Former resident director Jordan Bunch has moved to Austin to plant a church in an apartment complex.
Bunch and his wife planned to move to Denver, Colo., but he said they were called to Austin when they received an offer they couldn’t refuse.
“What happened was a powerful move of God that I could have never anticipated,” Bunch said. “As we prayed, we began to feel an overwhelming sense of excitement that this may very well be the Lord giving the direction we asked for almost a year ago.”
Bunch moved to Austin in July to answer his calling and is optimistic about his new journey.
“I very much feel ‘sent out’ by God with the purpose of joining Jesus as he goes about restoring all things and all people to himself by raising up vibrant families of Jesus within close reach of every person on the planet,” Bunch said. “The amazing thing about working in a city like Austin is that more than 50,000 of the world’s future leaders are here every year.”
Bunch hopes good things can come from his work in the Austin area.
“If we can make disciples out of them that go and make more disciples who make even more disciples, then I can have a small, yet significant part to play in the great commission,” Bunch said.
Bunch’s influence has extended to Austin, but it started at ACU when he created the Pirate Monks.
“I worked in Edwards for two consecutive years,” Bunch said. “During that time, I started a small group called Pirate Monks. This was a group of guys who dedicated themselves to following Jesus in some uniquely challenging ways in community.”
The Pirate Monk movement provided a forum for male students to share their lives and practice spiritual disciplines together.
Javan Furlow, senior English major from Little Rock, Ark., and member of the Pirate Monks, said the group encouraged each other and allowed members be transparent about their feelings and what was going on in their lives. And Bunch, he said, played a key role in that.
“He’s had an influence over my entire life,” Furlow said. “What he has done has changed my outlook on views of the value of community and my views of what a church community is and now we just want to try to include that in the halls.”
