Meeting Needs
Topher led a game at a weekly gathering with Youth For Christ
As the world comes to Bellevue, our city faces unique needs that our church is well-positioned to meet. According to the city's report, many of our foreign-born neighbors feel isolated, lack parenting support, and struggle speaking in English. These challenges become an opportunity for the unconditional love of Jesus, not only for us to meet their physical and social needs, but also to address their spiritual needs.
In the short-term, I praise God for the ways our church is already meeting these needs. We are doing this through our weekly ESL outreach, our Youth For Christ partnership, and through our church members, who are praying for, caring for and sharing about Jesus with their multiethnic neighbors.
What does that look like? As one example, a church member recently celebrated her birthday with both her neighbors and our church community. Because our faith has significance in our daily lives, a seemingly “unspiritual” activity like a birthday party is actually a significant and authentic way for us to share our faith with our neighbors by having them share life with our church community. After the party, one person shared how they took a step forward on their faith journey because of what he heard at the party. And, another person visited us at church last week!
In the long-term, I pray for an opportunity to partner with the city in their desire to build a "Multicultural Center." They want a location in the city where the world would gather together in one place. See this feasibility study I helped with in 2020. This is an incredible opportunity for our church to be a witness to our foreign-born neighbors, who look to the city for help.
What would that look like? Recently the city's consulting company interviewed me with this question. This was their follow-up to the feasibility study in 2020. I'd love to see some kind of weekly church presence in this location so that our multiethnic neighbors encounter Jesus through our community. This could be a missional Bible study, an ESL Class, youth events, or even our weekly church gathering! Imagine people from around the world, who come to this place looking for answers, and see our church as a visible solution to their social, emotional, and spiritual needs.
What does this mean for us? My motivation behind growing our church is so that we become a larger and more visible solution to our foreign-born neighbors. And I believe we are growing into this more and more as God is working in and through our church members. Pray that we continue to be a faithful witness in the places where we live, work, learn and play. Pray for God to lead us as a church.