Partners

Shout Out to Miami

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This time last weekend, these lovely people were together in Miami.


We left Friday 9am, returned Sunday 6pm. Our mission for the weekend was to serve two ministry partners, City Church and Florida Baptist Children’s Homes. 


Friday afternoon Pastor Tommy gave us a tour of City Church’s facility, where we prayed for them and their work before heading over to Miracle Mile to engage the community to introduce people to this new church opportunity in their neighborhood. 

Saturday we spent most of the day at the Miami campus of Florida Baptist Children’s Homes where we provided lunch, talked with the house parents and kids, and assisted in cleaning up. What a memorable visit!

Here are a few of our takeaways from this weekend mission trip to minister to our southern Floridians:

  • They are open to an invitation to church
  • They recognize how impactful faith can be in their lives
  • Having a pastor who is committed to making roots in a community is needed and has potential for long-term impact
  • Churches of all languages are needed in South Florida
  • We have an obligation to continue to embrace foster children and those ministering to them
  • Immediate response to a spoken need goes a long way in showing you heard them, you are for them, and so is God

We see you, Miami! 

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It Started With a Question

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The question came last summer. I was searching for something. But it wasn’t really for me. And maybe that’s why the answer was so good.

My job as assistant pastor at a church is not normal. (Everyone said, “Amen!”) No need to get into all the possible answers to the wrong question here, so suffice it to say my job makes me ask myself a lot of questions. Last summer I asked the same question I’ve asked myself for several summers; but I was looking for something different, something deeper. And that’s why the core question I was really asking was this: “How can we go deeper?”

“We” referred to our church. “Go deeper” referred to our relationship with our ministry partner, Ballard Elementary School. This relationship has existed for five or so years. It’s very healthy, even admired by other churches and schools in our county. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t need evaluating and tweaking and improving. So to do these three things, we ask questions.

This time I got an answer that I hadn’t received before. Looking back, I believe the answer came because we weren’t asking how to improve an existing program but opening the question up by looking for other options, avenues, and pathways yet unexplored. The answer was revealing, refreshing, and certainly unexplored. That answer was, “What about connecting with the art teacher?” I dove in.

Long story short, we met and now are walking a path that is unlike anything either have experienced before. Students and their families are creating lifelong memories because an assistant pastor and an art teacher are collaborating on their behalf. And this collaboration has opened the door to a whole new ministry of the church in the form of an art gallery. Didn’t see that coming (more on that in an upcoming blog)!

But how can you see something coming when you don’t ask the question? 

How can you expect a different result when you keep asking the same question? 

How can go you deeper when you only ask questions about the surface? 

What could start in your corner of the world by asking the right question? 

What if you started by asking, “How can we go deeper?”