A Small Church with a BIG heart for Mission

from Elliott

We got an email out of the blue; they were having a mission conference and needed missionary speakers. We of course, without knowing anything about the church, jumped at the chance; it was our first invitation to speak about the ministry at a church.

Then, the sudden anxious moment – “What are we going to say?”

We gathered some of our South African crafts, made a display board and loaded up the car and headed to Reidsville, NC and Mt. Carmel UMC. The good news is, we had 6 hours to think about what we would present at the various times over the weekend. We met our host family once we got there. They had a daughter near Cason’s age setting our mind at ease as they played.

The more people we met at the church, the more at home we felt and the more at ease we were simply sharing God’s story with them. Folks were friendly, engaged and asked thoughtful questions. It was amazing to me how much easier the presentation was when I allowed it to be ‘God’s story’ that we had been invited to participate in and not let it be ‘our story’ that we were trying to ‘make the sale’ with.

At first I wondered why this church was having this mission focus and then I heard their story. God had been actively engaging this church in mission for many years. In fact, they have been hosting this conference for decades and many missionaries had benefited from this relationship. What at first looked like a typical small rural church was anything but typical! This was a small church with a BIG heart for mission.

We left uplifted and grateful that God had given us a story to tell!