We were incredibly blessed this week to host the college ministry of Cook Baptist Church in Ruston, Louisiana. Chris and Amanda Walker led a team of twenty volunteers who loved our city and helped introduce West Bank Baptist Church to close to 500 homes we had yet to engage.
One of the main tasks we are asking our visiting mission teams to perform is door to door canvassing. Armed with a simple four question survey and the 3 Circles Life Application Guides, our prayer is that God will set up divine appointments with lost and broken people who will be receptive to the gospel.
As Michelle and I joined them on Friday at a local apartment complex, we learned a lot about the people who answered their door and took a few minutes to answer our questions. We learned some do not answer because they believed we were the police. One of the apartment employees told us that there were multiple types of people who lived there, some in the same body!
Those who did however were glad to share how West Bank Baptist Church could serve the city. We met single fathers with young children, elderly women who wanted to feel safe, people who had been deeply hurt by their experience with church, and many more stories that would take too long to recount. However, there was a far more important lesson that we learned.
As followers of Jesus, we can get caught up in our strategies and plans trying to force a rehearsed gospel presentation or to squeeze in an invitation to church on Sunday. Unfortunately we reduce our efforts and become spiritual Amway salesmen looking for the next mark.
Instead, what if we asked God to help us listen to the people He has sent us to? We may learn how they arrived at where they are, why they believe what they claim, and how the gospel can be applied at their point of need.
Ultimately, they must come to repentance and faith in the Person of Jesus Christ for what truly ails us all: a sinful, depraved heart that must be radically transformed from the inside out. Yet instead of hurrying through a religious obligation, we must ask God to give us the compassion of Christ that is willing to take time to truly hear the hurts and hearts of those Jesus died to save.
An old adage states that God gave us two ears and one mouth so we would listen twice as much as we talk. Would you pray that God would give us the ability to listen to our city and know how to best share how the gospel is truly good news for their lives?
We now have a temporary website set up for the people in our community to get a glimpse of who we are. Check out wearewestbank.com and pray for the people we have engaged to respond so that Jesus will grow His church in Marrero. To find out how to join us on mission this spring or summer visit our page on How To Get Involved.
Melsons on the Move 