An Assignment

I have an assignment.

Jack Booy is an older man at our church; distinguished, carefully dressed, a man with compassion in his eyes and a soft voice that bears the weights of wisdom. Thursday night there was a party for two of our church's missionaries, a young couple named Josh and Mandy, who were heading to Michigan (hey, I know that place!) to work at a missionary college up in Jackson. It was while enjoying a delectable Subway sub and a plate of cole-slaw and fresh fruit that Jack reached across the table in a handshake. Jack and I have talked numerous times in passing, but actually sitting we were able to better indulge in more than just disjointed phrases of courtesy and small talk. It was then he gave me an assignment; a project so to say.

You see, Grace Community is an odd church, not odd as in the people here are odd...far from it, for they are no odder than I am. The church here in Hilton Head Island is small, shrinking, dwindling. I am used now to half full sanctuaries and worship services where the voices are loud and gracious, yet unable to fill the white corners of the ceiling. To be honest, it's depressing. Some services I dearly miss my community at Ivanrest CRC in Grandville. I miss the full sanctuary full of common faces, a variety of songs of praise, and a Mayberry-feel where "everyone knows your name". Here, much different. Sparse scatterings of familes across a room, 100-odd people in a room meant for many more, and at one point held itself to near-capacity. Many single moms with their children sit in the front, older couples in the middles, and drifters in the back. Very few youth exist, it is a community whose roots are fairly intact, but what of the leaves, what of the youth who will come to be the hands and feet of Christ when the old guard recieves their 'good and faithful servent' from their Heavenly Father?

Yet, there is more to it. Grace Communtiy carries 250 members (give or take a handful) and these 250 people support financially and spiritually almost 40 missionaries / mission groups. That means for every 6-7 people in the congregation here, 1 missionary is working somewhere in the holes and chasims of this world. Missionaries in China, in Kenya, in India, in Jordan and Syria, in Peru, and even in our country.

Jack's assignment; why. Why is this small, dwindling community such a breeding ground for passionate, Christ-led missionaries?

Breeding ground. My nomenclature there. After all, this church is just that. Josh and Mandy, his mom and dad did the same, his sister Joanna is here for the summer after teaching in a school for Missionary Kids in Jordan. Family after family here is so deeply embedded in the task of travelling to the neglected places in order to bring good news, after all, isn't that the etimology of the term "evangelical"? From the Greek word euangellein which combines angellein meaning 'to proclaim, announce, report' and eu which means 'good'. Thus, an evangelical is not one who specifically converts one, nor are they to merely be a tool of language and pronunciation. They are to bring good news, to, as St. Francis says "preach the good news and, if necessary, use words."

Breeding ground. Today, Grace Community had their 4th of July picnic. Combined service at 10 AM. Beautiful? Truly. To see a family interact is a joy, always, for you can always appreciate people whose affections go to depth that sins are forgiven, faults are ignored and even mocked, and most of all, that there is such love that goes beyond mere appreciation of charecter. That was the picnic; people who loved each other regardless of their inability to act in the manner of their Lord and Savior. Christ truly was dining with sinners again today, and our tables were full of us! Yet, there was love, a love that could only be provided by the grace given to us each day. We talked, we laughed, we ate, we prayed. Community at the finest. Life. This community had life.

What is Grace Community Church? It is crushed, it is pained, it is half-empty and hurting. Yet, it is alive and thriving, it is full of blood and hope. It has rosy cheeks and fresh breath. She may be limping when she walks, yet she runs with such ease despite the persistant wounds. Do we as Christians label spiritual life too conservatively? Have we, and especially myself, mislabeled full pews and chairs, overflowing offerings, and outspoken brothers and sisters of the Lord as necessary products of spiritual life? After all, though Grace may seem empty, she is quite full. Though her chairs are empty, outside the building work a vast array of deacons across this world. People who here pray fervently for those who work elsewhere and those elsewhere praying to someday unite all of us through the sacrifice of Chrsit and His gift of sufficient and amazing grace (Romans 6).

Missionaries. Today we heard about John, who works on the campus of Yale bringing the good news to people who need something more in their lives than the gaping, unquenching hole they current have. Or David who leaves for Africa with a group to work at orphanges, or Hannah, who leaves Saturday to spend a couple weeks in Asia to spread the gospel with a missionary couple. What a blessing! That such people are called to such a mission!

To answer Jack's question will take more time, but he took the words out of my mouth during our meal today when he laughed as he shook my hand.

"Well, I think you got a great place to start."

Pray always and often.
Serve zealous and joyous
Love

Blake