The reason we exist

The Lord invites us to follow Him into the wilderness, to discover more of Him—the Wild, Majestic Author.  Journeys into the wilderness encompass adventure, uncertainty and wandering; but if we allow it, they also get us closer to the heart of the King.

Part of the wilderness journey that inspired The Hesed Project began so long ago, when God asked Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.   Following Moses to and beyond Mount Sinai, we discover the concept of God's Hesed--His unconditional, benevolent lovingkindness that goes beyond the boundaries of covenant.  The Lord’s lovingkindness and covenant established in the Torah find their greatest expression in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ.  Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God's overflowing, unending love.  

The wilderness requires dependence on God and others.  Learning to follow Christ and experiencing spiritual transformation occurs while walking alongside someone who models what living with Christ as Love and Lord looks like.  Relational apprenticeship is intensive, intentional investment in an individual over time.  Relational apprenticeship is showing, teaching, learning and growing through daily living together.  Jesus actually invites us to follow and implement His model of discipleship, and He demonstrates what His way can truly accomplish.  Discipleship results in a remaking, in us genuinely becoming more like Jesus and then us showing others how to do the same.  As we undergo transformation, we also often experience healing from trauma, freedom from destructive behaviors, empathy for others' needs, and capability for loving action.

Adventuring is often a key aspect of wilderness journeys.  The Hesed Project invites individuals into the adventure of missional living--going out into communities and sharing Christ's loving action with others.    Adventures are not always planned, exciting activities.  Adventures are also the places where our circumstances take us into uncharted areas of struggle.  By walking with people, we learn that adventure might mean heartache and navigating despair due to death, unplanned pregnancy, addiction, health issues, or failure –all the places where trite answers cannot penetrate and only the boundless love of God can reach.  These types of unwanted adventures can conform us to Christ as we share in His suffering. The Hesed Projects equips individuals to adventure with our Great God and to share His lovingkindness in practical, proactive ways with individuals who desperately need to experience goodness.  

Risk is an inherent part of wilderness journeys.  Jesus asks us to open our homes, our families, and ourselves in new and challenging ways and create space for people to belong.  The generous gift the Lord offers through that risk is realizing a deeper sense of community.  Our souls awaken to how beautiful community can be when each individual fully participates and contributes their unique personalities, purpose, and attributes to make a wonderful whole that functions so much more powerfully than each part.  The Spirit stirs in us an intense urgency and a growing hunger for more of what the Lord has for His people, for His Church.  The Hesed Project is a wilderness path of trying to follow the Lord, wanting to know Him more, experiencing His great love and power, and investing in others’ spiritual journeys.  The Hesed Project is really about God’s goodness, deep longing and boundless adventures—this is our story about how God is unfolding His Greater and Infinite Story.