Sunday: Humble Servants and Changing Expectations

Our Sunday school teacher with Dr. Mike

This morning we had the opportunity to learn about the history of Hope for the Inner City ministry and New City Fellowship.  We learned about their cross-cultural mission and how they strive to reach their community.  This week we will be participating in this ministry through construction projects and back yard Bible clubs (BBC).

We worshiped at New City Fellowship, a cross-cultural church, which was a new experience for most of us.  We started off with a Sunday School service taught by a deacon in the church.  He spoke with the missions teams.  His message was about addressing the heart, not only of those we are serving, but also our own hearts as we serve.  For serving others, the solution may appear external while the root of the issue is about the condition and attitude of the heart.  While we are serving others, we can also put on the facade that we are diligent Christians serving the needy, while on the inside we are spiritually stagnant.

Coffee, food, and fellowship before the service

The worship service then started at 11am. The pastor reminded us that we cannot hide from God and we should not pretend that our sins are manageable. God often deals with our heart issues when we confess our sins and learn to hide ourselves in God, clinging to Him for help.

In the afternoon we had 2 sessions to prepare us for the week ahead:  one spiritual and one logistical.  In the logistical session we performed our day 1 BBC routine and was critiqued by one of the interns.  We were pleased to hear that he was impressed and felt that we were very well prepared for our BBC.  We then learned about our construction opportunities for the week.  Some of the opportunities for the week include landscaping, dry-walling, and potentially a handicap ramp.

The spiritual session allowed us to talk about what we want to see as end goals, what are barriers to those goals, and what is our current mindset.  The leader used the passage Romans 12:1-2 to provide a scriptural guide as to how we should be approaching this week.  Some of the goals that we set for the week was team unity, submission and contentment in the Lord, and applying what we learn so that we may improve outreach to the community around Calvary.  Some of the barriers we listed were to not be too high task oriented, that previous experience doesn't blind us from fully seeing our current ministry, and that we are not distracted by current personal issues.  Please be praying for us to achieve our goals and not be hindered by any barriers.

Throughout the week, we will be having a team member give their insight on the blog.  Here is a way that God has been working in Nate G. so far this week:
"This afternoon the head of the kitchen, William, came and talked to me. He asked for any prayer requests I might have, and my last one was for strength in the Jesus. He told me that he won't pray for that, and that he will instead pray for me to be submissive and content. That blew me away and changed my perspective on my relationship with the Lord and how I'm living my life as a Christian. God has a plan, and instead of preparing for any future battles I should be submitting to his will and following the path he has laid out for me."

Please continue to pray for us.  Tomorrow we be starting construction, and we will be canvasing the neighborhood that we will start BBC in on Tuesday.  Please pray for God to allow us to be a light in the community, and for Him to already be working in the hearts of everyone we come in contact with this week.