On July 10th we began our road trip to the northeast and invited anyone along our path to contact us so we could stop by and say hi - Marty Holman called me while we were driving through Ohio, and although we did not get a chance to see Marty, I did have a chance to tlak with him on the phone.  I asked Marty if he would send me a note highlighting their story...I wanted to share it with you:

"It’s Marty Holman.  I’m a pastor here in New England and a super Catalyst fan.  I’ve been attending the Catalyst Conference for the last 4 years and am bringing a team of 5 from our church staff again this year!  I’ve been the pastor for just under a year of Fellowship Church in Holden, Massachusetts, which is a suburb of Worcester (the 2nd largest city in New England, believe it or not, with 172,680 people).  Previously I was an assistant pastor at this church for 9 years.  My prayer is that people would connect and be led into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ here in the Northeast just like is happening in other parts of the US and the world.  But it will take time and patience, and the willingness to step back and get out of the way to watch God use us in ways we never thought possible. 

A few months ago I put out a search for pastors in New England who blog and who are trying to reach this area in similar ways, and could only find one pastor (on google, mind you) that was headed in a similar direction.  This is a hard area with a lot of opposition. Most of that opposition, by the way, is from Christians who are stuck in deep-seeded religion, and are afraid to reach the unchurched with the gospel of Jesus Christ in a relevant way.  But there are pastors out here who are doing some amazing things to reach people...please pray for us that we continue to accomplish the vision God has given us here and that together we could start something that would radically change this area for Christ.  The potential is great!"

Thanks Marty for getting in touch with us!  If you find that we are in your area please don't hesitate to contact me directly (lv.hanson@catalystspace.com).  Your stories fuel the front line of the church; its an honor to share this journey with you!!!  Stay tuned, this week is planning week for upcoming road trips so check back for updates on our road trip map.  I can tell you we have ONE more extended road trip in the works and several local trips planned over the next 8 weeks.  Hope to hear from you soon!!!

LV
on behalf of the Catalyst Road Trip Team