March 2012
Engaging Community
At a recent church service, my five-year-old son was faced with a particular challenge. As he sat on my lap during the service, he occupied part of his time by coloring in a coloring book taken from a stack of coloring books available for children to share. This particular Scooby Doo coloring book was already 10% colored. Not 10% of the pages, but rather 10% of every single page. My son tried in vain to find a clean, un-colored page, but to no avail. After some time of deep thought and aesthetic contemplation, he finally decided to just go ahead and color on an existing page and finish the coloring that had been begun by another child. Community by definition means we are one in relationship with others. The “one” part is easy but when the “others” are added in it starts to get complicated. Community can be difficult. Community can be messy. It challenges us. It stretches us. My son experienced some of that challenge. Add in cultural diversity and the challenge is magnified but the results are worth it.
At ServLife we are engaged in building global community. We are working to connect pastors in Texas to church planters in Nepal for mutual encouragement. We are working to enable children in India change the world-view of children in Indiana. We are working to make it possible for people in Atlanta to empower those in extreme poverty in Asia through micro-finance. We envision oppressed pastors from the far corners of the earth inspiring churches who take for granted free and public worship.
God’s church is inclusive and global, and we are all invited to actively participate and share our gifts and talents. Where and how will you engage?
Connection
Last Fall, Pastor Michael Meissner of LifeBridge Church in Cypress, Texas, visited one of ServLife’s church planters in Eastern Nepal. While the church plant has experienced resistance and trials, it has continued to grow to about 30 people now. When Pastor Meissner returned home, his church community was inspired by his stories of God working in Nepal. Their response was to partner with and fully fund 20 Nepali church planters in 2012!
Pastor Meissner shares, “As always, we find that we end up getting much more than we are giving. We are blessed with resources that are very valuable to them as they bring Christ into new areas. They are blessed with a spirit and conviction that has much to teach us in our relatively easy faith environment. Our prayer is that more and more individuals and churches will partner with us in this amazing mission opportunity that God has placed before us.”
“Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy Name and glory in your praise.” – Psalm 106:47