The team bid a painful farewell to the many new friends made. Until the last moment Tae-Chol (now known to locals as TK) was arranging bibles for the many people who he has reached out to.
Tom is one man who TK ministered to.
He arrived at our guesthouse to take some food, however after eating he received prayer and care from TK. Tom has three kids and a wife on another island, but works in the city to send money home. He sleeps in the trucks next door to our accomodation along with several others.
It was therefore a fitting message on our last ministry night that Meschach encouraged the church that the community is to be their number one outreach. The aim shouldn’t be to bring ‘Toms’ to church, but to meet them ‘out there’ with Christ.
Since meeting with TK, Tom will meet with several others for bible study at the apartment block every Sunday (we pray). Should TK have stayed he would be pastor of the small gathering, preparing them to meet Christ and be transformed. But that role now belongs to another lady, a widower who works at the apartments as a cleaner.
Such is the New Testament model of church.
The trajectory of church is to ‘go out’. Our gatherings are worship occasions unto the Lord: Not for harvesting souls to sit and become inactive participants. We must seek the Lord on Sunday for our work begins on Monday in whatever sphere we live.
Living life ‘on mission with God’ is the goal but only works when our hearts are after His; When we are not idolising our own lives but obeying Him.
As I sit in Malatia (Leon and I have taken a boat to the island of malatia to visit Meshachs village) a sign sits in our accomodation block that sums it up as follows (ALL CAPS):
SEEK HAPPINESS AND YOU WILL NEVER, NEVER, NEVER FIND IT. HAVE THE WISDOM TO SEEK OBEDIENCE TO CHRIST AND HAPPINESS WILL FIND YOU.