How do you respond when your plans (that you knew were God-honoring) are changed by forces beyond your control?
I had the privilege to meet with the 11 campus Pastor's from Community Bible Church on day four of my visit to Manila. A great group of men serving in some difficult but fruitful situations. If I counted correctly, there were about 25 people who came to faith this past Sunday from their ministries.
These men have planted churches throughout Manila all linked together by a common vision, strategy and the sharing of resources. Again, if I heard correctly, all of them have been planted in the last 4 years. I had the opportunity to listen to the stories of what God was doing and then I shared some leadership principles with them. Let me tell you one of their stories.
One of the youngest Pastor's in the room was faced with trying to figure out what to do when his God-honoring plans were changed by forces outside of his control. He was the one unmarried Pastor among the group (and, yes, they picked on him). He was serving under the leadership of the Pastor from the first campus that CBC launched and had begun gathering a core to launch a new church.
A destructive typhoon came through the area and caused massive flooding. One of the strategies the government used to deal with the situation was to relocated a significant segment of the population to a different area of the city. This relocated group included several of this Pastor's core team members for the new church plant. His first reaction was great discouragement. He had put much time, prayer and work into this team and now it was fragmented and small. Because of the distance and lack of transportation the relocated group was not able to continue.
After prayer and counsel, he made a decision. He would start two churches. One in the original location and one with the people who had been relocated. This might seem like a logical thing for us. Until we take some of the impact into consideration. For instance, this young man has a scooter for transportation and it takes about 2 hours travel between the two locations. He has little financial resources even for his own needs.
It reminds me of the time in the book of Acts when the early church was scattered out of Jerusalem due to persecution. The result was the spread of the gospel of Jesus throughout the Roman Empire.
The good news is that now there is a growing core of two churches because of one young man's faithfulness and willingness to follow God through situations beyond his control. I ask that you to pray for him. Pray for the two young churches that God would protect them from destructive influences and give them boldness in proclaiming with clarity the gospel to a needy world.
Wayne thanks so much for sharing your experience and your reflections. I don't know if any body else is reading your blog, I have really enjoyed your writing. From what I gather from all of this is that God has shown up in The Philippines, I am thinking about coming over and getting out of the "valley of the bones" will continue to pray that will use all of this for His Glory.
Posted by: Sam | August 19, 2011 at 05:50 PM