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Kansas Church Does More Than Talk Missions
LINDSBORG, KS (September 10, 2004) - Missions is a top priority for the people
of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Lindsborg. They made that clear
when 67 individuals embarked on a multigenerational trip this summer to
assist churches in Saltillo, Mexico.
Lindsborg Covenant worked through Merge Ministries, a Department of
World Mission-sponsored organization with offices in McAllen, Texas. The
team worked with churches located in a rural area in northern Mexico,
about four hours from the U.S. border.
Fifty-six team members came directly from the congregation, including
senior citizens and children as young as four years of age, according to
pastor and trip leader Steve Johnson. Half of the participants were high
school students. Previous parishioners living in Nebraska and others
from Seattle were also on the team. It was the church's third trip to
Saltillo. Twenty-five people participated in year one and 43 went last year.
Given that the Kansas congregation has been averaging nearly 350 in
worship attendance, nearly 20 percent of the church was in Saltillo in
late July. However, a higher percentage participated in the venture.
Each participant in Mexico was matched with a prayer
partner in Kansas. Older church leaders from the congregation wrote
Bible devotionals that were used each morning as the team prepared for
its daily work. Moreover, the church helped a great deal with
fundraising as an estimated $25,000 was needed
to coordinate the trip – additional money was raised for materials
needed to repair buildings and operate Vacation Bible School (VBS)
programs. The shared church experience is important to Johnson, whose
wife Terry and two of their four children also
participated.
"I know a lot of people who couldn't go that were excited about this
trip," he said. "And they're excited that we're learning and growing as
a full church family. It was a unique trip in some ways. Because we had
so many people, we could do so many things and people could work within
their gifts. Some who did ministry in the mornings could spend time in
the homes with host families in the afternoons. Or women could care for
kids of families so the mothers could participate in afternoon women's
groups.
"Small groups did many things simultaneously – we did two kids programs
at two
different sites in the mornings," he continued. "And we had men at each
of those sites doing projects. In the afternoons we did work projects,
but we also had women doing
specific ministries with women in the area and running language classes
(worship service occurred each evening). But I can't stress enough the
importance of the intergenerational connection for our church. You can
share the same story - adults and kids - when you
return and it makes (future trip) recruiting a lot easier. I know that
families want a trip to share the mission work and I'd love to continue
to have that happen."
Along with the benefits of shared ministry, those who have traveled to
Mexico have learned much from their guests. Johnson and associate pastor
Darrell Cooper have noticed how they and their fellow parishioners have
grown in solidarity with their
Mexican compadres each year. It includes changes in perception and an
appreciation for the strengths and nuances of their respective cultures.
"One of the people in our group said that it really becomes a sense of
(what he termed)
'Brothers Across the Border'," Cooper said. "It's not so much that we
are evangelizing. It's more that we're building relationships with
brothers and sisters in Christ. Our senior pastor Jeff Waugh said to me
that every time our church has come back, there has been a testimony
night and at least one person has said their prejudices were challenged
and changed by meeting the people - and their perceptions were changed."
For Cooper and Terry Johnson, the most striking example of how the
Mexican guests ministered to the Kansas mission team was through
hospitality. "Imagine your church doubling its congregation and then
having to supply every need of those new people," she said. "That was
the impact we had on this church. Speaking from a woman's point of view,
if 350 people came to Lindsborg, Kansas, and we had to feed them and
find them showers, there would be a lot of complaining, and there was
none of that. It was a
welcoming place. And what struck me was that they never asked me what I
did for a living. They wanted to know about my family and what God was
doing in my life."
"We brought a whole bunch of building materials and food and things for
our projects," Cooper added. "It makes it seem like the wealthy people
and when we were doing VBS with their kids and building their church, we
felt like we were blessing them. But throughout the week, I was struck
by the fact that we had been more blessed than them because these people
are so hospitable and gentle. We came giving out of our wealth and they
gave out of their lack of wealth – they moved out of their bedrooms for
us and cooked for us – and it costs them more. We're challenged to a
whole new standard of what it means to be hospitable."
The Evangelical Covenant Church of Lindsborg is located in a community
of 3,000 and is located one hour north of Wichita and 15 miles south of
Salina in central Kansas. For more information about the church's recent
mission trip or its other ministries, call Johnson at 785-227-2447 or
email him at SJohnson@ks-usa.net.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
