When I came to be the Executive Director/Treasurer of the Dakota Baptist Convention, one of the first actions I did was to call together a task force to develop a strategy and plan that would lead us to the year 2020. The plan that was adopted is a part of this Constant Contact. This plan was put together in the midst of a lot of changes that were happening in our partnership with the North American Mission Board and a lot of changes on the field. These changes were good and we continue to enjoy a good, productive relationship with the North American Mission Board. We have become more effective in church planting, our Cooperative Program giving from our churches has grown, we have started moving toward offering more support to existing churches and church planters, we have started the DBC Leadership Network, added a full-time state staff person for Church Health and Leadership and have been working toward discovering and implementing a church revitalization process for Dakota churches. We have seen God work as churches have moved from conflict, crisis and sometimes chaos to health, growth and peace. God has worked in undeniable ways and we have much to give thanks for.
In the midst of this, I believe that God is asking us this question: "Where to now?" I would like to ask you, as the leaders of our churches and our convention to join me in prayer to find the answer to that question. I am not asking for a task force to be formed or for us to get something on paper by a certain time. I am asking that we take time and listen to God's voice. Ask him to speak and lead. In the mean time, we will continue to work on our 2020 goals, and seek God's fresh leading for the future.
As we pray and seek God, let me give you this foundational statement that David Platt shared recently at a meeting I was in. He said what we have said to the churches, "We can do it, you can help." We need to say, "You can do it, how can we help?" I want us to be a convention that says to our churches, pastors, church planters and leaders, "You can do it, how can we help?"
In Prayer,
Garvon
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