Friday night I packed my car and drove 2 hrs to meet up with my team in Madison, WI. Note that the temperature outside didn't get any warmer as one would expect from heading south. Friday night set the tone for the whole weekend. Kate led worship using the passage from Psalms 73:22-28. The last verse says... ' But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.'
Saturday came, Gene prepared an awesome breakfast then gave us instructions on what we will be doing, distributing 1000 door hanger invites in the neighborhood while praying for each house. Then he proceeded to encourage us by telling the story from the early days of Cornerstone where after a mass mailing, a couple came to received Christ. After that pep talk, 6 year old Spencer wanted to read a passage in Luke. Juli looked it up and it turned out to be the parable of the good shepherd... he left the 99 of his sheep who were safe and looked for the 1 that was missing... after he found it, he celebrated. Talk about a God moment! Half an hour later a group from Mauston and Janesville arrived to help us distribute the fliers. In spite of the frigid condition, we went out to invite our neighbors and prayed blessings on them. Here's another God moment for me... I would say about myself that I have a heart for God, I have a heart for the church, I have a heart for mission, and I have a heart for my team, BUT my heart was not particular to Northside Madison. After praying for this community as I walked around the neighborhood I could not help but catch a glimpse of God's love for these people. Before the end of the afternoon, I have developed a heart for them as well.
Sunday came and it was time to prepare for the service. This was the first time in a service that half of us were here as part of the team, although from where I stood you would have never guess that. Everyone including the kids knew what they should be doing. Me, I found myself observing what was going on, the only thing that I really had to do was make 36 cups of coffee. The service started, friends and families from the neighborhood and other churches came to join us in worship. By 11:30am the service was done, chairs were put aways and building was close. But the church kept on going...Most of the group went out to lunch but Juli and I went to meet one of her friends at the Italian restaurant. In my 7 years of residence here in WI, this is the first time I'm meeting somebody who is Filipino. Honestly, I was more anxious about this than distributing door hangers. This meeting turned out to be awesome due to a couple of things... one, because she's a Filipina that's always a plus on my book... two, the conversation was not awkward even though I didn't know her.... three, she shared about her involvement in the community which was what we were curious about... and lastly, Juli was there with me and that makes a ton of difference. Not before long, between Juli and I, our opportunities to get plugged in our community just opened up. Don't be surprise if you hear one day that I'm running a basketball clinic and Juli is running for a seat in congress :o)
Sunday night was a fun night. We celebrated Gene and Becky's February birthdays. The kids kicked us out of the house and everybody celebrated the time apart in our own ways. Over dinner Gene presented a complete campaign for the church plant, from scheduling to marketing to advertising! Even though he was oozing out of ideas, we had to stop the bleeding and put the plug. It was getting late, time to head home and be with the kids.
Monday came and I was exhausted. After playing out on the snow and throwing football with the Reynolds I headed back north to LaCrosse,WI.
This ends my weekend missions trip. I look forward to the day when this becomes my day to day life. But until then, this will have to do.
