A couple of years ago I started meeting with a couple of friends at ICSV for a weekly discipleship/accountability/bible study time. We soon started calling this meeting time "GCF", short for Good Christian Fellowship. The reason behind the name is not important, and really is an inside joke that none of you would find funny anyways...but, I will be referring to it throughout this post so I figured I'd at least give a cursory explanation. I really appreciated this time because it gave us a chance to encourage one another in the Word and share what God was teaching us. This time and these guys is one of the things I was most saddened by leaving behind. Well, turns out that God will still use the GCF guys to encourage each other, even if we are on different continents.
I began reading through 1 Thessalonians while we were doing the camp in Hungary...and at the same time, Pete (my colleague with Global Baseball) and I were talking a lot about the challenges, shortfalls, and benefits of short term missions and how we could best use STMs for the glory of God in the context of Global Baseball's activities.
I began reading through 1 Thessalonians while we were doing the camp in Hungary...and at the same time, Pete (my colleague with Global Baseball) and I were talking a lot about the challenges, shortfalls, and benefits of short term missions and how we could best use STMs for the glory of God in the context of Global Baseball's activities.
So...as I began to read I was struck by a couple of things. The great part about all this, was that the Word of God was directly speaking to where we were at in terms of prep and implementation of the camp activities.
First was the idea that the role of short termers and supporters should be to exhort and encourage (chapter 2:1-13ish). This was/is great guide for short term ministry and should be a constant reminder for all who participate in STMs. It was especially helpful as we were leading a group of "short termers". And then I got a chance to share this encouragement with a church fellowship in Gjakova.
And then...after we arrived in Kosovo, things started to get a little difficult.
And by "a little" I mean that EVERY. SINGLE. PLAN. that we had made was being changed.
Hours of prep were being thrown away to be replaced by a half hour of frantic revisions. And again, the word was there (3:1-5) to remind me that these challenges and afflictions were always gonna happen. And like the Thessalonians, we had warning, but sometimes despite the warnings these challenges take us by surprise. But it is the faithful prayer and exhortation of believers that the Lord provides for us to get through it.
All well and good. I was feeling better. Happy thoughts and all that.
But then it became REAL.
It was at this point in the story that I received a message from my friend (and former pastor in Vienna) , Tom. He was checking in on me and wanted to see how things were going in Kosovo. As I shared some of the challenges with him, he typed that he wanted to encourage me with a word from scripture.
The passage he wanted to share?
1 Thess 2:17-3:13. Of course.
Even now as I look back at our Facebook chat exchange I get goose bumps...turns out we had both been reading through it and led to it by the Holy Spirit.
The key of all this is that the evil one will try to thwart what God is doing through His people. But God in his sovereignty continues to use His people to encourage one another in Faith.
GCF is a real need. Having close friends who pray for and encourage you are an amazing blessing.
No matter what continent they might be on.
And then...after we arrived in Kosovo, things started to get a little difficult.
And by "a little" I mean that EVERY. SINGLE. PLAN. that we had made was being changed.
Hours of prep were being thrown away to be replaced by a half hour of frantic revisions. And again, the word was there (3:1-5) to remind me that these challenges and afflictions were always gonna happen. And like the Thessalonians, we had warning, but sometimes despite the warnings these challenges take us by surprise. But it is the faithful prayer and exhortation of believers that the Lord provides for us to get through it.
All well and good. I was feeling better. Happy thoughts and all that.
But then it became REAL.
It was at this point in the story that I received a message from my friend (and former pastor in Vienna) , Tom. He was checking in on me and wanted to see how things were going in Kosovo. As I shared some of the challenges with him, he typed that he wanted to encourage me with a word from scripture.
The passage he wanted to share?
1 Thess 2:17-3:13. Of course.
Even now as I look back at our Facebook chat exchange I get goose bumps...turns out we had both been reading through it and led to it by the Holy Spirit.
The key of all this is that the evil one will try to thwart what God is doing through His people. But God in his sovereignty continues to use His people to encourage one another in Faith.
GCF is a real need. Having close friends who pray for and encourage you are an amazing blessing.
No matter what continent they might be on.
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