It's rare to meet someone who impacts your life after the first meeting. My friend Christopher Coleman did exactly that. When we first sat down, I found myself telling him, "Enough". It was not because our conversation was uninteresting, but I was overwhelmed by his words. As a father of a child who had disabilities Christopher changed the way I see both my son, and myself. I went to hear him speak at North Metro Church and I knew I wanted to expose others to his life and ministry.  Enjoy!

Our journey has been an interesting one lately, as we are in the process of planting Vertical Church. To lead a church is a challenge. Make no mistake about it, being a pastor is different than being an entrepreneur. If you want to be a business leader, then I encourage you to open a McDonalds or barbershop. Not that owning either is any less respectable, but when a business leader goes home, they don’t have to think about the homes of their workers. A pastor must not only be concerned about the “business”, but the struggles and successes of people they lead. That is a massive difference.

Add to the struggle of being a pastor, the challenge of starting something from scratch. Anyone, who has been through the process of creating a new and vibrant work where there was none, can get a glimpse of what we have been facing. Add to that, my own unique call to reach college students and the urban poor, and you can more fully understand the task we have been given.

I find myself waking up exhausted and wondering why I am doing this! Then I remember that God is the one who calls people into what He desires to do. The fact that He has called us to do this tremendous job is incredible. That doesn’t decrease the challenge, but it gives us courage. I have been driving through the area, finding myself near tears at the thought that God could do something amazing there. Now that the college students have returned to the campuses, they are buzzing around, and I am reminded of my passion for the campus and urban community.

We are intensely searching for more financial supporters for both our family missions fund and for the church as a whole. We are hopefully wrapping up a location for our next few worship gatherings, along with sound equipment, musicians, and singers. Two big things that have happened is our website www.verticalATL.com is up and running and we recently received a donation of $15,000 from New Life Church in VA.

Supporting Vertical Church –Donations sent to P.O. Box 11480 Atlanta, Georgia 30310 or visit us online @verticalatl.com

Supporting the Boyd family – Donations can be made on-linewww.hhmin.org then clicking the make a donation icon on the home page, then select the Donate to Helping Hands Approved Projects icon, then select Ministry on the category drop down list, then select DamianZarat Boyd 

When doing something as crazy as starting (planting) a church you must be prepared for challenges that test both your faith and resolve. I have been a part of new churches before, so I thought I was prepared for it when it came to Vertical Church. But, of course when it’s your moment, things rarely go the way you plan. One of these tests came recently, and it shook us while reinforcing something we already knew, God plays too much!

We like most church planters have a lot to do with little financial resources. We were getting very low recently, and we were looking for opportunities to increase them. Also, our church needed funds so we could effectively begin our ministry. I was invited to speak at an amazing church in the Washington D.C. area, so we saw some light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. In between the two services this church presented us with a $15,000 check for Vertical Church. Awesome! Humbling to be supported and encouraged in this way.

But, the twist came when we returned home. There was a mistake made by the hotel that caused our check card to be accidentally charged and our account had $-130 in the bank. We needed to eat, and our cars needed gas, and this issue would take at least 3 days to be corrected. This was a freak out moment! We flew into action to fix the problem, but we had some immediate needs. With stress and worry creeping in, I told my wife that I couldn’t believe that God would fund our church in this amazing way and allow us personally to go down financially. I choose to believe that God would take care of it. But, emotionally we went from the mountaintop to the valley in days.

The very next day my wife got an email from the organization that manages our ministry fund. We set this up so people could support us as we worked as urban missionaries. This we had a minimal amount that jumped to over $2,700. Mind-blowing! Within 3 days our church had the pre-launch funds it needed, and God provided for my family for another month. It reminded us that this is His story, which He is bringing together, for His church. We simply get to be a part of it.

We don’t fully know what the future hold for our family or for Vertical Church, but we know they are both safe in the arms of our loving Savior. It’s funny to me that God lets us get to freak out moments (when He could have kept it from happening) to come through in a way that He is the sole reason for our success. That is how He works and yes, He plays too much. 

My 35^th birthday is upon me. I am looking at the journey my life, and I am pleased with the direction and tone of my life in a way that I never would have dreamed. I find myself more confident, more focused, and more in love with the man I am and am becoming. I have spent most of my life either hiding in others’ shadows, or afraid of my own. I am finally, embracing the truth about who I am; and that is a flawed guy, who is loved by God, and that makes me believe I can do anything.

I have began a new portion of my life and excited at the though that, Vertical Church is almost here. But, that creates a whole new area of emphasis and is requiring me to risk more than ever before. Starting Vertical church is a turning point in my life. I don’t know what the future holds, but I am anticipating great things. I get a chance to go back into an urban environment (which is what I grew up in) and into the college context (which is a passion of mine) and for both I am grateful. I believe that God is up to something amazing in my life, and I am enjoying it.

It’s taken a lot for me to get to a place where I am comfortable in my own skin. Because of that, I am fiercely fighting to accomplish all God has for me. It’s scary knowing how vulnerable my family is now that we are taking this risk, but thank God they are 100% committed to seeing this through. That alone is a major blessing! I rest in the truth of the scripture, “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:24

One of my main responsibilities as a lead pastor of a new ministry (Vertical Church) is to be the primary fundraiser. As of yet I have failed to see the ‘fun’ in fundraising. Why? Because, it’s just hard! You see, my wife and I are undertaking a huge risk to touch an urban area of Atlanta (West End/Vine City) that is in desperate need of change. This risk has cost us quite a bit personally, but the anticipated result will, we hope, overshadow this temporary difficulty. Our challenge has mostly been financially.

One encouraging thing is the amount of people who are interested in helping us succeed. If we had a dollar for every person that asked how he or she could help, we would need very little. But, it’s a curious thing to see the people’s reaction to my response to that question. I generally start by asking for continued prayer as that is our primary need. Then, I mention that we need financial support for the church, ourselves, for our son, and I watch their eyes quickly glaze over. It seems like people, although well meaning, get a little funny when you talk about money. Which is a challenge when doing work that requires donations. Hilarious!

I recently met with a gentleman that has been in the missionary support realm for decades, and he said something that was interesting to me. He said, “The challenge as an African American, is that many black churches especially mega churches, don’t support any efforts that don’t directly connect to what they are doing”. If this is true, it’s not only sad, but shows why there is a great need for a church like the one we are starting. My perspective is that missionary support is a new concept for many people.

The Bible says, “But if a person has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need and that person doesn’t care—how can the love of God remain in him? Little children, let’s not love with words or speech but with action and truth.” 1 John 3:17-18 This is not a scripture that you hear people share very often, because it is tough! So we are so grateful to those who do, and have gotten behind us in this way. It encourages our hearts as we continue to talk to loved ones and potential supporters about our current needs. It’s not fun, but we are willing to traverse the choppy waters in order to impact the lives of people who need what we are doing. Our faith continues to rest in God’s secure arms. 

Please pray for us and consider supporting us as we continue forward in this journey.

Supporting Vertical Church –Donations sent to P.O. Box 965161 Marietta, Georgia 30066

Supporting the Boyd family – Donations can be made on-linewww.hhmin.org then clicking the make a donation icon on the home page, then select the Donate to Helping Hands Approved Projects icon, then select Ministry on the category drop down list, then select DamianZarat Boyd 

If you have questions, ideas, or suggestions, contact me at damian@damianlboyd.com