this weekend i had the chance to go and hang out with a church from winnipeg. I took 4 leaders with me from our church to do majority of the speaking and i was going to meet with the leaders from the church and spend time praying and looking into the future with them. Asking God what it was that he wanted to do in their church for 2011. It was a phenomenal weekend. But I am uncertain if it was what I expected. I thought that I would bring leaders with me in an attempt to train them and see how they speak and engage with people. I wanted another chance to teach them and help them grow. However, I think I was the one who grew this weekend. From the minute they walked in the door you could not tell that they were not part of the group. They walked up to complete strangers and began to get to know people. They gave their lives to a group of people they have never met. They fell in love with a group of people that spends a lot of time together, and became one of them. They opened their lives to them. encouraging them, strengthening them, building them up in the faith. Amazing. They went all weekend engaging with people. Throughout our time there i watched them pray with numerous people, i saw them intentionally steer conversations into a place that would truly honor God. not that the conversations were not honoring him - but these were intentional conversations leading people closer to the king. Unfortunately this is not common in our society. Typically we keep things to ourselves, and talk about menial things only, and they spoke the truth of Jesus and shared their testimonies of how the lord has transformed them in the last few years - AWESOME!
This weekend I was truly proud and excited to be a pastor of these 4 young leaders who have sold out their lives to Jesus. I was a student this weekend, watching their heart and passion explode. I want to live my life like these young people.
Thank you Lord for people like this that you have brought into my life that together we can labor for the sake of Jesus!
