My tickets are booked for my first trip to London. I leave tomorrow, and man I’m excited.

Chatting with my British friends on Twitter and Facebook is the closest I’ve ever been to the UK. Technology is definitely shrinking the world, but a virtual glimpse is no replacement for the real thing.

I can’t wait to experience England in person. My agenda for the visit is pretty simple:

LEARN

I hope to learn a lot about the people, the culture, and the city. I’m curious to observe church life—how can we learn from what they’re doing to point people to Jesus? Is there anything we can do to help this greater cause?

I’ll be at the Acts 29 Church Planting Conference, and I am really looking forward to learning from the church planters there. It’s an honor to have Steve Timmis on the Acts 29 team, leading our church planting effort throughout England and Europe. He’s built an innovative movement through The Crowded House Network, and I’m excited to spend more time learning from him.

LEARN SOME MORE

Terry and Joel Virgo are godly men, a father and son engaged in ministry together for many years, and I have a lot to learn from them.

Terry founded Newfrontiers, a family of over 500 churches around the world. Joel recently took on the leadership of the local church in Brighton, where I’ll be meeting with him and the CCK team. I met Joel briefly at the Acts 29 Boot Camp in Seattle last year, and I’m looking forward to picking up where we left off.

DREAM

It’s no secret that Mars Hill has global aspirations, but we have a lot to learn—at home and abroad. Along the way, we’re looking for the right leaders and the right location to dream about launching our first international campus.

While not certain London will be home to a Mars Hill campus—our goals ultimately belong to Jesus—we definitely want to explore the possibilities. (Thank you to those who responded to the Mars Hill Global newsletter with ideas and prayers!)

London is one of our most active online audiences, and through our relationships with some good men and some good networks, I’m anxious to see what God may be up to. Our aim is to follow the Holy Spirit and trust his timing and his appointment of godly men for global church planting.

As we move beyond Seattle, our strategy is to build up regional centers that provide training and resources for additional new campuses and churches throughout a metropolitan area, a state, or even a continent.

We’re looking for godly men with strong character, leadership, and teaching gifts–and big vision to lead these flagship campuses in regional ministry.

REPORT

I’ll be posting regular Twitter updates during my trip, which lasts through next week. If you’re interested in our future plans for Europe, be sure to sign up for the Mars Hill Global newsletter and join our Facebook page to make yourself known.

Find Pastor Jamie on Facebook and Twittter.

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