I hope some of you got to go and hear Peter and Wendy Thomson speak at BelPres yesterday. It was so fascinating to hear them talk about being incarnational Christians in the setting of disaster-recovering Japan. One of the coolest things they shared about was the way that they try to include, in every delivery/clean-up trip North, a BBQ party for the neighborhood. The Japanese gov't is doing what it can for the people, but this mostly means rice balls and bread. So when Peter and his church groups show up to grill huge quantities of chicken and hot dogs, the addition of protein is most welcome. They also shared that somewhere between 200-400 people show up, but they have had just the right amount of food every time. Peter said, "I just said, Jesus, if you're going to bring this many people, you're going to have too feed them! We'll cook it, but you bring it!" And He does. Every time. God is so good!
More than this, though, what a lot of us liked is that Peter and Wendy view what they are doing in North Japan--outside of the mission work (church planting & leadership development) we sent them there to do--they view the relief work as an extention of our own Jubilee Service work! Peter shared that he was inspired by the way our congregation just gets out there and loves on people in the name of Jesus, without expecting anything in return. With Jubilee Service Day happening just the day before, it was a sweet dovetail, helping us think about just how connected we are through works of service in Jesus' name. And my kids had a great time with the Thomson's kids, too!
Speaking of Jubilee Service Day, how did it go for you? My eldest and I helped out at Ardmore Elementary for the morning portion of the day, and we really enjoyed meeting and assisting one of the Kindergarten teachers there. I felt so special to be the person who stapled the alphabet up above the whiteboard! G organized books, moved tables and chairs, and did a lot of go-fer work. We both felt good about what we did, and felt it was over too soon. I look forward to the day all three of the boys are old enough to help out, so we can all stay the day!
We were all BelPres folk in the Kindergarten rooms at Ardmore, but I know more than 20 churches were involved. Who did you fellowship with?
NOT to answer your Q, but a little FYI side note on the Thomsons and Asian Access: every Christmas season, some ladies in our church host a little informal auction in the Bride's Room at FPCB, with proceeds supporting the Thomsons' work. I've gone for the past several years and always find little homemade foods and tchochkes. Come December, check the church calendar!
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