jesus for years and those who are only just starting to grasp His ways. We have Pentecostals and a catholic. We have people passionate about worship, social justice, evangelism, the environment, leadership and praying in the spirit. There are single mums and grandparents. Young couples and large families. People who are single and those married for years. We are all so different.

The one thing that holds us together is the faith we have in Jesus to embrace his vision for us.

That vision has driven us, guided us, challenged us and pushed us forward. It’s been the stake to which we’ve tied this whole endeavour and it has been planted in each of our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Church planting has highlighted for us the importance and power of realising and clinging to a God-given vision. Without it, we’d still just be a group of random people.