Ok, fine, this is not really going to be an exposition of Romans 8:28, but I continue to delight in the grace of God as He brings things together. Why? Because He’s done it again.
Let’s back up. Years ago I was pastoring a church through revitalization in Phoenix, AZ. We started with thirteen members of a remnant congregation and witnessed God do amazing things to get this church back on track. About three years into the revitalization, we felt God’s leading to move beyond ourselves and begin to plant other churches. We had virtually no resources for such an initiative, and prayer led us to consider planting in northern Mexico. Nogales was just a 2 1/2 hour drive from our church parking lot.
Much could be said about our initial trip into Mexico and God blessed this first foray well beyond expectations. On Sunday morning following this trip, I shared a bit of the exciting journey with our congregation. Following the service, a man introduced himself to me, told me that this was his first visit to our church, and asked if I could meet with him that week. Of course I did.
It turns out that he had recently followed a professional opportunity to Phoenix and that he and his family were looking for a solid, evangelical church. He thought we fit that bill and got on board right away. Here’s the kicker – he moved to Phoenix from Houston where he had been part of a church that planted churches in northern Mexico over the Texas boarder. He was thrilled about what we were doing and wanted to dive in. Did I mentioned that he is Columbian by birth and, therefore, fluent in Spanish?
He proved to be a vital part of our Project Mexico team and was team leader within a year. All things work together for good.
Now – on to the present. I just spent four days of ministry in South Carolina doing a variety of things. One was to meet with a gifted director of church planting. I wanted to find out how his movement handled the assessment of church planters. The assessment protocol of this movement was most impressive, starting with an online tools assessment, several meetings with a counselor to determine the strength of the planting couples’ marriage, in-depth behavioral interviews with the planting couple. and then an internship or residency.
Online tools are easy enough to find. In fact, my tribe is already doing that. Internship and residency are doable with the right church planting mother churches getting involved. But I asked him, “Where can I find a savvy counselor and someone who could take the point in these behavioral interviews?”
So today I’m on the phone with a planter who has planted a couple of churches already, and who is interested in planting again in the denomination that I serve. It turns out that he is not only a seasoned planter, but he plants bi-vocationally. What is his professional bi-vocation? Counseling! And guess what, his wife is not only a seasoned church planter spouse, but she is an experienced church planter assessor.
Maybe nothing will come of this and time will tell. In the meantime it’s fun to have this couple on the radar screen and I’ll be meeting with him face to face in a couple of weeks. All things work together for good.
