“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke break together in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. -Acts 2:42-47
In so many ways, the book of Acts has come alive for me during this season of our lives. Maybe it’s because we read about the birth of the Church in Acts Chapter 2. Essentially, we are bearing witness to this process over and over again as we travel. Amazing!
One of the questions we ask each and every pastor that we meet is “How has Covid affected your ministry?” As we all know, the global pandemic has left lasting impact on so many areas of our lives. In so many of these cases, church planters had recently relocated their families and spent much time and effort building relationships and embedding themselves in their communities. And then enter Covid. They have struggled to not just pick up the pieces, but literally start from scratch in their ministries and communities.
Many of them are located in cities that experienced much longer periods of shut down. Many of them lost core team members who moved out of the city and relocated to be nearer family or follow a job. Many of them have watched the dynamic of their neighborhoods completely shift as people figure out how to live amidst a pandemic. Many of them lost access to their meeting spaces and had to come up with a different plan.
They are still trying to figure out how to “do” church on this side of Covid and how to reach their communities.
Interestingly enough, they look a lot like the early church of Acts 2. The early church was committed to four things……..teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. I can’t think of a better way to describe these church planters that we continue to meet. Their commitment to teaching the Gospel and to figuring out how to make fellowship happen is inspiring. Their weekly investment of breaking bread and prayer doesn’t go unnoticed.
Church doesn’t always have to look like a big auditorium with a full programming calendar. Sometimes church is in the very act of eating together “with glad and sincere hearts, praising God.”
Join us in asking the Lord “to add to the number daily those who are being saved.” Pray for wisdom and stamina as these church planters work diligently to bring the Gospel to their communities. Pray with us that we can be an encouragement, especially in a post-Covid/pandemic culture where so many are starting over.
Thank you for your continued prayers on our behalf, as well as your financial support!
With grateful hearts,
Kevin and Casey
Leave a Reply