The more days that we are in the city of North Port, the more things we find to love. It is so exciting to see the boom of the infrastructure that is beginning to match the population of almost 60,000 people here.

Reading about North Port in their published magazine really does not do this area justice. We have cranes that very often visit our front yard, alligators that Brian has seen on more than one occasion in a canal about a mile down the road, and all sorts of other beautiful Florida wildlife that could appear at any given day at the grocery store or the community center. We have dozens of bikers and runners pass our home every day. And there have been very few days that there has not been an afternoon isolated thunderstorm (which could mean that your house is literally the only one in the neighborhood getting rained on).  You can walk any direction and eventually you will find a place to throw in a fishing line; you can drive five miles and be at the mall to visit American Eagle or Claire’s, or in twenty to thirty minutes be at the beach or at Boca Grande, the number one tarpon fishing hot spot in the world.

It is no surprise to us now why so many people have relocated to North Port to set roots and raise their family. It seems that almost every family that we have met have all relocated to this area for the same reason — “to make a better life for my family.” It does of course help that their dollar stretches much further in North Port when it comes to housing and insurance. I am still amazed every time I go around town at the number of children and young families that live in this community. My family of five is the norm. Dad and Mom and kids go to the grocery store together after their soccer game on Saturday. That would probably explain the need for six elementary schools in this one city.

There is such a hunger here for community. There are very few people who grew up in North Port. Everyone has a story of how he or she came to be a citizen of North Port, and everyone is looking to connect, to find a friend for their little Bobby or little Anna, to do life together with someone.

The first Saturday that we were here, we went to North Port Newcomer Day. We were shocked at the amount of people that came to the library of North Port to see how they could connect with their community. The parking lot was jam-packed and the highway was lined with cars. Everything that you can think of is available as an activity here, but when it comes to churches, there are very few to call by name.

We are so excited about starting the work of Awaken Church. We believe now more than ever that this is a city in desperate need for more life-giving community! A very small percentage of the population of North Port attend a church anywhere and an even smaller percentage attend church inside the city of North Port. We ask that you pray for God to provide the needs that we have to start this work here and that He would send the workers and the team members we need to disciple those who will come!

Jacqueline Z

Earlier this winter, Shawn and I were driving around town, sun in our face, taking in all of our blessings. As our conversation progressed, we jointly came to the conclusion that we were truly content for the first time in a long while. We had a sweet little country life, living behind the kids’ small school, helping to care for my nephew, and attending a church we loved.

Later on this same day, we spoke on the phone to our good friends Brian and Jacqueline Zdrojowy. We knew that they were planning to move to Florida to start a church, but we were utterly unprepared for that conversation. The Zdrojowys asked us to be a part of their vision. We had planned to Skype, and in the moment they dropped that bomb, I was so relieved to be on the phone because I could not keep the shock off of my face. The Zdrojowys asked us to join them in Florida to take a look at the city and to hear their vision. We agreed to go.

As the date approached, I became nervous. I felt as though we were taking advantage of Brian and Jacqueline because there was no way we were going to move to Florida. The trip was overwhelming, to say the least. The vision that the Zdrojowys shared with us was amazing and clearly God-ordained. I knew right away that they were doing exactly what they had been called to do.

I believe Shawn knew long before me that we, too, were called to be a part of Awaken Church. As we got on the plane to head home, I told Shawn that I was ready to get back to our home and slip back into our routine. I turned to look out the window, and God spoke to me as clearly as He ever has in my life, telling me that I was not going home, that I was leaving my future home and heading to a time of transition. I cried the whole plane ride home and began my campaign to convince God that He was wrong.

Shawn and I had planned a family vacation to Orlando that just happened to fall one week after our visit with Brian and Jacqueline. We had a great vacation that ended with us taking the kids to North Port to check it out. My children amazed me with their maturity and wisdom about the prospect of moving there. While there, we had an opportunity to tour the charter school that we hoped they could attend. Gabbi, our middle child, said on the way home that if they got into the school, this would be a sign that we should move. On the way home from that trip, I again mentioned how glad I was to get my routine back, and God, again, slammed me with the reality of my situation, and tears flowed. As is my stubborn nature, I continued to fight God’s nudging and pleaded with Him to leave us where we were on a daily basis. Finally, I told Shawn to just call Brian and tell him we would go. Shawn laughed and told me it was about time.

As soon as Shawn and Brian spoke, the inexplicable peace that only God can give washed over me and has not left! Just yesterday, we received the biggest confirmation yet. The charter school that we had so desperately wanted our children to attend called, informing us that they had spots for all three of our children! This is a miracle that only God could perform. I am so thankful today that Shawn led our family to step out in faith and agreed to join the Zdrojowys before we knew about the school, or anything else for that matter. It is so amazing to watch God provide. I have a list of audacious prayer requests and that day I was able to cross off the most important one.

We are so excited to get to North Port and awaken them to God’s grace!!!!

Valerie Leaverton

We are so glad that you have stopped by to check out our blog. We created this blog so that you could share in the history of Awaken and be a part of the journey that God has led us on so far. We ask that you scroll all the way to the bottom of this site and read backwards. This will help you to read our journey from its humble beginnings all the way up to the present. If you would like to know more about the city where we are planting or the church that we envision, check out our website: http://www.awakenchurch.info/.

Thank you for believing in us and in the Awaken dream!

Brian and Jacqueline

Throughout the fall of last year, we began praying for and recruiting a core team of people that we wanted to move with us. Jacqueline and I really wanted to take a trip to North Port, so she could finally see it in the flesh, but also because we wanted to take some of the couples with kids down as well. We planned a trip for February 7–15, and in January, we made the big ask of our friends.

We asked one of my best friends, Jason Martin and his wife Paige to come with us. Jason and I have talked about planting a church for over 10 years. He was my college roommate and had helped me start a young adult ministry during my time in Cleveland. Jason is one of the most talented worship leaders I have ever encountered, and we really hoped they would come and catch the vision for North Port with us.

The other couple that we asked to join us on this adventure was the Leavertons. We met Shawn and Valerie while we were working at the Home for Children in Sevierville, Tennessee. I actually knew Valerie before that from my days at Lee. I remember the first time Jacqueline mentioned them to me… we were making a list of who we considered dream team members. They weren’t even on my radar, but when she said their names, I just felt my spirit leap. I initially ruled them out because I knew that they had suffered greatly during some tumultuous times at the Home. To our shock and utter delight, they said they would come and check it out with us, although they said they didn’t know why we were asking them!

Jacqueline and I began mapping out what the trip would look like. We had never done this before, nor had we ever been on a trip like this ourselves. We were so nervous. I mean, how do you convince completely sane people to pack up their families and move away from everything and everyone they know to chase a crazy dream that God has given you?  We put a tentative schedule together and hoped that in three short days we could share enough stories and reveal enough passion that they would sense the call of God to follow His dream.

Our trip was so wonderful. We arrived on a Wednesday night and began by spending some time with Jacqueline’s cousin and her husband, who just two-and-half years ago decided to relocate to Sarasota from Atlanta (hmmm, interesting!?). We had set up a meeting for Thursday with the Church of God State officials in Tampa to discuss our progress and see what the next steps were in order to plant. We had an incredible meeting and felt tons of support from the leadership.

Later that same day, we were finally on our way to North Port. As we drove down the highway, I realized that we would be passing a large ARC church in Bradenton, so I begged Jacqueline’s forgiveness for delaying her fulfillment a little longer and got off the exit. I had made a relationship with one of the pastors at ARC’s Bayside Community Church, named Mark Mateer. I thought we might run in and meet face-to-face briefly.  Unfortunately, he was out of the office, but while speaking to him on the phone, he offered to take Jacqueline, myself, and the two other couples out to dinner with he and his wife. I was blown away by his generosity.

When we finally made it to North Port that day, Jacqueline’s reaction was as immediate and overwhelming as mine had been a few months earlier. I have to be honest and tell you that I felt quite nervous that she might not like it there, or that she would think I was crazy for settling on this place. I was a little nervous with her driving that day… there was a lot of crying and emotional moments. We dreamed together and really sensed God’s presence all day… We knew that this was Home.

On Friday, I set up our bank account and Jacqueline met with the City Planner. When we met back up, Jacqueline shared all of the amazing things that the City Planner had told her, and the amazing reaction he had as she told him what we were coming to do. Jacqueline said, “I told him that we were relocating to North Port to start a church, and he sat back in his chair and starting clapping!” He went on to say that “the families of North Port have been waiting on you!” It was another one of God’s exclamation points.

After we left those meetings, we headed to meet up with a Church of God pastor in the next town over… Port Charlotte. His name is Osborne Ramkissoon; we learned that he would be our district overseer for the Church of God in Florida. We went not expecting too much, other than pleasant conversation, but were in for quite a shock. After a few minutes of sharing our story and the vision we believe God gave us for North Port, he began to share some things with us. At first the stories he was sharing about his church and the daycare that it ran seemed odd and out of place, but soon enough he paused and asked if we wanted to know why he was sharing this information. We acknowledged that we did, and he said, “I’m going to sponsor your church.” I looked at him in utter disbelief, “What did you say?” He responded, “Your wife just said you needed a co-signer for the ARC loan, right?” Me: “Yes.” Pastor Oz: “Well, I’m going to do it!” Me: Speechless and crying. Pastor Oz: “I’ll tell you why… I started a church in Miami 25 years ago, and nobody helped me. I told God that if He put me in a position to help someone, that when He sent them, I’d help.  He sent you, and I’m helping!”

We were overwhelmed by this gesture of generosity and the affirmation of God’s involvement in our decision to plant. Pastor Oz went on to tell us that he had tried several times to convince friends of his to move to North Port and start a church in the area. He said it just never worked out, but that now he understood why. We talked for a while longer about many things, including our passion for the University of Miami… Go Canes!

That evening we picked up our team from the airport and caught up on the way to dinner with the Mateers. Pastor Mark and his wife Julie decided to meet us for dinner near the airport in St. Petersburg. We had an amazing conversation over dinner and imposed way too much on their time. They openly affirmed our calling as we shared vision with them and our team. At times they would both tear up as we shared the stories of God’s goodness in our journey so far. Julie said that she felt honored to sit with us, stating that she knew that God was doing amazing things and the Holy Spirit was confirming it in her spirit as we shared.

After dinner we headed to our hotel near North Port. The trip was a mixture of lots of questions and moments of silent contemplation. On Saturday, we went exploring around North Port to get a better feel for where things were. We visited one of the locations that we are considering renting for our initial meetings; it was an exciting moment for everyone.  The afternoon brought an unexpected downturn of emotions and physical sickness as the weight of decisions were realized by all parties. Thankfully, a trip to the beach and an amazing worship service at Bayside helped to right the ship.

After the services at Bayside that night, Lead Pastor and ARC A-Team member, Randy Bezet, spent a little time with our team. We joined he and his wife in their green room for an impromptu Q&A session. This was great for our prospective team, as it gave them a chance to discuss openly some of their concerns, as well as hear the stories of a seasoned church planter. It also gave them a chance to get better acquainted with the style of ARC’s leadership.

On Sunday we had the privilege of joining T.J. and Leah Hankey for their third-ever service at The Shore Church in Sarasota. It was a great service and the atmosphere created by the volunteers was exciting. We had a great time seeing what we could expect as a fledgling church. We spent the early part of the afternoon enjoying lunch with the team, the Hankeys and the Upshaws (Jacqueline’s cousin). Talk about a dream team!! The rest of our trip was spent relaxing and dreaming together. It was an amazing experience.

After we dropped the team off at the airport on Monday, Jacqueline and I just sat in the car and stared at each other. I was the first to speak, and I said “I really didn’t want them to leave… I just wanted them to keep doing life with us.” It felt so right, being in that van together. I really felt that God had knit our hearts together, and I was unhappy about being apart! The entire trip was one testimony after another to the greatness of our God.  Nothing really went as I planned… It went better, because God showed up and showed off!

Brian

I have always known and have always spoken out of my own mouth that God’s timing is always perfect and always on time. However, living out the faith that is required to trust this one sentence is quite a journey. As we have gone through this three-and-a-half-year process, there have been so many times when I have asked God to speed things up. There have even been times that I have cried to God… why have You brought us this far for it not to work out? The list of obstacles, barriers to overcome, and walls to climb have at many times felt not only hard but just plain impossible.

But with God…

When I find myself most overwhelmed, I will write out the impossible checklist. I simply say to God something that goes like this… Okay, well these are the things that I don’t see any possible solution for, I have no resource with which to make this happen, and my efforts have been futile so far… so I TRUST YOU and I TRUST YOUR TIMING.

He has more than shown up every time I have cried that prayer. I look back at the list of the impossible and now see all of those things not only happening but happening way above and beyond what I could have ever asked or imagined.

It almost seemed like all of the pieces to the puzzle came together, and God revealed how He was working out his massive plan when we went to North Port as a couple for the first time.

It truly felt like it took an eternity to see a North Port exit sign. We left Maryland on Tuesday afternoon at 1:00 PM; exactly 48 hours later we drove into the city limits at 1:00 PM on Thursday afternoon. North Port was everything that I had seen in my heart and spirit, and so much more. I will never forget when I was crossing the Charlotte Harbor bridge that connects Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda, I was overwhelmed and almost wrecked the car right into the bridge. In that moment, I felt the greatness of God, the smallness of me, and the magnitude of the fact that God would choose us!

I do not think that I could ever truly explain how I felt driving the streets of North Port and encountering the people that I met there. Every house that we passed I felt this boldness come over me… we, Awaken Church, are going to introduce this city to an amazing God and how life can look when you are living in and with a community of faith.

Everyone in North Port has a story. There is hardly anyone who is from North Port.They have moved there looking for a better life for their families, a place of community. I saw the hunger for something more in so many of the people that we met there — many telling us that they would come the day we opened our doors. The day I met with the City Planner of North Port to let him know about Awaken, he leaned his chair back and started clapping. “North Port has been waiting for you, and you and your husband’s stage of life will be who will be most effective at reaching this city.” It was in this moment that I realized that God’s timing truly was perfect. This city that had just exploded with young families in the past ten years — now the infrastructure and leadership was finally catching up.

God had been setting up the city to be ready for Awaken; He had been preparing the hearts and lives of those who would be coming with us to plant Awaken; He had been preparing our sponsor church; He had moved family (Lee and Sheila) into the area to be the greatest cheerleaders we could ever have hoped for; He had been preparing our family personally; He had been preparing Crosswind to be able to send us out strong; He had been preparing the hearts of our friends and family around the country… He had always been working on our behalf and behind the scenes over time, even when we could not see!

Jacqueline

December 2011

After we had been approved through ARC, we began the long season of waiting. Because we agreed to stay at Crosswind until August of 2012, Pastor Dave had asked us to keep quiet about all that we were doing until he and the council determined the right time to bring the church into the loop. I felt very discouraged that I wasn’t doing anything to prep for the launch of our church. There was such a fear in our Facebook world that it would get out if I told the wrong person… that we weren’t really doing or saying anything.

I was tracking other planters’ progress, and feeling like we were allowing precious time to slip by — in the fundraising process, as well as in relationship building. One Wednesday in December, I was sharing my frustration with Jacqueline… she said, “Why don’t you drive to Tennessee tomorrow?” Me: “Are you out of your mind?” JZ: “No, I’m serious… call a few people and see if they’re available for meetings. If they are, you’ll know that it’s God’s idea, not just mine!” Me: “Whatever!” As the day progressed, Jacqueline called, texted and e-mailed me, asking me just to put the feelers out. I finally relented (are you sensing a pattern here?) and called the first person, who happened to also be the busiest… Pastor Mitch Maloney, the senior pastor of North Cleveland Church of God.

I figured there was no way he’d be available for a meeting on such short notice. But I was wrong. In fact, everyone I called was available and willing to meet with me. So I decided that I would drive down the next day and see as many people as humanly possible in 48 hours! It was a very profitable trip. I was able to reconnect with a few people who I had not talked to in a while, and had several commitments to help us financially with the church plant. I even wound up being able to stay at a dear friend’s home, rather than having to pay for a hotel. That trip was a great reminder that when God is for us, nothing can be against us!

Brian

September 2011

It is a really cool moment when God decides to put an exclamation point on your calling.

I had already paid in full back in March. So even though life was fast and furious and it was hard to wrap my mind around leaving for the weekend, I packed my bags and headed to the Beth Moore Conference in downtown Baltimore with the women from Crosswind.

I was looking forward to a getaway with some of my closest friends and knew that it would be impossible to leave uninspired from a conference taught by such a great teacher. Friday night Beth Moore talked about the nets of shame that we wear for different reasons. Right in the middle of her teaching, she paused and said… “There is someone here who feels very strongly that they are called to write, but you constantly carry the net of shame because this is just not the season in your life for that to be a reality.” She went on for a few moments about this topic. It was like she took a BIG YELLOW BANNER WITH MY NAME ON IT AND WAVED IT ACROSS THE STAGE. Not to mention all of the ladies from Crosswind who know my passion just staring at me.

That was a very cool moment that I discussed over the dinner table with my friends. Saturday morning we had a great time of worship and then Beth Moore started off her session on the main floor of the Mariner Arena instead of the stage, stating that she wanted to take a few minutes to hear from some of the ladies about what the Lord had spoken to them the night before. All of us from Crosswind were sitting two sections up from the main floor. Immediately my heart started racing, and I knew that I needed to be one of those ladies who gave my testimony, but Beth Moore was beyond reach of her seeing my hand. But instead of calling on someone, she proceeded to walk and talk about the power of us sharing our testimonies with each other. She walked down the middle aisle of the main floor, up a set of stairs, turned right into my section, up the stairs of my section, until she was standing on my row… three people away from me. She then said… “Okay, somebody raise their hand if they would like to share.” I paused and looked around and all of the women of Crosswind were glaring at me – they knew, too, that I had to take this moment.

I raised my hand along with a dozen other women all around me, and Beth Moore just handed the microphone directly to me. I spoke about my testimony from the night before and she followed with this… My friend Margie thought she was taking a picture and instead she pressed record.

Another confirmation from a totally unexpected source. Another exclamation point!

Jacqueline

I remember very vividly the promise from Cory Hardesty of ARC at the wrap-up meeting of 3.0, that we would receive the phone call of whether we had been approved or not within 48 hours. Coming off such a wonderful experience, we left feeling like we were floating on a cloud. We went from total bag of nerves on our travel down to Atlanta to feeling like we could conquer the world. Who knew that 48 hours could take so long? The first day following 3.0 kept Brian glued to his phone, but we were not alarmed that we did not hear anything the first day. Although, I am not sure that we got a great deal of sleep that night.

But then came the second business day…

There are times when having Zdrojowy for a last name acts in your favor — this was not one of those times. I remember so vividly Facebook messaging and texting many of our church-planting friends back and forth who were waiting on their phone call as well. We were encouraging each other and, of course, playing out our insecurities over and over in our heads.

My number one advice to anyone who might follow this process in the future: fast from Facebook during those 48 hours. Slowly the results were coming in. We saw church plant pastors posting that they had gotten their yes! Our friends had gotten their phone calls, and yet 3:00 came, then 4:00, then 5:00…

The mind plays tricks on you when you are waiting… was the delay because of our name or because he was saving all of the NO’s for last? Did I say the wrong thing; did I not do this or that well enough; is this part about our situation a deal killer?

And then the call comes. I remember Brian pacing the yard back and forth, back and forth for what was equivalent to three minutes, which felt like an eternity for the person on the other side of the phone. Then the smile starts coming and Brian immediately starts fist pumping; you would have thought his favorite team had just won the Super Bowl.

When Brian got off the phone, we had a dance party on the front lawn. Brian said that it was a unanimous decision by the Assessment Team to do whatever possible to partner with us. Brian’s parents were still in town, and I immediately called my parents in Alabama. Their responses to our announcement was exactly the same – well, I already knew that!

What a roller-coaster journey from that ARC roundtable two years prior. We had been approved by ARC. This was real. We were going to do this, and we have so many people who believe in us.

Jacqueline