A Breath of Fresh Air?

As a part of our fund-raising efforts we are making appointments with many people. Some are folks we have known quite well. Some are folks that we stop and say hi to but don’t really know very well until we spend an hour or two with them as part of this effort.

This week we got to spend some time with a couple we hardly knew at all. I knew them first from choir, where he and I sang together more than ten years ago. But we had never done anything else together and I didn’t even know how many kids they had. Nancy hadn’t even met them until we went to their home this week.

In the process of getting better acquainted we learned that they haven’t been going to our church for about a year and a half. They had reached a stage where they didn’t feel connected any more and had begun a journey of trying to find a church where they did feel connected. And they haven’t found that place yet.

Over the course of about an hour and a half, we learned a great deal about them and got to tell them about our new ministry with Barnabas. As a foursome, we definitely began to connect on several themes. Then we had a prayer time together. The husband prayed, “Thank you, Lord, for Terry and Nancy and the breath of fresh air they have brought into our home this evening.”

Imagine that! So many people think, “I could get into doing mission work if I didn’t have to go out and ask people for money.” What we are learning is that going to people is a ministry to them. Just as we are an encouragement to missionaries on the field, we can be an important encouragement to folks here, even when we are inviting them to get connected to our ministry. Some have been feeling like they weren’t connected to any place where God is working and they are more than ready to reconnect. To such people, we are offering a “breath of fresh air.”