Searching for answers

First of all I wanted to say “Thank you” to all of those who have been praying for my son the last week. It means a lot to me to know that there are so many people who care for him. Even though at this point we have more questions than we have answers, it’s comforting to know that people are surrounding us with prayer.

So, what is going on with Trey? Good question!

In December,  Trey started complaining that his neck hurt, which we dismissed as nothing more than sleeping in the wrong position. My self diagnosis was that he needed to get another pillow to sleep on. (That is why they call me Mr. Compassion.) The neck ache never stopped.  In fact, it spread throughout his entire body causing what Trey describes as a war going on inside his body.  He says it feels like he is being stabbed, constantly. Some days the pain is worse than others, but it never goes away. He said he can’t remember the last time he wasn’t in pain. It has become difficult for Trey to go to school because the pain makes it hard to concentrate.

A few weeks ago we decided there was something more serious going on & took him up to a dr’s office that had a walk-in clinic. They ran blood tests, but told me that it was possible that he was just experiencing severe growing pains. The blood tests came back and showed that his thyroid levels were elevated, we were being sent to Children’s Hospital for further testing, and they would treat him with thyroid medicine. We were to hear from Children’s in a couple of days and be seen within a week. That never happened. A week later the Dr told us to take him to the ER there because he was in so much pain (which didnt respond at all to pain medicine) and he needed to be seen there to possibly speed up the process. There they took more blood & x-rays. Well the ER Dr decided it wasn’t typical of the thyroid to do this, she wanted him to see a Rheumatologist, even though we had the blood test saying his thyroid levels were high. She did give him naprosyn (Aleve) which helped the pain level go down from a 9 to a 4, so we were happy about that. However, she told him to take 2, 2 times a day. 4 Aleve is a lot for a 13 yr old, and his stomach didn’t handle that well…and it made him shaky and light-headed. That was when we finally let people know what was going on by facebook. He was miserable and we felt helpless and we needed others praying!

On Wednesday we had our appointment with the Rheumatologist. He was very thorough and of course, took more blood, including more in-depth thyroid tests as well as some tests to rule out some cancers. When we left he said he was going to see what he could do to get us in to the Endocrine Department because he didn’t see anything rheumatology related. So, that is where we are now. They haven’t returned our phone calls today about the results of the tests. The Endocrine Dept called today (from 1st round of blood work) to schedule an appt. It isn’t until March. We really can’t stand the thought of him being in so much pain for 4 more weeks, not to mention miss more school. We have a call in to the Rheumatologist to see if he can do anything to move it up or at least put us on a cancellation list. Please pray with us that we could get in sooner and find some answers!

New Arrival

The launch of Relevate Church is less than four months away and we are praying that God continues to guide our steps. We are planning 3 pre-view services and planning on a big marketing campaign starting this month. God has gathered a good team that desires to reach Lawrence and we can’t wait to see what God does through His church.   

Not that I know what it feels like but starting this church is kind of like being pregnant. At first it’s a big thrill with lots of anticipation. As the pregnancy continues it brings changes to your entire household, lifestyle and appearance. When the day gets closer you scramble to get everything ready for the arrival of this gift. As we made the jump to move to Lawrence the anticipation and excitement was off the charts. As we made the move it brought all kinds of changes to our lifestyle. As the day of launch gets closer and closer I’m scrambling to get ready for the arrival of Relevate Church. When Wendi was pregnant with Trey she was given a “baby shower” where she received blankets, a stroller, diapers, etc…  I’m throwing a shower for Relevate and instead of buying baby stuff I’m asking for people to donate needed items or money to help us purchase these items for the birth of Relevate Church.

Baby Registry for Relevate Church

1.        Sound Board                                       $800

2.        Speakers                                               $1000

3.        Monitors                                               $500

  4.        Microphones                                    $500

 5.        Headset Mic                                         $400                                                       

6.        Mixer Rack                                             $300

7.        Video Projector                                  $1500

8.        Storage Trailer                                    $3000

9.        Software                                                   $400

10.     Video Camera                                       $1000

11.     Staging                                                        $2000

12.     Children’s Stuff                                    $2000

13.     Bibles                                                           $400

14.     Marketing                                                 $500

If you think that you or your church could possibly help with any of these items on our registry please contact me through my email bbrillhart72@gmail.com or call my cell 814-227-7704. Please consider helping us reach Lawrence with the hope of Jesus Christ and I hope that you look at this has a chance to make a Kingdom investment and a partnership with us.

I believe in Santa!!

On Saturday morning, December 17th, Relevate  hosted our first ever event, “Breakfast with Santa.” Arriving at the school that morning I was very unsure of how it would go. I have been doing events for churches for over 16 years and never in my life have I ever been so worked up over a simple breakfast. It wasn’t the planning of the event, it was wondering if anyone would come. Needless to say God came through again! From start to finish the room was packed with families enjoying time together while our team walked around introducing themselves and talking about Relevate. Below are some of the stories that happened that day.

Since arriving in Lawrence it has been my prayer that God would allow me  connect with people who have  influence in our community. Saturday I was able to talk with one of those people. He is our insurance agent and through the breakfast we met and made plans to do lunch and talk about marketing Relevate.

Wendi and I had met one of the mom’s from Mylie’s class a few months ago and found out that she was the daughter of a Southern Baptist Pastor. At the time I told Wendi she would be a good contact and we should get to know her. At the breakfast she stated that she had been telling people about it. In fact she is trying to set up play dates with some “Country Club” moms so Wendi can get to know them.

I had put this earlier in a blog, but our neighbors are from Pennsylvania. In fact, she played softball for Clarion U.  They came to the breakfast and had a great time spending time connecting with our team. The next day I had an email from them  asking me what time our services were. I have always thought that they would try out Relevate but thought they would wait until we launched.  Looks like they may be  joining us soon!

Two members of our launch team work as math teachers at Lawrence High and have been sharing with their co-workers about Relevate. It was very cool to see them hanging out with those who they invited to the breakfast and talking about the purpose of our church…even to one claiming to be an atheist!

I sat down and talked with a lady and her daughter and  found out that they had been invited by “Abby from Pennsylvania.”  Abby Emery had only been at her new school for 3 days and already spread the word about the event. In three days I’m not sure I would know anyone’s name much less invite them to an event.

It was truly a God thing and once again I’m humbled to be chosen to help start Relevate in Lawrence, Kansas.

I can’t believe I’m writing this… “I miss that hill”

Today we went to get our Christmas tree (yea, I know, a little late!) We loaded up the kids and  headed to… Ace Hardware’s parking lot. For the past 6 years we have gone to C & A Tree in Clarion, PA. We climbed that huge hill with saw in hand to pick out the perfect tree, cut it down (sometimes kick it down) and then drag it back down that huge hill. An activity that I never thought I would ever miss, yet as I stood in the parking lot picking out a tree (that had been spray painted green to look fresh) I thought to myself there was something missing. I know it’s just a Christmas tree, but today I was reminded of the sacrifices my family is making to be a part of this adventure, even if it’s just about picking out a tree from a hardware store’s parking lot.       

The Brillhart family is doing really well and can’t wait for Christmas. The kids are counting down the days and the girls even have Christmas outfits…not sure where they are going to be wearing those Christmas outfits!

Shayla turns 11 tomorrow (Dec 15) and is very excited about having some of her friends over to hang out this weekend. She is also very excited to have her room finally painted (purple) and getting a new full size bed. I’m very proud of her and her spirit. I can’t wait to see how God uses her and I know that she will be a huge witness for Christ.

Trey had a great Thanksgiving with the arrival of his best friend, Ty, who flew in from Clarion to see him. It was fun to see Trey and Ty acting like nothing had changed! It was a great few days for him while they laughed, (more like giggled) filmed, and watched a lot of movies. Things have changed a lot for Trey the last four months but I’m very proud of how he is growing and how God is shaping him for big things.

Mylie is doing good and is still keeping life fun. She can’t wait until Santa comes, but is trying to figure out how Santa is going to get into our house since we don’t have a chimney. She still loves school and her friends there. She is also happy to have Brook Emery here to play with now!            

Wendi is going to do something she hasn’t done in over 13 years…work outside the home. When we came to Lawrence the only job that she said she really wanted was to work for Hallmark sorting/stocking merchandise in local stores, like Walmart. Well a couple of weeks ago Hallmark called and she will start training tomorrow. Even though it will be nice to have a little extra money her main desire is to be a stay at home mom and a great supporter for me. I grow to love her more and more each day and I feel so privileged to have her with me on this journey.

I have started working this month at UPS helping deliver those Christmas packages. It’s been fun doing something that I have never done before, but I don’t believe I will continue to sport the brown after December. I’m beginning to get really anxious about 2012 and what God is going to do with this God given vision.

This is a big week for Relevate Church as we will be hosting our first ever outreach to our community, ” Breakfast with Santa,” on Saturday. Please be in prayer that through this event we will be able to make some really good contacts and that our community will be able to see our heart and love for Jesus. We will also be having our first pre-view service on Sunday, January 22nd and just to write that scares me to death!!

Lastly, I wanted to thank all those who have been supporting us through prayer and financial gifts. God has been using you to help make Relevate a reality. We are still in need of  more support both financially and through prayer. If you would like to begin supporting us please message me back or send your support to Grace Community Church 4300 SW Burlingame Rd Topeka, KS 66609 and write (Relevate Church on the memo line)

24/7 principle…the gospel all day, everyday!!

A couple on our launch team John & Rachel, were walking into the city library and they were having a conversation about a friend of theirs who was going to Bible college. Upon entering the library they noticed that a girl they had walked past had followed them in. The girl followed Rachel to the water fountain and then asked if they had been talking about a Bible study. Rachel explained that they were not, then followed with a question of her own. “Are you looking for a Bible Study?” The girl explained  how she was strugging with some things…basically she is lonely and needing answers, searching for something “more” in her life. She heard the word “Bible” come out of Rachel’s mouth and wanted to know if she could help. They have met for coffee and been communicating regularly since that meeting and come to find out the girl’s name is also, Rachel.

John 1:14  “The word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.”  We are trying to live as Jesus did, living a life that attracts those around us to the hope that lives inside. People will only be drawn to a restored life when Jesus and His love story for us is the main thing. The simplicty of a church that is only about Jesus makes it easy to pass on.  

 I have been studying Acts in my personal time and I’m amazed at the boldness of those called to spread the message and how creative they were in bringing up the gospel. The results were amazing and I feel that we are getting to plant Relevate thanks to the boldness of the disciples in Acts. One night the Lord came to Paul in a vision and spoke a message that I personally am taking  and claiming as my own. Acts 17:9-10 “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.”  I know that it’s God’s plan for us to restore this city back to Him and there are people here that will be joining us in this journey.

Update: We are all excited about what God is going to do through Relevate and if it was possible to start next week everyone would love it. Starting a church takes tons of preparation. We need to create focus, structure, gather a team, raise money, build relationships and much, much more.  Our team gathers every Sunday to prepare and pray for April 8, 2012, which is Easter Sunday. Join us in praying that things would fall into place as we prepare to reach our city with the gospel through a church called Relevate.

Coming in the next couple of weeks… www.relevatechurch.net!!

The family…

First of all I want to say thank you to all of you who have been supporting the Brillhart family either through prayer, money or both!! Life has been a crazy ride over the last few months but God has been very faithful to us and continues to shower us with blessings. We love living in Lawrence and enjoy all of the activity of living in a big university town. Continue to pray for our family as we strive to imitate Christ so that those around us will desire to follow us in this journey.

Wendi and I recently went to another church planting assessment in Minneapolis, MN with the church planting movement called Converge. We spent a week with 5 other couples who are desiring to do huge things for God. Although I can’t say that we enjoyed everything about the assessment process and at times felt like lab rats, we did pass and will have the support of a church planting movement which will be for us personally as well as Relevate. While in Minnesota we did get a chance to stroll around the Mall of America and the Ikea store across the street…obviously the highlight of the trip for Wendi.

Trey recently found out that his best friend (Ty) will be flying in to visit us during Thanksgiving break…needless to say he is very excited! Finding meaningful friendships in school has been tough for him but I’m really proud of him and his attitude during this tough transition year. He got mostly A’s & a couple B’s on his report card, so he is doing really well. He has also discovered one advantage of living in a bigger city is a bigger library! The library has a huge media center and you can check out 10 movies at a time, and they get new releases, too. If you know Trey, then you know how big a deal that is.

Shayla had her first music program of the year last night and all I can say is that it was the best one I have ever been to. The reason may be that is was by far the shortest one I have ever been to…starting @ 7 and ending @ 7:20…20 minutes and it was over! Shayla is doing really well and making tons of friends. The last few weeks she has been able to be the lead news anchor for her school’s tv program, which she had to apply for. If you would like to check out her anchoring skills then visit www.langstonhughes.usd497.org and then click on LHTV. Since she has been on her school’s tv station she says that kids have been saying “You are the girl on tv!” I think she kind of likes the attention.

Mylie is the same Mylie, she continues to keep life interesting and fun. She loves school and all that comes with it including chasing the boys at recess. In fact she came up to me yesterday after school and said that she and the girls were pretending to marry the boys at recess. WOW! Wendi and I are going to have our work cut out for us. Mylie is also making good friends and has been on a playdate with her good friend from school.

Wendi is staying busy taking care of all of us, which is a huge job.  She is excited about starting a Bible Study with the girls on our core team which will begin on the first Thursday in November. She recently found a really cool coffee shop in downtown Lawrence that reminded her of Michelle’s in Clarion and can’t wait to frequent it. I feel so blessed to have her as my wife and I can’t imagine doing this with anybody else. I love how we are so different in our likes and dislikes and personalities yet God has knit us together and it works perfectly.

I’m still in the process of finding a job. For some reason it’s been the most difficult thing to find here in Lawrence. God has been faithful and we know that He will continue to provide but I would like to find a place to work that I would be able to meet people in our community. I’m very excited about what is going to happen here and I can’t wait to get started. The website should be done in the next two weeks, our first outreach is in December and planning a preview service in January.

Again I wanted to say “Thank You” to all who care and love us!!

We love you guys!!

The Brillhart’s

                                                                      Pumpkin carving time!!

                                            This was taken at the KU/KSTATE football game. Can u find Trey?

                                                                     Pumpkin Patch

What is a win??

For anyone who knows anything about me you know I love to compete. It really doesn’t matter what the game~racquetball, ping-pong, Candy Land or whatever~just as long as there is a clearly defined winner. In my desire to compete, and most of all, win, I have picked up a reputation for changing the rules in order to make it easier for me to win. I have been known to change a rule or two in order to make the game more fun What I have found is that when you change the rules or the purpose of the game in the middle, it frustrates all those who are playing. This process of changing the rules in the middle of the game also happens in business and too often in church.

How many times have you gone to your favorite restaurant just to find out that something was different. The customer service was all of a sudden terrible, the food had gone down in quality and before too long it wasn’t your favorite restaurant anymore. This process also happens in church when the people fail to know what the purpose of the church is. When the people of the church start making the church more about their likes, then the mission of the church starts to go off course. That is why I believe it’s so important to spend a lot of time on our mission in the beginning so we are clear on what Relevate will be about and what it won’t be about.

Simply put, we need to define what it looks like to WIN when it comes to Relevate Church. How do we know when we are achieving God’s mission for Relevate?  We spell out a win with three R words…

Restore.  The primary reason for starting Relevate church is to let the community of Lawrence know that Jesus died in order to restore us back to our Creator, to bring us back to the joy of our salvation. We studied Romans 5 where it states that because of Jesus we can now reign with him and how Jesus justified us and restored our relationship with our Creator.

Raise. Seeking to raise the value of God, family and others. In Luke 10 a smart guy asks a really stupid question when he seeks how to inherit eternal life. The reality is you can’t DO anything to inherit it, you just receive it and raise the value of it by spreading it to others.

Reproduce. Seeking to reproduce change in ourselves and others. We use the example in I Cor 11:1 where Paul states “Imitate me as I imitate Christ.” Our desire is to continue to reproduce change in ourselves while we try to bring others along with us.

 This is our mission and strategy and as a church we will celebrate the win every time God blesses us with a restored life, a chance to raise the value of others by serving and as we continue to reproduce life change to others. Please pray that Relevate will begin to see wins in the months to come.

Update: On Friday, October 28th we will be having a cookout. The purpose of this is to invite people that we have met to come hang out and hear our vision in a non-threatening atmosphere. Pray that God will continue to bring people to us and that we would recognize opportunities to invite people to join our team.

December 17th we are planning a breakfast with Santa for the community. This will be our first outreach as Relevate Church and hopefully a chance for us to meet lots of families in our area. Pray that we will get permission to use the building and that plans will come together. We want this to be a win for Christ most of all and to also be able to serve our community in a fun and unique way.

Wendi says I need to blog more of the personal stuff that is going on…. So I will be putting out a personal blog tomorrow to update you on what is happening inside the Brillhart house.

Friends for life!!

Over 17 years ago I started in full-time ministry as a single youth pastor in Champaign, IL at a church called Bible Baptist. Since I was a single guy my first job was to find a married couple who were willing to be crazy enough to hang out with teenagers. The couple that I found was a lady who was kind of tall and a guy who resembled Barney from the Flintstones. As I sat down with them it didn’t take me long to realize that not only would these two be great youth leaders but they would also be people I would love to have as friends. I feel very blessed to have come in contact with the McDuffy’s and know that their friendship is a gift from God and I’m a better person because of the things I have learned from them. 

My desire for Relevate Church is to create a church that people are coming together and finding friendships that will last a lifetime. Too many times church is known for the divisions that are caused within the walls of the church rather than the relationships that are made. Relevate Church desires to raise the value of each other and to love our neighbor like we love ourselves. True friendships will only happen when we desire to raise the value of another. When a church becomes more about us rather than the one we are gathering to worship it eliminates the chance of finding meaningful lifelong relationships. My prayer is that Relevate would love God and desire to serve Him for a lifetime and because of this love we would love each other and those around us.   

Update:

God is bringing people our way with little effort on our part to this point. The plan was to start inviting people to be a part of the core team starting in October but we have added 5 people in September. We will be hanging out again this weekend and meeting for Bible Study on Sunday. I’m praying for 35 core team members by the end of October~ would you join us in prayer for that goal? I would love to have over 50 people committed to Relevate before we launch in April.

Please pray for me as I will be going to the principal in the next couple of weeks to ask about renting the school. Pray that she will give us the green light and that it would be a great partnership. I want the principal to know that the desire of Relevate is to create a better community and I would love for her to swing the doors wide open to us.

God has laid an event called “LOVE LAWRENCE” on my heart and I’m still processing the details and logistics. What I dream of is uniting the churches and businesses in our community to meet a giant need in our community. Please pray that I will have clarity and direction as I cast vision for this event to other pastors and businesses in our community in the coming months.

Continue to pray for my job situation… God has been faithful!  Thank you to all of you who are generously giving to us, but I would love to get a job so I can use those raised funds for outreach and marketing for Relevate.

So, back to the McDuffy’s. This past week my family and I enjoyed a trip to Disney World with Jeff, Jill, and their oldest daughter, Jennifer. Disney 2011 has been in the plans since Mylie was born and we were definitely ready for it!!  We laughed a lot, played a lot and I even slept well for the first time in months.  Thank you Jeff & Jill~we love you guys! The problem with all great vacations is that they end too quickly!  The kids were not too excited about coming home and going back to school. Keep praying for Trey that God will bring him that one great friend that he is looking for and that school will become less stressful. The girls are doing wonderful in school and have made some good friends already.

Thanks again to all those who are placing their trust in us by supporting us either through financial gifts or through prayer. God bless you!!

Brandon

Loving the uncomfortable…

Last Saturday we were at the KU football game along with 40,000 other people. KU is not known for being a great football school but the game was very exciting. Lots of scoring from both teams and the game came down to the last second. Among all of these people screaming and going crazy at the excitement of this game I look down and see my son Trey sitting with his arms crossed acting like he is bored to tears. Trey is not a football fan and doesn’t really feel comfortable watching an athletic event.  As the picture portrays, Trey wasn’t having a great time at first but by the end of the game he began to smile and enjoy himself. This is a picture of what our life looks like at this point.

God we aren’t sure about this, God I really need a job, God how is this church going to come together…. We sit there with our arms crossed saying “God you know I need this, when is it going to happen?” Since moving to Lawrence I have studied the life of Elijah and a constant theme of this prophet was that he lived in the uncomfortable. Standing on Mt Carmel with 450 prophets of Baal opposing him and telling him he was crazy. Talk about uncomfortable!! Elijah remained faithful and God worked through him. I can’t lie, there have been many uncomfortable moments for me since I have moved to Lawrence. There are still many things that I lay awake at night asking God~how is this going to work, how am I going to provide for my family? In my doubt God shows me Who is in charge and how it’s going to work by doing what He did this weekend. For the first time in my life I’m learning how to love the uncomfortable.

This past Sunday we met for Bible Study in our home and we doubled our attendance from the week before! Sunday was one of the best days that we have had since moving here and it was  total confirmation that God is going to do some huge things here in Lawrence. There were 11 people physically in our living room and the Emery’s joined us through the blessing of technology. We discussed I Corinthians 9:19-23 where Paul says that he will become all things to all people so he can reach them. We had some great discussion about the methods that we will use to reach people. In fact the discussion was so good that by the time I looked at the time it was past 1 PM. The really cool part is that 4 of the people sitting in my living room were people we have met here in Lawrence. God is bringing together a group of people and the cool part is we had nothing to do with it.

The core team is forming: A young couple who were just married in July and  moved to Lawrence  the same day we did happened to find Relevate when they googled church plants in Lawrence and my blog popped up. Crazy!! They posted their interest on the Relevate facebook page and we met up on Saturday. They are a great couple who were a part of a church plant before they moved and we believe they will add a lot to the core team. We had one of Leslie’s teacher friends here with us this weekend as well. She is from a multi site church in the Kansas City area and she brings tons of ministry experience. She just happens to teach right across the hallway from Leslie and she is new to this town, too.  We also had another young man join us who heard about Relevate through his parents reading my updates on facebook.  He is a senior at KU and is engaged. The cool thing is he is from this area and has a lot of good contacts in Lawrence. God is building  His team and we are just hanging on for the ride.  

Thanks to everyone who is praying for the Brillhart’s and those who are supporting us financially. We believe God is going to do some huge things here in Lawrence and we feel very privileged that He would choose us to be a part. I hope that you feel that way by partnering with us.

Brandon

Month #2

As September approaches I can’t help but be anxious about what God is going to do through Relevate Church. If it was possible I would start services this week, yet I know God has some ground work that needs to be done before we launch.

 The purpose for Relevate hits me every Sunday morning as I watch my neighbors run, do lawn work, or wash the cars…basically anything but go to church. Lawrence is filled with people who love their family. Many have sacrificed to put their families in beautiful homes, put the kids in the right activities and they will make sure their kids get the best education. The problem is that many of these families are placing all their efforts into things that are temporary   (I Corinthians 3: 12-13)    My prayer is that Relevate will be able to be a part of God’s mission to Restore this community back to Him.

We began meeting last Sunday night with Dustin and Leslie Dougan  and started dreaming  about Relevate Church. We will start meeting every Sunday morning in our home with Bible Study and Prayer starting this Sunday. We have also invited a few others to join us as well.  Please be praying that God will add to our core team and that God will unite our hearts together for our community.

This week I started to volunteer at the girl’s elementary school, Langston Hughes, which happens to be the location that God has laid on my heart to launch the church. Pray that God gives me favor in this school with the teachers and administrators and that doors will be open to Relevate Church.  I went in and met with the principal this week to see where I could be of help. She welcomed me to come in anytime to help inside the school and mentioned needing help with landscaping, too. I have already discovered that during the big school carnival they have trouble finding helpers. I told the principal that my goal is for our church to run the carnival for them in the future. I want Relevate  church to simply bless the community we live in. In doing this, the people of God will reveal God’s heart to those we live closest to.

 

The first of September brings the end of our health insurance which means another big expense. I have found affordable insurance around $300 a month but that is expense that we didn’t have to worry about in the past. Our prayer is that someone would come along and help us pay for this expense and ease the financial burden of insurance. If this is something that you would be willing to help with for the next year please email me back or call.  

Please pray for clarity on the job situation for myself. I have been applying for all types of  jobs, but nothing seems to be opening up. I want to trust God and his providence, yet I also want to be a responsible provider for my family. Please pray that I will have clarity on this job situation.

Thank you all for your generous gifts during the month of August. It has been a month of getting adjusted to our new surroundings and making a home here in Lawrence.

Thanks again for making all this possible and being involved in this God sized project.

Brandon