Thus began our first full-length church service during our time of fundraising and the closest thing to an out of body experience I have ever had.
Several weeks ago Merissa and I decided to take the kids out to Chili's after church. As we waited for a table, a couple we used to attend Lifepointe (the "e" is silent) Church with walked in behind us. Chuck and Pam Ray had served alongside us on the Worship team. After common pleasantries were exchanged, Chuck asked us what was new in our lives. We seized the opportunity and filled him in on our missionary plans.
Now, if I can take just a second to "esplain" a little bit about how we have grown in the fundraising endeavor. OK. When I say, "seized", it was more of exchanging glances with my wife, feeling out what to say, how much to say, and almost apologizing as I said it.
"Well, uh, we have this opportunity...to, uh, you know, go to a foreign land...and...we feel called..."
Oye. Where is the conviction?! The passion?! We KNOW we are called. God has removed all doubt! So where does the weirdness come in? Askin' fo' da dough. Our funding is an inevitable part of the missions conversation. As more and more financial supporters join our team, it has become so very apparent that the Spirit is working in ways we never could fathom! As we walk in faithfulness to proclaim what He is doing/ has done in our hearts the money issue will be taken care of. It is not up to us to give the greatest sales pitch of all time. The Spirit has convicted our hearts to go to a foreign land and this same Spirit is at work in the lives of others—calling them to a very important facet of our ministry. I would love to say this is a lesson we have only had to learn once. It's more of an hourly thing, but we're getting better.
Meanwhile, back at Chili's:
As it turns out, Chuck and Pam planted a church in Prescott Valley a couple of years back and asked us to contact them at a later date to discuss more about our venture to Vanuatu. After meeting with Pastor Chuck one-on-one, he invited us to be a part of a Sunday evening service. That service was last night. Here comes the out of body thing.
"We are so fortunate to have a special family with us tonight. Now I have known them for years and I can't wait to get behind their ministry. These, folks, are the real deal. I want to introduce to you..."
"Wow," I think to myself, "the 'real deal'. The 'real deal' sounds like a lot to live up to!"
"...The Brinkerhoff Family," Pastor Chuck finishes.
"Victory. Victory is a main theme...
'What are you doing?,' I ask myself. 'I don't know. I think I'm preaching. Can you preach? I don't know. I have a microphone. I am speaking into it. The emergency exits are locked so I have a captive audience...I guess I'm preaching!'
...over the hurting and oppressed in the island nation of Vanuatu."
Crazy. Crazy!, but awesome. To be used like this is overwhelming. What can I really do apart from Him?! All at once I felt humbled and encouraged. How phenomenal is it that even though we truly can offer God nothing of significance he utilizes our obedience to incredible ends. Shucks, even my obedience is sometimes tainted with doubt, reluctance, and yuck. To me, what is equally overwhelming is this: He not only uses us but brings about the fulfillment of our desires!
The rest of the service was simply brilliant. The 50 or so people that gathered were warm and generous with their words and actions. The presence of the Lord was such that our kids sat through the 2.5 hours with no complaints and actually stated, "that is the best church service we've been to!," as they climbed in the car.
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