Why ‘As Family We Go’?

Family.

A word that can conjure up both joy and anguish at the same time. A word that means unconditional acceptance at the best of times, and rejection at the worst. We realise not everyone has a purely positive association with the idea of the “family of God”.

So then why “As FAMILY We Go”? Why bring family into it at all? Why is that controversial little word even necessary?

The answer is simply that it’s what God calls us. He calls us his sons and daughters, and calls himself our Father. We’re his people, the heirs of his inheritance. The family of God is an unlikely and wildly diverse group of people bound by Blood, and committed to pushing through the frustrations and joys of what it is to be messy, sinful humans.

Today as a band we’re launching a ministry movement we’ve called As Family We Go. It’s a network of churches, house groups, Bible studies, and faith communities who’ve partnered together despite their differences, around the united cause of championing the Gospel in their own immediate contexts. It’s a community of communities who have a passion to reach the world for Jesus. It’s a network for the ones who are committed to this idea of family. A collection of leaders and pioneers in the missional landscape of God’s kingdom. And even though the communities that make up As Family We Go are scattered across the world, we all gather around one heartbeat and desire to see no one goes uninvited into the family of God.

We’re all different, but united. Whether it’s crafting community among artists in Dublin, or serving and reaching out to immigrant families in Atlanta, or reaching the homeless in Pennsylvania, we’re coming together to paint a broader picture of what it looks like to be a part of the family of God. In order to grow as a family we must never stop looking for those on the outskirts, the ones wanting to be brought in, the ones who need to know it’s okay to have questions, doubts, cynicism and fear. If we’re going to seek the one lost, we need to be willing to leave the ninety-nine.

We aren’t anyone special, just a community trying to love like Jesus. We’re just a family offering the world somewhere to belong.

These next few months we’ll be travelling on tour. But we’ll also be meeting with church pastors, community leaders, kindred folk with the same heartbeat for reaching the world with the Gospel. We want to meet and share stories of hope, of camaraderie, of what God’s doing in the lives of the people around us. We want to pray together and ask for God’s kingdom to come here on earth.

We’d love for you to join us on this journey and introduce you to the people we meet along the way, and you can do that here at www.asfamilywego.com, where we’ll be sharing stories, videos, and resources we gather along the way.

Gabby has been involved in missions and church planting most of her life. First in Central Asia, and now on the road working as the written voice for Rend Collective. In As Family We Go, she works as the Creative and Communication director, collecting stories and connecting churches on the road.

6 Comments

  • jen aldrich
    February 23, 2016 at 2:46 pm

    This sounds amazing! i am with a community of believers in chicago (greaterchicagoarts.com) and wondering if you are planning any meetings with local churches / organizations while you’re here on tour? a handful of us have tickets already to your house of blues show. would love to meet you!

    • Gabriella Llewellyn
      February 23, 2016 at 4:23 pm

      Hi Jen! So amazing to hear about what God’s doing in Chicago. We’d love to meet up while we’re on the road these next few weeks. Shoot me an email and we can cordinate a time to grab coffee or something! gabby@rendcollective.com

  • Alexia e
    February 23, 2016 at 6:04 pm

    Ahh How ecxiting! The work God is doing in Fayetteville, Ar to reach the nations is aBsoluTely beautiful! woUlD love to share wIth you what God is doing In this college town and through this communiTity of belieVers. Looking forword to yall coming to Bentonville, Ar in just a few weekS!

  • Miggi iniesta
    February 26, 2016 at 7:23 pm

    this community that you’re cultivating is inspiring. One, becuase as Paul says, Christs body was not divided, as his church, his sons and daughters should not be ethier. as we are united by His blood. Two, THis idea of unity and diScipleship is something god laid on my heart last septEmber. I serve in youth and young adult ministry at my church and my intership is prepAreing me for pastoral youth ministry in a local missionary context. I like to say im a “jack of all trades but a master of none”. God has bLessed me with a diverSe set of spiritual gifts, so all of last september i was deeply in prayer About how i could use my gifts to build his kingdom and glorify him, and god answered my prayers. He laid on my heart to start a ministry in my valley that 1. Unifies the churches 2. Serves our community and 3. Provides a chance for pAstors and youth leaders to have fruitful CONVERSATION that leads to discipleship. WIth their Youth. In november 2015 Two youth Groups got together, went out and Did a community service project. Then we came back to church and had time of worship tOgether as One chuRch. Since then, we’ve been doing this every other month and tHis ministry (which we’ve been operating as ‘We Are One’) has gone from two youth groups to Five Different youth groups of different denominations! God has blessed Us! So hearing about The as family we go movement is a Huge inspiration! Knowing thaT god is not only moving in our hearts here in california for A unifed church, but also in the Hearts of our brothers and sIsters in christ from around the woRld! God is good! Our leadership team Would love to get together with your team and discuss this more, share both of our visions! If youre ever in the soUthern california area (Riverside/San DIego) please let me know! Would love to learn more and pray together. Grace & peace -Miggi

  • amanda
    March 1, 2016 at 10:41 am

    This is so awesome! i”m not sure why my computer is typing in all-caps, I guess it is excited too! Please come to canada – we need this too. blessings to you on your american tour.

  • Beth Doherty
    March 19, 2016 at 12:59 pm

    Tickets booked to see you in Bristol in may but had no idea about this movement until half an hour ago!!! My husband and I (with our two tiny daughters) are planting in a town just outside of Bristol. We reach young families doing outdoor activities trying to be a community of people exploring faith in natural ways. We’d love you to pray for us as we continue to invite the families we meet.

Leave a Comment