The last 48 hours were a whirlwind of awesome. I departed Friday afternoon from Russellville First Assembly of God in the company of 17 other excellent individuals as part of our Chi Alpha missions team "Kairos". Our destination? Memphis International Church. We arrived around 7:30 pm Friday and didn't waste any time getting to work, but the purpose of this entry is not to highlight what our team did this weekend. That will come in another later writing. I just wanted to take a brief moment as I lie here ready to catch up on some sleep and reflect on the remarkable nature of the church I spent the weekend with. Memphis International Church is a place that is light on resources, but steeped in compassion. It is their driving motivation. And in a place full of such diversity, it is the tie that binds. I was utterly blown away by the level of outreach they are able to accomplish with what little they have. To that end, search your heart and support them if you find it in your means to do so.
I have been in a LOT of churches in my life, but never one that is so on target in terms of understanding their community and engaging it with the unfettered love of Jesus. This is a place that is deeply connected to the Great Commission. They get it. They aren't trying to shape people into homogenous hive-mind-like drones. They are showing and sharing Jesus with every brick on their property, but it doesn't stop there. They are regularly reaching out into their community. They understand that the Church is much less about a building, and much more about the connected Christ-centered community.
It's not a large church. It's not a large congregation. But they are making a difference where they are at that puts a lot of places I have seen to shame. What an incredible weekend!
More to come soon.