If God allows, in 30 days, Shainu, Hannah, and I will pack the last of our stuff into our car and leave Boston. That’s awesome….and that sucks.
In one sense, it’s awesome. We really feel like God is calling us to Philadelphia to plant 7 Mile Road. I came to Boston almost 5 years ago for seminary. At the time, I would have never imagined that God would call me to pastoring or church planting. Really, that’s not an exaggeration.
The other day I was talking with Joe and he asked me if I remembered a conversation we had five years back at the beginning of my first semester. At the time, he asked me if I knew what I wanted to do after seminary. I said something like, “probably go for more schooling, and try to get a job teaching at a university or a seminary.” He asked me if I thought about being a pastor. My answer, “NO WAY.”
And yet now, I don’t want to do anything else. I can’t do anything else. We can’t not move to Philadelphia. We don’t know what lies ahead – success or failure – but we sense God’s calling so strongly that we have to give our lives to the planting of 7 Mile Road. We long to see hundreds of folks come to know Jesus and His grace. That could happen through the ministry of 7 Mile Road. That’s awesome.
But that means leaving. Leaving a city that we have come to love. Leaving jobs where we have flourished. Leaving a church where we learned mission, discovered grace, and rediscovered the Gospel. Leaving a community where we fit in perfectly like a piece of a puzzle. Leaving friends that have become our family. Seriously – these guys have become mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers to us. It’d be one thing if Boston was lousy and we couldn’t wait to get out of here. It’d be one thing if we were running away. We’re not. We’re leaving a place and people we love. That sucks.
Bitter-sweet. That’s how we’ve described this season. We’ve tried to be upfront and honest when people ask how we’re doing getting ready to head to Philly. So when you remember, please be praying for us in this season of transition cause it’s a sorrowful joy.
by Ajay Thomas
Ajay lives in Philadelphia with his wife Shainu and their kids Hannah and Micah. He is responsible for preaching and vision as a pastor at Seven Mile Road.