By Jonathan Kindberg
“The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” Luke 10:17
In January 2012 a Greenhouse team from Chicago (William and Anne Beasley, Jens Notstad and I) went to El Paso, TX to lead a workshop for the Southwest Diocese In-Formation on church multiplication. It was quite exciting to see a whole Diocese desire the expansion of the church. I was also there for the formal launch of Rey de Paz, a Hispanic congregation at St. Clement’s church led by catechist Ken Hanna, who I have been coaching. It was a great privilege to partner in these ways with the folks of St. Clements and the Diocese of the Southwest!
Overall this trip was an amazing experience of being carried along by the power of the Spirit.
A story from the weekend:
After the training, on Saturday afternoon, Ken Hanna and I went out to do house blessings as a missional outreach to Hispanic families in the area. We had been praying for a person of peace that could help bridge us into the homes of folks in the community and God sent us Chewy*, a 19-year-old finishing up his GED at a local community college. Chewy knew everyone in the neighborhood and ended up taking us to 6 families’ homes ending with his own. Whenever someone opened the door and saw Chewy they would smile and let us in. Never underestimate the power of the Lord to use unlikely people to spread his Kingdom.
The first home we went to became a pattern for what God did throughout the afternoon and evening. Dolores* and her teenage daughter, Rosa let us in and began sharing their story with us of a difficult life in El Paso living on the verge of poverty and often depending on local churches and non-profits for food and clothing. After sharing a bit of their story we sang some songs and began reading the story of Zacchaeus in Luke where Jesus also invites himself into someone’s home unexpectedly.
Just as we were starting the reading the dad pulled up in the car outside.
“Oh good! He needs to hear this! He is hard-hearted toward the word of God,” said Dolores.
Juan, the dad, walked in and had no idea what he was walking into. Before he knew it, he was sitting down and getting a full blast of the Gospel. He was wide-eyed and engaged. Something was happening. We then asked if we could pray for the family before we blessed the home. We lined up the family and laid hands on Juan, and immediately he began crying. His wife and daughter are bewildered and unsure of what was happening. The Spirit was touching his heart, and he expressed the desire to begin to walk with Jesus as a whole family. As we left they promised to come to Rey de Paz for the next day’s service, and sure enough, Dolores was one of the first to arrive. Later Chewy told us that in all his years of knowing this family he had never seen Juan cry.
As we see in the book of Acts, it is when we move out on mission that the Spirit shows himself in new and powerful ways, confirming the message that is being preached. Much of the wackiness in the church around the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit stem, at least in part I think, from an emphasis on the Spirit in contexts devoid of mission. The modern Pentecostal movement, which began at Azuza Street, started not in a sanctuary full of people calling out for the Holy Spirit, but was birthed in the context of mission among the poor and it led to the planting of churches all around the world. It is a fire that still is burning and spreading to this day.\
Praise the Lord for his answered prayers and for the work he did in El Paso! May the Spirit continue to bless, encourage and expand the church there! Soli Deo Gloria.
*Names have been changed.
No comments:
Post a Comment