Shining Christ’s light in the darkness

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Last month several GCI pastors participated in hands-on evangelism training called “Outside the Walls.” It was facilitated by Heber Ticas, national coordinator of GCI Church Multiplication Ministries in partnership with Pathways of Grace, one of our congregations near Dallas, Texas. Training began with classroom instruction on Friday and continued Saturday morning when the pastors joined members from the congregation in going door-to-door in neighborhoods surrounding the church meeting place to invite members of the community to participate in a children’s fun day held later that day.

Used with permission, Leadership Journal.

Two of our pastors knocked on one door and told the man of the house they were representing the congregation, then mentioned the fun day. The man told them he didn’t believe in God because God wasn’t fixing the world’s problems. Rather than walking away, the pastors continued to talk with the man. They learned that he is a conspiracy theorist who believes religion is the cause of many of the world’s problems. The man was shocked when the pastors agreed that the man had a valid point and noted that Jesus wasn’t particularly fond of religion either. The man replied that he keeps asking questions and searching for answers. Another shock came when our pastors encouraged him to keep doing so. “No one has ever told me that before,” he replied. One pastor explained, “I believe as you ask questions, you will come to be open to some real answers—ones only God can give you.” After about 35 minutes, the man apologized for being so abrupt and confrontational and said he liked the way our pastors thought about God. The conversation ended with one of our pastors telling him: “The God I know and love, loves you and wants a relationship with you—he’s not all that concerned or worried about your conspiracy theories or your hatred of religion, and when the time is right, he will reach out to you and you will know it’s God and I believe you’ll respond accordingly.” The man looked at him and said, “That’s cool. Thanks for listening and thanks for taking time to talk with me.”

You can learn more about the Dallas-area Outside the Walls event in the article in this issue. I share this story from the event because it illustrates an important truth: people living in darkness are positively impacted when the light of Christ is openly shared with them. The contrast of light with darkness is a metaphor frequently used in Scripture to contrast good (or knowledge) with evil (or ignorance). Jesus used it to speak of judgment and sanctification:

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God (John 3:19-21 ESV).

The familiar saying, “Better to light a candle than curse the darkness,” was first spoken in public in 1961 by Peter Benenson, the British lawyer who founded Amnesty International. A candle encircled with barbed wire became the society’s emblem (see picture at right). The apostle Paul said something similar in Romans 13:12 (ESV): “The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” This is what our two pastors, going door-to-door in a Dallas-area neighborhood did for one man who lives in darkness. In doing so they put into practice what Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 5:14-16:

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

I think we sometimes underestimate our ability to impact the world for good. We tend to forget that impacting just one person with the light of Christ can make a tremendous difference. Sadly, as shown in the cartoon above, some prefer to curse the darkness rather than shine that light; some prefer to point out sin rather than share God’s love and grace.

Though the darkness can overwhelm us at times, it never overwhelms God. We must never let our fear of evil in the world cause us to lose focus on who Jesus is and what he calls us to do. Remember that he reassures us that darkness cannot overcome the light. Even though we may feel like a very small candle in the midst of pervasive darkness, even a small candle offers life-giving light and warmth. Even the seemingly small ways we reflect Jesus, the light of the world, are never without positive benefit.

Jesus is the light of the whole cosmos, not just the church. He takes away the sin of the world—not just of believers. Through Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, the Father has taken us out of darkness and into the light of a life-giving relationship with the triune God who promises to never let us go. That is the good news (the gospel) about every person on the planet. Jesus is in union with all people, whether they know it or not. The two pastors talking to the atheist knew him to be a beloved child of God who, sadly, was still living in darkness. But instead of cursing that darkness (or the man!), the pastors chose to follow the lead of the Spirit to participate with Jesus in fulfilling the Father’s mission to a world living in darkness. As children of light (1 Thessalonians 5:5), they were willing to be light-bearers.

The Outside the Walls event continued on Sunday when some of the people in the community responded positively to invitations to attend our church. Though several came, the man the two pastors spoke with did not. It’s not likely he’ll show up at church any time soon. But getting him to come to church was not the purpose of the conversation. The man was given something to think about—a seed was planted in his mind and heart; a relationship with the church was begun that hopefully will continue. Because that man is a child of God, we are assured that God will continue to bring Christ’s light to him, and Pathways of Grace will likely have a part in what God is doing in that man’s life.

Let each of us follow the Spirit in sharing Christ, the light of God, with others. As we grow deeper in our relationship with the Father, Son and Spirit, we glow more and more brightly with God’s life-giving light. This is true of us as individuals, and as congregations. I pray that our congregations will shine even brighter light by reaching outside their walls to let their life in Christ by the Spirit flow out to the community around their place of meeting. As we include others in our corporate life by offering them God’s love in little and big ways, the darkness begins to dissipate and our communities will reflect more and more of the light of Christ.

Shining the light of Christ with you,
Joseph Tkach

PS: I’m looking forward to participating in the “Good News Festival 2015” coming up this fall in Maryland. You can find information about it and other worship festivals on the GCI Events webpage at www.gci.org/events.

GenMin mission trips

In addition to sponsoring camps within the United States, GCI Generations Ministries sponsors short-term mission trips to locations around the globe (see http://www.generationsministries.org/mission-trips.html). Here are reports on two recently completed trips—one to Mexico and one to Colombia.

Mission trip to Mexico

In June, Crossing Borders mission trips marked its tenth year of conducting mission trips when 19 missionaries from around the U.S. participated in the organization’s 19th mission trip to Mexico (they make two trips each year).

God blessed the group with good weather, safety, great camaraderie and many opportunities to join him as he writes his “epic story” in the lives of each individual he has created. No two years are the same on a Crossing Borders trip. The leaders communicate in advance with ministry partners in Mexico, asking, “What can we help you with this trip?” The goal is to be a blessing by supporting the on-the-ground ministries of these partners.

These partners request various kinds of assistance: teaching VBS classes, fixing broken items, helping with outreach events, preaching, providing food, etc. Almost all the requests on this trip were for repair and construction projects. As the trip planning team considered how to fulfill the requests, God was sending applicants with great construction skills.

Though the missionaries preached, played with children, fed the needy and conducted other outreach activities, their main focus was to build a large shade shelter for a church, hanging new ceiling fans and doing a major bathroom remodel in a children’s home, repairing a refrigerator, mowing grass, painting two houses and more. The group also conducted an all-day Fiesta at a children’s home with face-painting, games, balloon animals, Bible lesson, squirt guns (a big hit!), two meals and a piñata filled with candy.

The next Crossing Borders trip to Mexico is scheduled for December 11-14, 2015. For more information and an application form, go to www.cbmission.org or phone 903-746-4463.

Mission trip to Colombia

As reported last week, a group from the U.S. (pictured below with trip coordinator Janet Morrison at left) traveled in June to Barranquilla, Colombia to work alongside the GCI church there. The missionaries hosted a Vacation Bible School for children 5–12 years old. One requirement for the trip was that participants have had at least three years of Spanish in high school or grew up speaking the language.

Seventy children attended the VBS, with about 22 people serving as staff, including the 10 from the U.S. The theme for the VBS was the “I am” statements of Jesus: I am the Good shepherd, I am the Bread of Life, I am the Resurrection, I am the Light, I am the Way the Truth and the Life. Each day included a Bible story, crafts and games to match the theme. The children loved the VBS and at dismissal each day would excitedly tell their parents what they had done and show their craft.

On the Sunday following the VBS the children and their parents were invited to church. The Barranquilla, Colombia church usually has about 70 in attendance but this Sunday it had 170 (including 51 children). Hector Barrero, pastor of the Bogotá church and GCI’s mission developer for Latin America, gave the sermon. The children enjoyed an age-appropriate class and made a craft. Here are comments about the VBS:

“It was a real inspiration that you came from the United States.”
“I don’t want it to be over.”
“All I hear at home are the songs and memory verses.”

Outside the Walls

As mentioned by Joseph Tkach in his letter in this issue, Pathways of Grace, one of GCI’s congregations near Dallas, Texas, hosted an “Outside the Walls” training event. The video below shows highlights of the community outreach segment of the event.

On YouTube at http://youtu.be/HMf4ahtonbw

Baptisms celebrated

It’s always a joy to learn of baptisms in our congregations around the world. Recently seven people were baptized in New Outlook Christian Fellowship in Attalla, Alabama (pastored by Rannie Childress), and four were baptized in our church in Bogotá, Colombia (pastored by Hector Barrero). The pictures below show some of those baptisms (Alabama in the top row, Colombia in the bottom row). We praise God for this fruit of the gospel in our midst.

Assimilating new people

An important issue addressed during the recent Outside the Walls training event (see link at left), was the topic of assimilation, which involves several steps taken to invite, welcome and include (assimilate) new people into a congregation. Some of these hospitality and discipleship issues are helpfully addressed at http://www.acstechnologies.com/ministry-guides/assimilation. To learn more, the GCI-USA Church Administration and Development team recommends the book, Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests into Fully-Engaged Members of Your Church by Nelson Searcy.