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 How
would you describe your ministry?
The mercy ministry is handled by the deacons. At Grace they follow
the scriptural mandate of caring for orphans, widows, and for people
in distress. We pray for these people and help with their needs--things
like purchasing medicine, fixing broken cars, buying a wheelchair
for a disabled person, helping with rent, food coupons, and gas
for people in crisis. On the missions side, the responsibility involves
equipping people for missions ministry, and making people aware
of missions opportunities at home and abroad. The elders ask our
missions team to care for the missionaries in field the best we
can, and to train and take people on overseas mission trips at least
twice a year.
What inspired you to take on this responsibility?
I’ve been taking groups overseas for a little more than 20
years and have been involved personally since 1980. It’s a
passion that God put on my heart. When my wife, Gail, and I came
to Grace about nine years ago, I was asked to come on staff to do
missions, and later on to oversee the ministry of the deacons.
What is there about it that gets your motor running?
In the mercy area, it’s seeing God put on people’s hearts
the need to show compassion and to be the channel through which
someone with a need has it met. In missions, it’s seeing people
step out of their comfort zone and watching the light go on in their
eyes as they realize how God can use them in a big way in another
culture. A recent example is the three teens who came back from
Honduras in July and asked if they could sponsor one of the girls
in the orphanage.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
One of my seminary professors, Dr. Oscar Thompson, said that the
most important word in the English language outside of proper nouns
is "relationship.” I didn’t understand what he
meant 25 years ago, but at Grace, I’ve come to understand
how important it is to open up to other people, to share your hurts
and frustrations, to be accountable. I need that, and every man
I know does too. .
What are you reading?
“Waking the Dead” by John Eldridge, and “The Half-Blood
Prince”
What’s the most exciting (or risky) thing you’ve ever
done?
Back in 1980 I was part of an undercover team smuggling Bibles into
Eastern Europe. I learned a lot about faith and trusting others.
How did you find your way to Grace Church?
Gail was one of the token singles at Grace 14 years ago when the
church was meeting in Dave’s home. I was on staff at another
church, and there was some turmoil going on in my life. We came
hurting and wounded and found acceptance and healing. Here we’ve
learned to see God from a very different perspective than when we
were younger. We always saw him as angry because we didn’t
live up to his standards. We’re beginning to see the Father
as one who loves us and allows the process. The Christian life is
messy—but that’s the world Jesus came into and the one
he’s coming back to.
August 21, 2005 |
