Shauna Pilgreen (@shaunapilgreen) is a friend and fellow church planting wife who lives with her husband and three boys in San Francisco. When my family and I went on sabbatical in 2013, I saw first hand her love for Jesus, her enthusiasm for church planting, and her desire for His name to be known and praised in her adopted city. In fact, after spending time with her, I brought home a renewed passion for my own community and practical ideas to implement that she'd shared with me. Shauna is, simply put, an inspiration, which is why I'm happy to tell you about an ebook she's written called Living Sent- 31 Days in the City, made available today for free by Send Network. I've asked Shauna to share about the ebook on my blog today. Here she is:
Do
any of these describe you?
- I’ve just moved to a new place.
- My family is considering church planting or a ministry move.
- I don’t know much about where I live.
Living
Sent - 31 Days in the City was compiled and lived out in our first 31 days in San
Francisco, where we moved to plant a church and engage in a culture far
different from what we had known. The book recounts the planned adventure for how we met our
neighbors, engaged with a diverse culture, and began opening our home to
others.
You can use this as a guide in a month when the kids are on summer vacation or spread it out over the course of a few months. Or you can take your seven favorite ideas and create a fun, community-engaging stay-cation out of it.
I
believe this to be true: the most alert you will ever be to your town or city
is right when you arrive. And call it a 'move' if you must, but by the end of
these 31 days, I hope you see it as 'sent.' It takes us humans time to figure
out why God does what He does. For us stubborn ones, we might not figure it out
this side of heaven. That's where perspective comes in. Sent is a move with
purpose. This is the perspective I want you to see. The job, the family
circumstances, the opportunity, the fill-in-the-blank, that has uprooted you
and plopped you down again, has purpose. Your new zip code. New address. New
neighbors. New surroundings. They matter in perspective.
Here’s
the exciting part. Send Network believes in this concept and in seeing ministry
families and Gospel-centered families thrive in the places we call home. They
are gifting this book as a resource to you for FREE! You can download it here. (And while you're there, pick up my ebook, Partners in Planting, for free as well!)
To you, the new ones to your town or city...may God
grant you the courage to explore. To embrace a new culture, a new process on
how things operate, a new community. To you, the ones who are comfortable where
you live...may God give you a fresh new look at your surroundings. What's that
part of town that still needs your footprints? {excerpt from Living Sent - 31
Days in the City}
And if want a little more than 31 days? On Shauna's website, you can get an extended version of the ebook, which offers over 10 additional
chapters full of highly practical and useful ideas for Living Sent, such as 31 days of prayer, craft
ideas and recipes, templates
for neighbor gatherings, family structures, and celebrations, practical
ways to invest in your kids' school, and a teaching
lesson called God of the City.
Thank you for your wisdom and ideas, Shauna!
