Sixty-five miles. More than an hour and fifteen minutes each way—if traffic was light. Twice a week for a year to be with people they would never run into in their daily rhythms. To learn how to be people that used the whole of their lives for the glory and mission of Jesus.
This was how Mars Hill Church Olympia began over seven years ago. A few people drove from Olympia up to Ballard twice a week, first to worship during a Sunday service with people they did not know and again to participate in a community group. And all because Jesus awakened something in their hearts when they heard the Word of God preached. He stirred them when they saw people living on mission and engaging with lost people to see them saved and discipled by Jesus.
Now in our fifth year as an official church location of Mars Hill, we have just moved into a permanent home. After five years of being a nomadic set-up-and-tear-down church, after five locations in those five years, after an office space—a simple warehouse—where we stored the trailer that hauled all of the physical elements of our Sunday services, we are finally in our first home.
To tell you that we’re a little excited about our first home would be one of the biggest understatements of the 21st century. We are like the kid with five bucks in a candy store. Over the last three weeks, we’ve had over 200 people working in the new building, painting over 20,000 square feet of walls, door frames, and doors, doing demos, and remodeling throughout the entire building. It is simply amazing what an army of passionate, mission-driven volunteers has done together for the glory of Jesus. And there’s still much to be done. We’re right in the middle of painting the entire auditorium so that the audio, video and lighting system can then be installed. After that we will finish the remodel of our stage platform, followed by the signage and branding throughout the building.
Continue to pray for us as the majority of all of this work is being done by our church members and volunteers who come to the building after a full day of work to work late into the night. It’s a big sacrifice. But it’s a sacrifice we’re willing to give to see Jesus use our new home as a place that we’re praying will see thousands of people saved, baptized, and discipled. Join us as we continue to pray for the cities in the South Sound region. Pray that the Spirit of God would draw people here. Pray that we would be active to engage with them by loving them well and sharing the gospel clearly and passionately, and then welcome them into the family of God.
