Mission and Evangelism
The continuing story of how we started a church in the projects
A few months later, Tony (my husband) and I happened to be driving along Oltorf Street. We had some time to spare.
"Let's prayer walk Springfield," Tony suggested.
So we parked the car well away from the housing project and walked past the "Loitering is forbidden" sign at the entrance. We prayed as we walked. Suddenly, there was a huge downpour. The heavens just opened.
There was no way we could make it back to the car without getting drenched, so we ran for shelter under a balcony where there were two middle-aged Hispanic ladies sitting in lawn chairs. As we chatted with them, they asked what we were doing there.
"We're praying for this neighborhood," we said.
Lessons from Rosa's Story
I
sometimes think the Lord gave us the experience with Rosa and starting church
in the projects because it so closely parallels Luke 10.
In Luke 10:1, Jesus commissions 72 disciples to go ahead of him in pairs to all
the towns and places he plans to visit. Jesus had a strategy for the area--the
disciples had to listen to his instructions, go where he told them and he would
follow.
Jesus told me very specifically which street to walk because he planned to
visit Springfield. My job was to hear him and obey.
The ability to hear God's voice is vital if we are going to be on mission with God. He has plans for the area where you live. As you listen to him, he will give you a place to pray for, or put a person on your heart. Maybe he will say to you, "Get chatting with the person next to you in the grocery line--she needs to hear from me today." Or maybe he will put a people group on your heart--you will find yourself with an unaccountable burden to pray for skateboarders, or students, or the elderly.
Incarnational Ministry: The Way of Jesus
The incarnational aspect of our Lord’s ministry went beyond the theological truth that Christ was literally God in flesh. Jesus came as God in flesh to be with people. He told his disciples that his mission was to seek and to save that which was lost. Jesus did not camp in the temple in Jerusalem and build a ministry around a physical location. No Christ Jesus came to love the masses. Jesus went to the lost and served them. An incarnational ministry means that the church goes to people the way Jesus did!
About the Site
All across the world, people are gathering in small groups to serve and worship God, be family, and encourage and affect each others lives. These gatherings are called by many names including simple church, organic church, and house church. Whatever you call it, the people involved value incarnational ministry to the lost, living radically for Jesus and each other, and are willing to get rid of anything that gets in the way of being fully devoted followers of Christ.
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