“God used that to open my eyes to the need for new churches. Not only all around the world, but especially here in North America,” says Turley. He began to pray about the possibility of church planting.
“I felt like the Lord put a couple of desires in my heart—to get outside of the Bible Belt and to get to a major city,” says Turley.
After a trip to Boston to watch a Red Sox game—he’s a big fan—Turley began to ask the question: Why not Boston?
“It was through that trip that God started to stir my heart for this city,” Turley says.
New England in general is one of the most unreached areas of the nation. Turley explains that most of the people they meet have no understanding of who God is or who God is in Christ.
“We’re constantly reminded of the lostness that’s all around us,” says Turley.
“One of the things we really love about our community is the diversity that’s represented here,” he adds, referring to the college students who attend Tufts University, the young professionals who commute into the city as well as the residents who’ve lived in Medford all their lives—many of them Irish-and Italian-born.
“We have people from many ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.
“First and foremost we want to see people come to faith in Christ, believe in Him and worship Him with their lives,” says Turley. “You have to be prepared to engage people no matter their background or worldview.”
Planting a church in this context certainly brings it’s own challenges, according to Turley. “We’re forced to be on our knees, to depend on the Holy Spirit, to have confidence in the Word of God and not in our own wise and persuasive words.”
After a year on the mission field, he can’t imagine having accomplished what they’ve accomplished without his church-planting team— which includes all Southern Baptists.
“Southern Baptists are a big part of our story,” he says. “We’ve learned so much about partnership through prayer and support from churches all over the U.S.” Open Door Baptist is their main sending church, but they have about 10 churches that provide prayer and financial support.
After a summer of engaging the community through service projects and sports events, Turley is excited about what God has planned. “We cling to Christ’s promise to build His church and are trusting in His ability to grow the church and not our own ability.” OM
Carol Pipes is editor of On Mission.
ACTION ITEM:
To view a video about Tanner Turley, visit
www.onmission.com. Send North America: Boston launches in May 2012. To find out how you can take part, visit
www.namb.net and click on the “mobilize me” button.
32 Winter 2012 •
onmission.com
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