Ministry of Reconciliation

"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us."

PAUL (2 Corinthians 5:20)

I visited Columbia this past weekend for Homecoming after having been support raising for three weeks now. It sparked in me once again the desire to serve at The Rock up at Mizzou. It was encouraging to see a room full of Rock alumni on Friday night. We had a get together in the fellowship hall of Valley View Community Church, a sister church in town (they actually have a building).

John, our pastor, spoke about the hundreds of stories of life change over the years. One chain reaction he talked about was from a girl years ago who influenced another, who influenced another, and so on until he mentioned Mazvita Matsiga and all the girls whose lives she has influenced. Mazvita is also going through the support raising process to go on staff with our church, another girl is serving in Amsterdam and the others are spread out elsewhere.

It got me to thinking about the web effect of those who dare to share God's love with others. Even now, the freshmen who are coming to The Rock have had their lives touched by those who my generation of students reached out to. Our church has to grow by 25% each year in order to stay alive because of the constant turn-over. Likewise, those who have spent a few years within The Rock, are influencing the lives of countless others for Christ.

Three years ago, we sent a team of 17 people to start a church in West Los Angeles. They played a video last filled with the stories of the locals who have found a true home in the church out there. They are bringing God's truth to a people who are baffled when a group of Christians actually care for them. Time and time again, people in the video said things like "I know I can give anyone a call at a moments notice if I need to" and "Not to sound cheesy, but you all are one of the most caring churches I have ever seen."

Spending the rest of the weekend with friends who I care about deeply, I was encouraged time and time again to keep at it down here in Springfield. And I have been pondering on the trip home and even this morning, just how urgent it is for us to spread God's love and truth to people. I have this long journey in front of me but, I know that this is the path God has called.

Here is an expansion of the passage I quoted earlier:

"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's amabassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us."

PAUL (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)

My heart breaks for the pain and hurt in the world and I desire with everything within me to be a part of God's ministry of reconciliation. Our message is urgent. His plan for me now is to build a team of supporters and to share this passion with others. Perhaps throughout the process I can be an encouragement to others in their path and maybe, maybe I can even give some the message of being reconciled to God. This is where he wants me now and I am at peace with that, but I cannot wait to bring God's message to the University of Missouri again - and to see lives touching lives touching lives...

My Story

My mom brought me to church as a child, so I became familiar with the idea of God and Jesus’ death on the cross fairly early. Being the smart alec, questioning kid I was, at eleven I began to question the relevance of faith. In my church class I challenged my teacher, at home I questioned my mom. She even told me that once when we were driving somewhere I, almost out of the blue asked, "What is the point of all this?" I knew the stories and the teachings, but what was it going to mean for me?

When I was twelve, a friend of mine invited me to hear a speaker at his church. (Okay, let's face it; obviously his mom must have told him to invite me). I discovered there was so much more to God and his involvement in the world than I had realized. This world is home to a lot of broken people, including myself, and I understood that the only hope for this world was found in Jesus Christ. So I decided that night that the pursuit of God and sharing his love and caring for his people was how I wanted to live. I found purpose in my faith.

In eighth grade, a friend and I began an after-school group that was devoted to bringing people closer into a deeper walk with God through community. I felt called to a life in full-time ministry during this time. That call continued throughout my time in high school and, although it didn’t seem like a logical choice, I ended up going to the University of Missouri with an intention to do full-time ministry when I got out. I just had no idea how God would do that.

Early in my college career, I met with John Drage, the pastor of what would become my home church – The Rock. He poured out his passion for changing the world through bringing college students into a relationship with Jesus Christ that would change the way they saw the world and would usher them into a daily pursuit of following God’s will. I fell in love with the vision and the church and eventually I knew that Great Commission Ministries was where God was calling me.

Finally, I got to know a very special woman in our church in the summer of 2007 during a summer-long program GCM sponsors in Colorado each year. We led together throughout the summer began dating that fall and were engaged this past July. Her name is Aimee and we plan to marry next June. She is my biggest supporter and is eager to be by my side as I go into vocational ministry. Currently, she is serving for three months at a sister church in Choluteca, Honduras as a missionary.