Being Challenged and Changed
We recently met the pastor of a small church in rural Tennessee. I know what you’re thinking: “Isn’t all of Tennessee rural?” Well, believe it or not, it’s not. This pastor’s church, however, is made up of about seven regular members and a few others. The church is joining into fellowship with AMF. We were there the Sunday that the church was voting to approve this decision.
As the service began, and even at the watermelon fellowship afterwards, I began to learn. I began to learn about the sincerity of this church, and not just about the church as a whole, but about those individuals within the church—who are the church. Though small in number, the genuineness of their hearts to serve the Lord is great. The ages of the pastor, deacons, and members ranged from seventy to ninety. Yet, over the years they had been doing quite a bit of ministry. Even though their ages are high, so still is their desire to reach the lost in their community. The stories they shared with us definitely showed how God has been using them there.
Something else that was just as great as their genuineness and desire was their sacrifice. The many stories they humbly shared demonstrated this. Whether about the lives that were changed through the Vacation Bible Schools or the woman in the community who needed support emotionally and spiritually, these stories showed how sacrifices were made.
The lives of these church members have challenged me and caused me to look at my life and ministry differently. But with all this being said, God still gave us the opportunity to minister to them. On the surface it may not seem to be much, but underneath there was more. As we spent time with the pastor and his wife, we discovered they definitely needed to be encouraged not only on the side of ministry but also personally. We spent time listening to their praises of how God had been working, along with their concerns and stresses. We began to see how God was using us that day to encourage them.
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