The making of a brave family
1st Section: Our New Story (must read)
2nd Section: Influences (extra thoughts if you have time)
3rd Section: Deeper Thoughts (extra thoughts if you have time)
Our New Story
I was recently driving back home from a video shoot in Harrisburg, PA. I was talking to God and asked Him about what he thought about us going mobile. “Going Mobile” meant taking our family, spiritual ministry, and film company on the road. The apostle Paul was very mobile, so I thought I should follow his example.
10 minutes later, I passed an RV for sale on the side of the road. We can’t afford an RV. We can’t afford to travel. How are we going to go mobile?
Literally a week later, this happened (see pic)…
For real. We are just as shocked as you are. We are going to sell everything we have to travel. We are going to hit the road very soon and take our family, spiritual ministry, and film company on the journey of a lifetime.
There are many details large and small as well as many unanswered questions. So, here’s a little FAQ. Be forewarned. Anything could change.
- Where are you going?
We don’t know. - Are you really selling all your stuff?
Yes. - What about school?
The children will be “road-schooled.” It’s a thing. - What will you take?
Anything that can fit into a backpack and the RV. We might put some items in storage. - Will you come back to visit Berks County?
Heck yeah! I gotta’ see my peeps’. Some my favorite people in the world live in Berks. - When are you taking off?
Tentatively, November 2016. - What do you need?
We need to hang out with our friends as much as possible. We understand the busy fall season is here, but we need to hang out with you! You know who you are : ) - How are you feeling?
All the feels. Excited. Sad. Stoked. Scared. Etc…
No, for real. What’s your plan?
Okay, okay, we don’t have a specific plan, but here are some dreams…
- Plant a church every 6–12 months
- Travel to LA to work on a movie
- Continue to develop the Virtual Reality Church Experience as well as virtual reality in general.
- Overseas travel for ministry, virtual reality, and movie production. Hong Kong, I’m looking at you : )
Finally, we are looking to make “headquarters” based in Fredericksburg, VA, where the Soto side of the family lives. From there, we will launch into tours just like the apostle Paul did back in the day. Thanks so much for your support, love, and encouragement.
Influences (Extra thoughts if you have time)
Warning: Don’t read this book. If you do, you might join us on the road. Which would be cool though. One of the key points of this book is you don’t have to be rich to travel the world.
Warning: Don’t watch this trailer/movie. If you do, you might join us on the road. Which again, would be cool. #caravan #wanderlust
Warning: Don’t read this blog of a family of 14 that lives in an RV full-time. http://www.kelloggshow.com/
Deeper Thoughts (extra thoughts if you have time)
When we left our campus pastor position from the church we served at, friends and family asked what was next. Honestly, we didn’t know. We had some ideas of church-planting and innovation in church ministries, but we didn’t know exactly what we were doing.
Before we resigned, we started making hardcore plans to “launch an official ministry” with logos, strategies, websites, and the whole “nine yards.” However, we felt like God wanted us to hold off on making concrete plans. This was a bit difficult for me, but then I realized we needed some time to relax, rest, work hard, and most importantly, get into a position to rewire the brain to receive fresh vision. Working in an official ministry position can be a wonderful thing, but sometimes it’s hard to discover the uniqueness of your calling, gifting, and destiny when you are serving in a pre-defined role.
In this new season, we are amazed to see how we are growing leaps and bounds. It’s hard to explain. I think it has to do with aligning our lives to our calling, gifting, and destiny. It’s like the brain is “leveling up” every day.
Unexpected things have happened.
- We were blessed to pioneer in the field of virtual reality with the first virtual reality church experience.
- Sonata 7 Studios, LLC. (our video production company) is transitioning into a film studio as well as a virtual reality studio. Think less corporate videos and more films and virtual reality content.
- Our vision for church planting remains strong with a desire to focus on doing things that no one else is doing and going where no one else is going. We want to be true innovators for the church while at the same time enhancing the traditions of ministry.
We don’t know how it’s going to go, but we are excited to face this new season with courage, character, and confidence.