|
Today we begin a new week of hosting our guests in the Interfaith Hospitality Network.
This coming Friday we will send a team of seven people on a mission trip to Morocco.
One week from today we will send a mission team to Kentucky.
This will be an intense time of mission work for us as a church. I want to encourage you to pray every day for those who are on mission for Christ through our church. Your prayers are a very real part of our church’s effort to be the presence of Christ and to share Christ’s love as we serve in Knoxville, in McCreary County, Kentucky, and in Morocco.
Pray for the safety of our mission team members. Pray that God will give them insight and wisdom as they minister to those in need. Pray that Christ’s love will be shared in such a way that His presence is made real to those with whom it is being shared.
Also pray that our team members will hear God speaking to them and be open to the blessings that always come from being on a mission trip. Mission trips can be spiritually intense times. Whether it is because God’s voice is louder or because our lives are more focused on Him and His purposes for our lives, His message can often be heard with great clarity during mission trips. Whether it is here at Ball Camp with the Interfaith Hospitality Network, in McCreary County doing home repair, or playing with children in Morocco, God has a way of making an impression on us when we open our lives to Him. The actual place where we are does not matter nearly so much as making the space within our lives for God to move, speak and have His way.
It is good that this time of multiple mission activity starts here in our own church and spreads across the globe. The Bible teaches us to tell the story of God’s great love for us first in our Jerusalem, the place where we live, and then ultimately to the uttermost parts of the earth. For us to be able to do that at Ball Camp is a blessing in itself.
If you have never experienced the blessing of being involved in missions, one of the best ways to get started is with the quarterly luncheon and worship service we do at Western Heights Baptist Center. Our folks prepare a meal and serve it in the Center to 20 or so residents from the Western Heights community. I have yet to talk to someone who has participated in this mission who has not been blessed by doing so. It is just a few minutes from our church and requires only a couple of hours. No trip, no travel, and not much of a time commitment — but there is a tremendous blessing. Doing the Great Commission is what God has called us all to do. It is imperative for us as Christ’s followers to discover and embrace the unique opportunities that God gives to each one of us to share Christ’s love.
This season of missions involvement would be special enough if there was nothing more to it than what I have described. However, there is a dimension to our missions efforts that makes them even more meaningful. Our mission work this spring — the Morocco trip in particular — is being subsidized by the Ball Camp Baptist Church Mission Endowment. The Endowment has been funded by the Lamon Keith Estate and the Will Carter Mission Fund. These two men loved the Lord and spent their lives serving the Lord. Even now they are helping to make it possible for us to do what meant so very much to them during their lifetimes. As we go to share Christ’s love, we remember those who first shared that love with us and taught us to share it with others. As we go to be the presence of Christ in a world that so very much needs His presence, we continue the legacy of those who invited us into the peace and grace of His presence.
Joy and peace,
Ed
|
