How do we pray for our Ministry? I'm asking the Lord, "How do You want to make the transition from our tangible expression of care to these ladies - to a relationship these ladies have with You?" Pray for these ladies to accept a relationship with Jesus. If we engage in this monthly ministry and do not look at the larger picture of what God wants to do, then burnout and dropout often occurs. Consider these questions: Are we seeing single moms wanting to reinvest their lives into volunteering in this ministry? Congratulations, we're seeing that! Ladies are asking if there's any way they can help. Some are volunteering their family members to come along and help with them. A few are checking out the Life Skills class that Jan leads. (Of course they've already checked out the church because you are the frontline ambassador of the church. They met you at the oil change!) Second question: Are we fostering relationship with these ladies? I personally want Becky and me to work more on this and I hope you will join us. I'm fascinated by their stories. They tug at our hearts. So how can we foster times of relationship-building? Perhaps a picnic where we all pitch in hamburgers and hotdogs? Inviting them to our family campfire get-togethers? Inviting them to our Sunday School and small-group social outings? There are many possibilities!

Amazing Love

“Amazing Love…” lyrics by Chris Tomlin really moves me because I’m reminded of the awesome depth of God’s love for me. Wow! I never want to lose the extreme gratitude I feel for His grace.

I’m also deeply moved when I see how people give of themselves to impact other people’s lives for the good. When I see outreach extended through the lives of Central Assembly’s family, it is totally awesome! For instance, there's Wes, a member on the oil change team, who often works 3rd shift at Evangel University and then comes to change oil for single moms before going home to sleep. Why would he do that? It’s because he is using his mechanical gifts to help others and he has put his own interests below that of these disadvantaged single moms. Likewise, why would members of the oil change team often go out of their way to help a single mom beyond the oil change itself? I personally know there have been instances of oil change volunteers buying groceries for a single mom who came to the oil change, buying Christmas gifts for their children, purchasing gas vouchers when a single mom needed to make a trip, and buying tires for their vehicles. And they do all this with their own money, without the thought of recognition or public thanks.

How could you not be humbled by being around such genuine people like this? Amazing love…

Collaboration

I love the word collaboration. It simply means "to labor together." We need more of it! In general, ministries within a church have often shied away from working together. Issues abound from "this is my turf" to "I started this" and the list goes on and on. These issues really boil down to issues of insecurity, self-centeredness, and a narrow view of God's big picture.

I love the upcoming Meal for Single Moms because these teams - The Oil Change for Single Mom's team, Life Skills for Mom's class, Crusin' thru Corinthians small group, and Connections Ministry are all working together to provide a lovely meal for single moms and their kids. This is intentional love. Our goal for this meal is to provide a meeting place for moms where they can interact with each other and be shown value by our church community.

Collaboration provides an appreciation for other people, their gifts, and the ideas they bring to the table. In the end, God gets the credit!

"Art is collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better." Andre Gide

Just Another Day

When we wake up in the morning do we think, "Oh, it's just another day?

This past Saturday I woke up feeling like that. It really wasn't a normal day. I didn't have to go to work. We had an opportunity to affect lives with a morning of outreach at our awesome church campus. So, why did I feel this way? Eight o'clock a.m. came and volunteers starting arriving. Some were new volunteers, some had done this many times before. But all came with one purpose: To encourage single moms and their children by changing their oil and inspecting their vehicles. What a busy morning it was! Cars lined up 6 - 8 cars deep all morning. Registration volunteers maxed out. Single moms jamming our cafe area. Volunteer ladies encouraging around tables of hospitality. Prayer being offered around the tables. Very appreciative single moms awed by everyone's giving. Guys steadily working around the cars outside, trying to keep warm in mid 30 temperatures. Ladies wondering how long it would take for their car to be done. Twenty-two or twenty-three cars. (We lost track of one.) Wow! What a morning! Pastor Jim Bradford hit the nail on the head Sunday evening. In his message he said (paraphrased), "Some people give up on outreach when the glamor goes away. But if we press on, we will be effective." This attitude defeats the notion that It's Just Another Day. I'm glad our team pushed beyond this feeling (or was it just me?) and came out on a cold morning. It turned out to be a GREAT DAY!

Example of beyond-the-walls love

Today, ordinary people who worship together at Central Assembly, gathered to change vehicle oil for single moms, widows, and wives of deployed military men. We engage in this ministry once a month. But something happened today that amazed me! Out of the 14 cars we changed oil in, one of them had bumper stickers all over the car that many people would consider off the wall at the very least. Words like Sex, Love, Drugs, Pagan all adorned her car. To set the stage, it was a very cold day for southern Missouri at 32 degrees and snow flurries. Hey, we change the oil outside, not in a heated garage! So when this car arrived to the oil change station, after draining the oil and changing the filter, the team leader said to one of the volunteers, "Stick your finger in this new oil when I pour it into the engine." The volunteer thought the team leader was crazy. But when the volunteer had oil on his finger, the team leader told him to annoint the car and he was going to pray. I stood within hearing distance while writing down information on another car. Wow! He began to pray with simple faith and said things like, "Heavenly Father, every time this single mom gets in this car and any of her friends gets in this car - remind them of your love and your presence." He kept praying fervently and seriously, invoking God to impact her life. Unbelievable! Here stood a group of men around this car, shivering in the cold, some wishing they were home in front of the fireplace - praying for God's amazing intervention in the life of this precious single mom. With love like that, people will be eternally drawn to Jesus Christ!