Community in the Mission

Two interns, Chris and Meaghan left yesterday morning along with two really great teams of students and leaders from California and Washington.  It was really difficult saying goodbye to such amazing and wonderful people – fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, not knowing if our paths with cross again on this side of heaven.

It makes me thankful for such sweet (even though seemingly short) times of community.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer talks about this in his book, “Life Together” as he remind us that the Christian life can often be a lonely one.  Before being martyred for his faith and duty, he talked about how fortunate that those of us who belong to a faith family are to be so closely tied into that body.  Our family, like the early church in the book of Acts, provides for one another, making sure no one is in need along with reaching out into our towns and communities to meet the needs of others.  Bonhoeffer was repeatedly thrown into prison were he, with the power given to him by the Lord, ministered to guards and prisoners alike.

How blessed are we as free Christian/disciples of Christ to be able to worship freely, encourage others shamelessly, and share our blessed lives with the rest of the body of Christ.

I greatly cherish friends like Chris and Meaghan (or any of the teams that have come down here this past summer for that matter) and even when we can work beside one another physically for only a short while to advance the gospel, saying farewell to another disciple is never the end but only another open door to continue to serve our Heavenly Father.