The Women at The Well is a group of 11 women who have said they would like to walk with other families toward truth, wonder, and faith in Jesus. Today, we had our first meeting to set identity; discussing who we are, what we do, and how we do it. We’re excited to see the fruit of this group and the many lives that will be affected by the spring within us. Jesus said, "whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:14) So, it is from this place of abundance that we encourage, equip, sharpen, and care for one another while we fulfill this mission God has for us all.

In 2019, Chris and Angie Lynch, Travis and Jenny Lewis, and Philip and Lacey Lynch got together to pray for God’s vision for mvmt network. At the time, the whole network consisted of three churches that were all in Houston. God spoke and told them to have faith to pursue a vision of reaching 11 Cities with 4th generation churches by the end of 2025. You may not have realized that was the overarching vision that we were pursuing, but that 11 Cities vision has influenced your church and all the other churches in the network.

You’ll notice that we just crossed the vision’s end date. We are still gathering data on everything that God has done, but it’s clear that He has grown the network to be about 40 churches in 7 cities across America with additional work in 4 cities overseas. It’s incredible what He’s done! But He’s not done yet.

Philip, Chris, Travis, and Rodger recently gathered with seasoned movement practitioners, Bill and Susan Smith, to plan and strategize for the year. We asked the question, what is God’s vision for mvmt network for the next 5 years? What does he want us to pursue until the end of 2030? We didn’t come away with any definitive answer from God, but did recognize that more people need to be praying alongside us for this vision.

Would you pray with us? Would you pray that God would tell us our part in His vision that He wants the whole network to pursue together? He may share part of the vision with you and another part with someone else. So if you are led by the Spirit in this regard, please share it with those who are leading your church so they can pass it on to other leaders in the network. Together, we can hear Him and be confident and unified in mvmt network’s part in God’s vision. There is only one Head of the church, and we are confident He will speak the vision He wants us to pursue together.

M* fled Morocco last year after the government captured and beat him for saying things that he thought would improve their city. He left his wife, his kids, his family and community for a place where he doesn’t even know the language. In North Africa he was a barber to the elite. In Houston he became a gas station attendant.

But for the first time in his life he met a Christian. They didn’t speak the same language, but the Christians he met were kind. They took time to try to communicate. They took time to try to listen. All of his life he was taught that Allah wants all Christians to die. “How could Allah want death for these people?”

Two nights in a row M* had dreams that he couldn’t shake. The first was a nightmare filled with snakes and scorpions. The second was a vision of Jesus and the most peace he had ever experienced. He didn’t know what they meant but he had to know.

On the other side of Houston M*’s childhood friend had quietly come to faith the year before. M* didn’t know that, but he knew that B* had traveled the world, experienced a lot of things, and thought he might know what these dreams meant.

B* was ecstatic to share the good news with M* after he heard his dreams and tell him that he had already believed. That might M* believed in Jesus for his salvation. “Everyone needs to know this good news!”

God is working among North Africans in Houston. Over the past few months 2 more North Africans have believed with the 3 new believers also baptized! They’re gathering regularly and learning to be the church. They want to see every North African in Houston know Jesus. Pray that they will persevere in their new faith, boldly share with others, and see many more come to faith in the coming months.

This morning, believers gathered in my house to be the church together. This is an answered prayer and a huge step for the work in Kansas City. Very excited about how God will move in and through this group in the coming months.

Houston is home to 70,000 Iranians and 25,000 Afghans who are 99.9% lost. Over the past two months two Iranian brothers have been trained to make disciples and start new churches with Iranians and Afghans in Houston. A few weeks ago they shared the Gospel with an Afghan woman in her 60’s. When she heard the good news she told them about a very real dream she had of Jesus a few days before.

She had been waiting for one of her sons to be able to come from Afghanistan to the US. When she heard that the US wasn’t allowing Afghans to enter the country she was distraught and worried for her son. That night Jesus came to her in her dreams. When she woke up she had a peace that she had never felt before.

A few days after they first shared the gospel with her, our brothers met with her to give her a Bible and learned that she is illiterate, so they offered to return and help her set up an audio Bible on her phone or bring her a physical audio Bible. During their short visit, they shared the Gospel again. She fully understood and prayed to trust Jesus as king. Tearfully, she reiterated that the Lord had answered her prayers and shown His love by placing His people in her path.

Her son that’s already in Houston also wants to read the Bible with them. Also, an Afghan lady in the same community recently had a dream of Jesus and trusted Jesus as her king. This lady’s mom is a devout Muslim but shared that Jesus came to her in a dream as well.

We’re praying that these people will begin to read the Bible together and a new church will form to bring the gospel to more Afghans in Houston.

In February of 2023, a group of Christian moms in South Houston, TX, led by Elizabeth Parsons, became affiliated with Wild + Free; a collective of mothers who wish to give their children a quality homeschool education while preserving the adventure and wonder of childhood. The vision was to create a seedbed for the gospel to be both shared and witnessed in friendship, and to see mothers and their whole households come to faith. Every month new moms from all different walks of life were joining and it was very exciting! A woman named Jamie was convicted to be baptized soon after the group formed and in April, a Bible study began by a mother named Jean, and the topics discussed were our identity in Christ, obedience, respecting our husbands, and the discipline of children. The children even had their own child-led study they did together, rotating who leads. It was hard finding the balance with their toddlers and babies, but they persevered; keeping them right beside. In the summer, the group went through a refining time. The Bible study no longer met, and there was an urgent need from one of the women that went largely unmet, so Elizabeth made a call for more genuine love and care for one another in the group that would require some sacrifice. Some took offense, some ignored the call, but some answered so those that remained became closer and stronger than they once were. Two women named Safira and Beth lead the next study with such giftedness, and they have now passed the baton to Rachel and Angie to lead the next. Elizabeth became connected with the Blomstrom family through W+F and a farm tour they were hosting then, and within a few months they started gathering with Movement Church in Alvin, TX and opened their farm weekly for our growing church of now 21 adults and 13 children, and they have been maturing in such a beautiful way. The Spirit manifests in each person differently to build up the body, whether in song, prayer, word, or deed.  The Bay Area W+F homeschool group has now multiplied and now has a sister group in South Alvin with a need for more leadership. Please pray leaders continue to rise to the places God desires them to be so that more mothers are reached in the greater Bay Area and churches form, bringing more glory to God. Also, for the continuation of maturity in Movement Church; that each person would lean into their giftings, and for the new church that they pray comes forth.

On May 25th, Heart Movement Church in Austin appointed Steve and Paul as Elders! This has been really exciting for us, please pray for these men as they step into this role.

It’s been a while since we’ve posted on here but I wanted to encourage y’all. It’s been about a year since we started this house church journey and we’ve been blessed beyond words. God has brought people from quite a few nations and backgrounds across our path and we have seen atleast 10 people come to faith in the last 12 months and we are seeing second and third generation believers. That may not sound like that many but it is huge to my wife and I. We could not be happier with the path we’ve taken to help the kingdom of God grow in Houston and how he has used us. Trying to move towards God has also brought on much spiritual warfare and retaliation from the enemy but that is what we should expect being on the frontlines for Christ. Ultimately he has the victory and we should celebrate that fact no matter the circumstances we find ourselves in. Last update, we welcome our friend into the family this past Sunday after reading with him for over a year. He decided to take a step in obedience to Jesus and get baptized. Although we love our river baptisms, Mike preferred a pool/font so we were lucky to have friends at a local church we partner with allow us to use their facilities.

Leaders from 4 cities gathered a few weeks ago for our annual Movement Network city leaders retreat. This is always an opportunity to learn from what God is doing through one another and continue to grow as we seek His Spirit for what He wants us to do in the coming year. This year we dug in to what it looks like to start, strengthen and sustain a work of multiplying disciples and churches. This fostered great discussion and action steps. We will be implementing our learnings and passing them along to the whole network in the coming weeks.  Keep pressing forward until we have no place left for the gospel in our cities!

A couple of months ago, Movement Church - Alvin (yes, that’s a place, not a name) gathered for a family meeting to discuss an important question: How can we better serve the children in our church? We’re a small but growing community with 14 kids ranging from 16 months to 15 years. During our meeting, we affirmed a truth: while parents bear the primary responsibility to disciple their children, the church is tasked with fostering unity in the body by helping everyone actively participate in being the church—including the youngest members. This conversation sparked an important realization: while our gatherings are rich and meaningful for adults, we needed to take a closer look at how we’re meeting the spiritual needs of the children.

What Scripture Taught Us
To guide our decisions, we turned to Scripture to understand God’s heart for children in the body of Christ. Here are some of the key passages that shaped our discussion:
•Deuteronomy 6 and Exodus 12: These verses remind us to live as a community of believers in such a way that our children will naturally “ask” about God’s statutes and promises. As they inquire, we are called to faithfully tell them about God’s works and ways.
•Matthew 19 and Mark 9: Jesus’ teachings in these passages encourage us to welcome children into the faith and ensure we do not hinder their exploration of who He is. With this foundation, we committed to investing in the spiritual growth of our children as a church body.

Introducing “Kids Church”
One practical step we decided on was to take one gathering every two months and dedicate it entirely to engaging the children in a way that speaks to them on their level. This approach allows kids to actively participate in every part of the gathering while learning about God in a meaningful way. For our first “Kids Church,” Ashley, a single disciple in our church with a deep passion for children’s ministry, stepped up to lead the evening. Staying true to our 3/3rds pattern of gathering, we reimagined the structure to empower the kids:
•Prayer and Worship: The kids took the lead in prayer, worship, and even the Lord’s Supper.
•Discovery of God’s Word: The teaching time included coloring, discussion, and interactive storytelling to engage children of all ages.
•Setting Goals Together: Both adults and children worked together to set goals on how we could live out the Kingdom of God in our everyday lives.
The result? A vibrant, joyful evening where kids weren’t just spectators but active participants in the life of the church.

Why This Matters
“Kids Church” will hopefully be a reflection of our commitment to raising the next generation in faith. By creating spaces where children can explore, ask questions, and contribute, we’re not only teaching them about God—we’re equipping them to be the church now and in the future. As we continue this journey, we’re reminded of the beauty of the body of Christ: every member, from the youngest to the oldest, has something valuable to offer. At Movement Church - Alvin, we’re excited to see how God will continue to grow our children and our community as we walk together in faith.

As followers of Jesus, we are called to embrace and continue the legacy He has set before us. We are entrusted with the mission to share the gospel, plant seeds, and watch those seeds grow into beautiful trees that bear good fruit. The commandments of Christ begin with repentance and belief, followed by the act of baptism, which marks the beginning of a transformed life in Him. It has been such a blessing to witness the Lord’s marvelous work in my dear friend Sasha’s life. Sasha has taken the bold step of being baptized, publicly declaring her faith and commitment to Christ. It is a beautiful reminder of the power of God to change hearts and lives, and I am excited to see how He will continue to work through her as she walks in faith.

This question has been on my heart all year: Do I want to reach my city, or do I want my city to be reached? The first question focuses on what I can do. The second points to what the church as a whole can do—together. In 2024, I committed to connecting, communicating, and collaborating with like-minded networks and laborers across Raleigh-Durham to pursue God’s mission right here. These efforts have fostered greater encouragement, stronger prayer, and clearer strategies among many leaders across these networks. Would you join me in praying that this year, these collaborative efforts would lead to an even greater multiplication of disciples and churches throughout RDU? The photo highlights all the gatherings currently happening in our area (not just movement network!)—a reminder of how much God can accomplish when His people work as one. (John 17:21) How can you collaborate with fellow believers in your workplace, neighborhood, school, or city to advance God’s mission?

On September 26, Lloyd and I contacted Casey from the Harvest Now! social media campaign.  She agreed to come to our gathering  (Movement Church, Alvin) as she was seeking community and fellowship with other Christ followers.  Since that first gathering she and her daughters have driven from Angleton (a 45 minute drive) to be a part of our gathering.  Her husband travels for work, but last week was home and able to come for the first time.  As of this past Wednesday  (we meet Wednesdays) Casey and her husband, Fernando, have committed to be a part of our gathering!

She had this to say: “Hello church family! I am so thankful to God that He has led me and my family to your home church. As the spiritual leader of our family, my husband’s input on the service and fellowship is paramount. He agrees that this church really feels welcoming and that the core message and values align with ours and we look forward to applying the message and commands of Christ to our everyday lives. We especially love the accountability model set up. We are discussing how to be fishers of men and have challenged each other to be bold and step outside our comfort zones.  Thank you again for a wonderful service last night. I love the call to action, fellowship and family feel. I look forward to next week as I put into practice boldness to speak to the unsaved about Jesus!”

A new group started in Houston this week to train these young professionals to multiply disciples. The first session of our 8 weeks was so good! They are excited to share the gospel, make disciples, and train others to make disciples. One of these leaders already started a new church a few weeks ago. Please pray with us for many new believers through these amazing young people.

Last Friday we got to have a brief time of training and then we went into the harvest with 5 guys, 3 of which was their first time ever sharing the gospel with strangers!  In total we engaged 9 different groups and we saw all of the responses to the gospel listed at the end of Acts 17. One story was especially encouraging and stands out to me. Cayden and Victor met Louis and got to pray for his ankle. In Cayden's words "We knelt down in public, put our hands on his ankle and prayed for healing while everyone was looking at us." After prayer Cayden asked Louis if he was near or far from God and he said he was far from God but has been wanting to learn how to get closer to Jesus! As they were parting ways, Louis said his ankle felt better! It's been hard recently to get follow ups with people so would you pray that Louis follows through with Cayden? That would be huge for us! It was encouraging to see the enthusiasm and energy that Dylan, Victor, and Ricardo showed for sharing. Would you pray for more opportunities like this and the chance to train more people to share their story and God's story in Kansas City so the gospel can go forth through everyday people. I really believe this is a key part of what it will take to reach a city.

On Sunday we got to gather the churches of El Paso together! It was an awesome time of fellowship and worship together. We are asking the Lord for more laborers, more disciples of Jesus, and to see the gospel reach every part of our city!

As newlyweds we blindly and faithfully moved to Houston from NYC exactly one year ago. We packed everything we could into a tiny truck and left everything else behind.  We had been called to reach Muslims with the Gospel and we had just enough to get us here. Once we got here it seemed that God had something else in mind.  When we first arrived we met other workers and were taking classes on apologetics, Bible history, etc and we were being prepared to share the Gospel with Afghan Refugees in the greater Houston area. While in these classes, we decided to work part time instead of raise support traditionally for our ministry. This seemed like a bad idea initially as we wanted to spend all of our time helping refugees and sharing but we persevered. After months of very little traction with our people group, we felt discouraged and spent many days praying for people with open hearts to come our way.  It seemed like our mission was failing and our friends quickly reminded us that it is God’s work more than any of ours. It’s not our clever words, our aspirations, our efforts that lead people to Christ but it’s his entire working in that persons life that is the driving force. His love for his people, his desire for them to be in relationship with him that leads people to repentance and salvation. We just had to be obedient and share when the Holy Spirit instructed us to do so and he would water the seeds. I (Alex) decided to focus on my part time job more than refugee ministry for a period of time once we finished our classes.  One day, as I was working at my job, a coworker told me there was something different about me and he wanted to know what it was. I went on to share my testimony and the Gospel with him as I stocked shelves. He was broken by the weight of the Gospel and he miraculously put his faith in Jesus that night and when I tell you a floodgate opened, it opened wide.  I was in awe to see what God was doing in my coworkers life and I wondered if this was an answer to prayer or an anomaly. “But I’m here to share with Muslims, not Americans” I selfishly thought to myself and God quickly reminded me of his heart for the nations and all people.  We prayed and asked God for clarity as we wanted to know what people group to pursue, Refugees or Americans. And he inaudibly responded, “all of them..”. Wow. What a game changer.  In my fleshly ignorance, I originally wrote off southerners as people who were over saturated with the Gospel and I told myself “everyone who lives in Texas has had to have heard the Gospel at one point or another so why bother with them”. Lord forgive my ignorance. Everywhere you go, whether small town USA or desolate desert village Middle East, there are lost people thirsting for living water, there are countless lost sheep in need of a Shepherd and God wants us to be obedient and share with them.  From that day we felt an overwhelming revelation that there is opportunity all around us, even right next door. In our neighborhood, in our workplaces and we started sharing with whoever we could. 1 profession of faith turned into 2, turned into 3, turned into 4. Turned into baptisms, turned into new workers. All praise be to Jesus, the only driving force of this work.  For the last 2-3 months we have focused on making disciples who make disciples. Teaching new believers to obey all that Jesus commands them as we see in the great commission. We felt a really strong call to gather as a church body, but my flesh discouraged me yet again. “This isn’t what we do in America.. we need a big building, a worship band, maybe some cool lighting and smoke machines?” But that’s what I was used to right?  The Bible is Countercultural, it always has been and it’s a tough pill to swallow. After much study and guidance, we found out we can actually do this. We can meet as the church in our small apartment and it is completely okay. We often hyper focus on what a church needs to be and we often forget what the beginning stages look like. A biblical church body begins with a group of believers who meet, break bread, pray together and commit themselves to biblical teachings. That’s the beginning.  Well here we are Houston, a 2 month old tiny home church with 7 regular attendees (3 new believers) and a pug named Lyla.  Following the will of God and the calling on our lives has been a journey of ups and downs and it has truly challenged everything I thought I knew about the body of Christ. We have had to deny ourselves, deny our fleshy ways and pick up our crosses daily, surrendering our will to the will of God and stay teachable. There are many details I had to withhold as there are not enough words to cover all God has done in our lives over the last 12 months.  I hope all of you reading this would be encouraged and know that you are not alone in the work. You are part of a large family who desire to see everyone be reconciled to God. Keep fighting the good fight and I pray blessings on all of your lives.

Today we saw three new brothers in Christ baptized! We didn’t know we would have three baptisms today but the obedience of the first two brothers led to the third!

Today, Movement Church had an opportunity to serve one of the families that recently started gathering with us. The Blomstrom family has a farm and had some issues in transporting some animals to their farm which left Gretchen to care for their 3 children & ALL of the farm animals. The church jumped into action to love & serve by helping with farm chores and had a blast doing it! What a beautiful picture of the church loving & serving one another ❤

Jude and Philip got to spend a few days in NYC with Tyler and Bethany Barber (apostolic missionaries Mvmt Network helped send out at the end of last year). God is working through them in great ways to reach Jewish unreached people groups. He is opening doors of partnership with Jews who have come to faith in Jesus and giving opportunities of relationship and Gospel proclamation with Jews who don’t know Jesus. Please take a moment to pray for Tyler and Bethany and the salvation of Jewish people in NYC.

Rene was destined for destruction from the beginning. At 13 years old he started his first prison sentence. By the age of 32 he had spent 14 years in prison, become a leader in a powerful gang, been on drugs and sold drugs, and had a list of destructive relationships.

But God's plan is always greater. For the last 18 months Rene has been discipled in his identity as a new creation and ambassador, he has shared the Gospel with many people who are far from God, and is leading a church in his home. He has a 14 year old son who loves Jesus and has trained a friend at school to make disciples. That friend helped his parents trust Jesus as their king!

Please pray for more faithful and fruitful laborers across our cities for God's glory to shine bright in every people and place.

(shared with permission - please don't post this story or any of its parts in any other place)

This past weekend, some faithful disciples went to Carolina Beach near Wilmington, NC for a much needed getaway! It was a time of rest for all of us as we deepened our relationships with each other, encouraged each other, and of course bummed it out on the beach! On Sunday morning we gathered on the beach for a time in the word and prayer. There was a guy who is coming out of a variety of spiritual backgrounds, including Catholicism, that we were able to clearly show the love of Jesus to. We also had another brother from a different church that we casted vision of disciple making and movements to. This verse is a highlight of our gathering on Sunday: “God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore the joy of your salvation to me, and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit. Then I will teach the rebellious your ways, and sinners will return to you.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭51‬:‭10‬-‭13‬ ‭CSB‬‬

During Blake’s spring ball, I got a chance to meet one of the boys Dad on the team. It wasn’t until the end of season party, on May 1, that I got to connect with Jordan and get to know him a little more. During that conversation we talked about God, shared my story, and he shared how he has always been agnostic to God. He told me at the party that my story moved him and he really thought that he needs God in his life right now. But he didn’t know where to start. He wanted nothing to do with the community church his wife wanted to go to and never got anything out of it. I invited him to study the Bible and he eagerly accepted. We have met twice and are reading through Mark.  Today he agreed to share the story of the paralytic man from Mark 2 with a co-worker. He is starting to read through Genesis on his own and wants his kids to interact with the Bible more. Also, two co-laborers, Jez and Nichole, got to join today. Please pray for Jordan. He is learning more about the gospel and surrender as we meet and discuss the scriptures. Pray that surrender will come and his whole household would come to faith.

Saturday the 25th of May. I stepped down as pastor of the Jesus Connection for a season. Robin Liken has agreed to work with the church until either my health improves or I continue to get worse. I do need your prayers. I’ve battled with this decision for some time. I lack the mobility and strength to continue as their elder. My heart rate has remained above 110 and sometimes higher. My doctors are still trying to determine why I’m losing control of my legs. All three of the specialists I see placed orders for me to have an electric wheelchair. Please pray the chair lift comes in quickly so I can have some mobility again. Love each of you!

Chris & Angie met Alex & Natalie a couple months ago through mutual friends. They moved to Houston from the Bronx last August and have been faithful to boldly love and share the gospel with the people around them. Two of their friends recently trusted Jesus as king and several more are leaning in. Sunday they gathered in their home as church for the first time. Pray with us for generations of disciples.