Road Trip Update August 29th, 2014

Today is a new day. 

That is a very important reality for the Furious Five every day we spend here in Chicago. We are spending long hours in the ICU waiting room and at Gerry's bedside with Julie and he is showing improvement each hour, and each day brings new challenges and celebrations. Physically, he is making a very strong recovery. His vitals are good and we have been waiting for him to wake up, be responsive and start speaking. Today, he did.

Today (and everyday so far) Tommy is doing a great job caring for Julie and Gerry. Today (and everyday so far) Rob has been a tremendous friend to all of us and has been praying and encouraging us all to keep looking up. Today (and everyday so far) Sixx has been helping with every thing he can get his hands on with a passion that is rooted in his love for Christ. Today (and everyday so far) we are determined to fulfill our new goal of standing in the gap for the Stoltzfoos family and the Freedom Valley Network at large. I hope we are doing an ok job.

Thank you all for you prayers and support! They are invaluable to us and we feel when they are being sent our way. We have endured some intense lows and horrific circumstances since Wednesday, but we have also seen God's hand at work as we go along our way. Jesus is doing miracles everyday here and I know there are many more waiting for each day. To have Gerry speak today confirms that we are on the right track with recovery and God is glorified! So today (and everday after), this was a good day.

I'd also like to say that his doctors, nurses and the hospital he is staying in, Advocate Christ Hospital has taken very good care of Gerry and his family and they deserve a lot of the props for Gerry's recovery.

Please DO NOT STOP PRAYING for Gerry because today is good news, because everyday is a new day (with new challenges and goals). 

On behalf of the Stoltzfoos family and the Furious Five, we thank you for continuing to pray for Gerry's full recovery!!

jeremiah

Road Trip Update as of August 28th, 2014

The Furious Five started out on Monday morning with a plan to make an impact on others without realizing the impact this trip would have on us. Monday night, we stayed near Cleveland OH and stayed with Jeff Davidson and his wife, Amber and their amazing family. They showed us tremendous hospitality and allowed us to use their garage to attempt to repair a broken fork seal on one of the bikes. Our bike mechanic Sixx worked hard most of the night to make it road worthy and we started out Tuesday morning with high hopes of reaching Iowa by Thursday.

We hit the road after a great morning worship time and drove on to our destination for the night when the fork seal started showing signs of trouble again. We stopped in Chicago and formulated a plan to fix the fork seal for good. 

On Wednesday morning, we split up (like any good Scooby Do gang would) so that we could most quickly and efficiently repair the faulty seal. As we waited for Gerry to meet up at the agreed upon rendezvous, Tommy began to be concerned and so Rob and I began tracing any possible route Gerry might have taken. With God's help (and no idea where he might have gone), we came upon his bike, lodged under a tractor trailer. Gerry had already been taken by ambulance to the hospital and we were given very little hope for him.

But we serve an amazing, miracle-working God!! And God has been doing miracles left and right!! 

Yesterday began with a very clear goal to get on the road heading West. Today the goals are very different. Today we just want our good friend and pastor back on his feet. Please stop and say a prayer for him before you read on.

Gerry is doing better than we could have imagined this morning. Actually, he is in pretty good shape, but he is definitely not out of the woods yet. They hope to take him out of sedation today so they can work at getting him on his feet again. He is recovering well. Seeing the scene afterwards, I would have assumed his condition to be much worse than a few sores and bruises. Please pray that he wakes up well and heals completely and quickly!

The accident happened near an industrial park in Peotone, IL on Wednesday morning around 9:45am by my estimates. The bike ended up under the tailgate of a tractor trailer rig and got wedged in. We didn't actually see the accident, so the police will have to reconstruct it. I won't try to determine the cause here.

For now, we are all very glad we have not lost him and we are praying furiously that he will make a full recovery. After that, I believe he will return back to his mission with greater focus and clarity than ever. 

Today, the Furious Five are still five and we are still furious. Now we wait to see what God will call us to next! Look out Devil! :)

jeremiah

URGENT! Cross Country Church Planting Road Trip!

Dear Friends and Family!

I have been given an amazing, last minute opportunity to join Gerry Stoltzfoos and a team of church planters who are going state by state to strategize with potential planters from across the country! This is an unforeseen turn of events that has me bursting with excitement for what could happen. Our hope is that this trip will allow us to speak into the lives of these new church leaders in venues that could cause them to make the final leap into church planting! Of course, we want to learn some new things ourselves as well as we seek God on the road and in a critical consultation with a church planting guru who has been affectionately called the "Yoda" of church planting. We are leaving on Monday, August 25th for this two week stateside missions trip that will entail at least 4 church planting summits in 10 states!

To be successful, we will really need your prayers during this time for safety and true power from the Holy Spirit! I would also ask you to lift up the spouses and families of those going (including Cori and the kids) because they will be holding down the home front while I am away. This is the reason I am writing to you now. Would you please commit to covering our team in prayer as we cover over 6,000 miles in two weeks?!

The cost of the trip is substantial, but Cori and I are willing to cover the cost entirely by faith if nothing comes in because we believe in the strength of church planting. The total cost is around $3,000 for gas, lodging, food and expenses and so I want to invite you to be a part of what this trip produces if you have a desire to sow some financial seed with me.

If you have the desire to help financially,
Please make a donation to the Intersection Church and put "Church Planting Summit" in the memo. Donations are tax-deductible and can be given to me in person this week or mail it to
1980 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg PA 17325.

Every dollar, prayer and happy thought is appreciated, so please consider partnering with me and this wild-eyed group of church planters through prayer and generosity and keep checking this blog for prayer updates during the course of this cross-country missions trip that is engineered for HUGE eternal impact!

Thank you!
Jeremiah and Cori Herbert

From Dream to Reality

Many of you already know that the Intersection Church had the special privilege to dedicate it's new playground recently. That ribbon cutting was a powerful time for Cori and I as we reflected on the process God took us through from dream to reality. Six years in the making, The STREET playground was filled with laughter for the first time because of the faithfulness of God's people to a dream that God placed in our hearts. Thank you to EVERYONE who was behind Cori and I over the last few years! 

I have included the text for that dedication service below for you to read if you did not make it.

Jesus Blesses the Children

"Jesus was always in the business of blessing children.

He valued the simplicity and whole-heartedness of their faith

He went out of His way to bless them…

He gave them value in a world that did not value them."

Matthew 19:13-15

13 One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could lay his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.

14 But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” 15 And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left.

"Cori and I were a part of the last generation that grew up playing under the streetlights of our neighborhoods."

When we were children, we would play without fear of danger.

• We would create relationships with other children and families that

could strengthen us when our own family life was uncertain.

• We would pour out our youthful energy running, jumping and from place to place without a smartphone or tablet to keep us occupied.

The world has become a different place for children in so many ways…

Taking our cue from Jesus and His example of love in valuing children, we began to dream of a playground that would be like the street that Cori and I grew up playing on.

The Street playground we are dedicating today is a result of that initial dream that God placed in our hearts back in 2008.

It was a team effort through and through and we can’t thank God enough for the team of people He has given to us to make this dream a reality.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to:

Administrative Lead- Cori Herbert

Project management- Johnny Brown and his team

Family Ministries Coach- Jenn Vintigni

The staff and volunteers of the Intersection church

Austin Pritchard

Jack Godinez

Mike and Violet Reindollar

Many donors with in our church community gave gifts, large and small

Dedication

We dedicate this playground as a place where broken families will be able to mend among the laughter of their children.

We dedicate this playground as a place where children can feel safe, knowing that it may be the only safe place in their lives.

We dedicate this playground to the community of Gettysburg and the families who live here.

This will be a place where they will experience hope.

This will be a place where they will experience joy.

This will be a place where they will experience love

...in a world where love is hard to come by.

We dedicate this playground on behalf of a God who is love.

This playground is a gift to our community and we acknowledge that God is a giver.

Prayer and Dedication Given by:

Jeremiah Herbert

Playground Dedication 

August 9th, 2014