It is very difficult to put into words how powerful the trip to Russia was for myself, Bryan, and Kyle and the rest of the group. We arrived home late this Sunday and leave again for Dallas, Texas for a wedding later this week. We went to Russia along with a group from Fellowship Church pastored by my very good friend John Cremeans. I also had the privilege of having a great friend from Denver go with us, Todd Matthies. Todd was my roommate for the trip and I must apologize to Todd now for my snoring. I can take it to a whole new level. The purpose of the trip was to build two playgrounds at orphanages near Smolensk. The spirit of unity and connection that was enjoyed by the team was other worldly. I was especially moved by how God worked in Bryan and Kyle's heart the whole week. Some of the lessons we learned were:1) The importance of service in the body of Christ. It was noted many times over by Bryan and Kyle how well they connected with the people at Fellowship. As we worked together on a common mission and made sacrifices we all shared something together that was very spiritual and unique. God knitted our hearts together. When the church serves and sacrifices in a common mission the Spirit of God uses it to unite our hearts as we all follow our Leader who told us to give our lives away. I don't want to overstate the point, but my observation is that service is a key point in others "feeling" connected to the body of Christ. Endurance and enjoying deep fellowship with others seems to be a common benefit for those who serve. On the other hand, show me folks who don't make service to others a part of their life and I will show you a larger number of folks who do not endure and don't feel connected. To my fellow Forum participants...consider long and hard how you are using your gifts and resources for the kingdom of God. Being a true follower of Christ is always associated with serving.
2) Leadership matters. I was so impressed by the leadership John expressed on the whole trip and how he leveraged his influence to pour into the lives of each team member with positive reinforcement and direction toward the vision. John is an incredible leader and every ministry leader should take note that servant leadership is where the action is in the church. I believe one of the reasons Fellowship is growing at such a steady rate is because of John's leadership.
3) Mission partnership. God really spoke to my heart about the importance of CCC partnering with other missionaries in ways that go beyond sending money. I am not making light of sending our money, but we can do so much more and be more strategic in how we use our resources to encourage and stand with our missionaries. CCC has a wonderful group of people, most from our body, who have committed their lives to specific missionary endeavors. They deserve our sacrifice and time and relationship. I can assure you our elders will be taking a closer look at how we can partner with our missionaries. We can't go and take a trip to every field, but we can with one or two. Pray for direction in this matter.
4) Gratitude. There is no way to not be impacted by the lives and surroundings of these children in Russia. So many times I heard members of our team repeat a semblence of the phrase, "We cannot take for granted what we enjoy in the US." Having some kind of Western guilt for our riches is not what I am talking about. Rather, I think God was impressing on our hearts the need to be good stewards of all we have in light of the kingdom of God. Gratitude is certainly part of our stewardship.
There is so much more to share, but I need more time to process the lessons learned. My desire is not to replicate the emotion here in Springfield, but learn the spiritual lessons God has for me and grow from there. A huge thank you goes out to those who gave and prayed so that Bryan and Kyle could go. Your sacrifice changed lives...not only the lives of children in Russia, but the lives of my two sons. For that I cannot thank you enough. I was very proud of how hard Bryan and Kyle worked and how they opened their heart to others and God on this trip. I missed being at CCC and can't wait to be back with you on July 13. I will share more later.
