something special

This is a really special time in the life of our church. Right now, for the first time in the nearly 25 year history of the church, we have a mission team gearing up for a week of sharing God's love in Alaska.

Our church has always been mission minded. We have done local missions and we are great at giving money to missions, but we have never sent out a mission team from our church. Up to now, our biggest mission project has been Operation Christmas Child. This is a project that I love and will be blogging a lot about later in the year, but, as wonderful as it is, I don't think it is the same as sending out a mission team. I am so excited for the 4 people who have taken on this challenge to step outside of their comfort zone and do something they have never done before.

We have already seen God's hand in getting them to Alaska in the first place. I have to admit to a bit of skepticism at first. We first met the missionaries that our team will be working with in January ... not even four months ago. When Brad first began talking about going to Alaska for Crab Fest, I assumed that they were talking about Memorial Day 2010. But they felt so strongly that they needed to do this NOW, this year, that they couldn't imagine waiting a full year. So they forged ahead, making plans and trusting God to provide exactly what they needed to make this work.

And, God has provided. As I am typing this, the first two members of the team, Brad and our pastor, Bro. Don, have arrived in Anchorage and will be going on to Kodiak Island today. The other two members of the team should arrive in Anchorage late tonight and will head out to Kodiak tomorrow. I am so thankful for these four people. I believe that God is going to lead our church to a new level of missions because of their willingness to step out on faith and serve Him. I pray that God will show us, as individuals and as a church family, where and how He wants us to continue doing missions. Whether it be in our own backyard or in some remote land, we want to be open to His calling.

Our real life friends, Brad and Amy, have a blog that Brad will be updating from Alaska. I hope that you will visit them and perhaps even offer a few words of encouragement.

And to Bro. Don, Brad, Alicia and Hunter ... we love y'all and will be praying that God will guide every step and every word as you share His love with those you meet this week.