My church is (slowly) learning more about partnering in missions. One of the things I have appreciated over the past few years is learning from the example of our adopted sister-church in Ensenada, Mexico. The husband-wife pastor team is often dreaming big about what God is doing in their community, and when we are sensitive enough to listen, we hear ways we can partner with them to move towards accomplishing those Kingdom-size dreams.
One small example: a soccer field. When we first heard that one of our opportunities to serve on a particular weekend visit would be to help build a soccer field for the kids in the community, I thought, cool! Green grass, white lines, goals… Now, I’ve been in plenty of communities around the world where “soccer field” was held rather loosely, but still, this being my first visit to Ensenada I was picturing my version of a soccer field. What it meant instead was a dirt hillside dump, where the pastors envisioned leveling some of the land and lining it with old tires.
Two years later, the field is a central gathering point for kids in the community, a place to safely play and just be kids — pointing to the love of that church for its neighborhood and our openness to partner in crazy dreams.
Always learning…
©2009 Fuller Youth Institute
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