Over the last week, NFC has continued to receive items from our Relaunch Shopping List. Thank you to everyone who has contributed by either ordering things directly or giving money toward them! The most essential gear has almost all been purchased, with just a couple of exceptions. Some of the exceptions are big-ticket items or require a little more research before we can make purchases.
On Sunday, October 19, NFC held its first joint service in both English and Swahili languages. This was an opportunity for the entire congregation to see what God has done to sustain our church through the difficult transition. It was also a chance for Pastor Jeremy to talk a little about what we believe God is going to do. He did this through a message from 2 Chronicles 14, challenging the congregation to do everything they can to advance the mission of Christ and to trust God to take care of the things we cannot do in our own strength.
NFC’s mission is to make more and better followers of Jesus. At the very core of this mission is finding ways to share the love of Jesus with people who are far from him. Perhaps they were not raised in church and therefore know nothing about Jesus other than that his name is a common curse word. On the other hand, they may have gone to church for many years but for some reason walked away from faith. Many of these have been hurt by churches or are skeptical of God’s goodness, and as a result, they are reluctant to attend. Ministering to these is a long, slow task which requires diligence and persistence over months and even years. It will probably never produce the explosive growth that captures the imagination. Yet, we are reminded today that, outside of a couple of isolated instances of massive growth (e.g., Pentecost in Acts 2), the church has historically grown as “the Lord added to their number those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). NFC will faithfully share the love of Jesus day in and day out with a world that desperately needs that, and it will always trust that Jesus will build his church one or two or three people at a time.