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One of the greatest blessings of belonging to the family of God is that wherever you go you have brothers and sisters in the faith. Routinely on our trips back to the Bahamas we rediscover how amazing these blessings are. At one time, back when we worked and lived here full time, I knew pastors from up and down the island. It is always feels like a bit of a test to see if when we return back will I still remember all the names of those who I haven’t seen in years.
These relationships are more than just reciprocal acquaintances – because of the universality of the Christian faith, these relationships also share that common trust in our Lord and His providence and ability. This means that no matter what we’re facing, we have a family of God ready and willing with open arms to receive, help, support, and serve… this is our intention as well.
We arrived on Saturday, and hit the ground running to visit one of our favorite church that happens to be Haitian in language, customs and culture. Three of their members spent 2 years with me in training back in 2009-2011, but it has been a long time since we’ve reunited. When we arrived at the church, the Pastor, one of my dear friends Gene, greeted us as any other American Christians. But with a twinkle in my eye, and Trumpish handshake, he quickly realized who I was! What a great embrace and reunion we had there in the middle of the church and afterwards.
The rest of our week was spent with rediscovering so many of those relationship and then forging and building new ones with the other members of our team. Two of our closest friends in the settlement were going through some hard times, so our whole team gathered around them and prayed over them. To this day, there are still members of the church who keep in contact with them.
This unique characteristic of the family of God, to reconnect with empathy, to embrace with joy, to weep with those who weep, is a blessing that ought not to be taken for granted. One of the greatest moments of growth from this trip is the joining together of our Sagola church family with our international church family. As much as we have opportunity to pursue and foster these kinds of relationships, we want to take advantage God’s gracious and global family for our growing in unity and understanding of His church.