From Malachi: Update from Liverpool 5

The last two weeks have been my last in Liverpool and my first in Birmingham. After the short stint in Leicester it felt like a shift occurred and my focus was towards wrapping up loose ends and leaving some final encouragements with brothers and sisters in Liverpool. I am thankful for opportunities to give final words of encouragement/correction.

My trip to Leicester sprouted some questions which led to helpful discussions with an elder in Leicester as well as the pastor in Liverpool. Both men presented me with arguments to ponder the difference between a Christian who evangelizes and a Christian who is called to be an evangelist. Their comments and counsel were encouraging. It was helpful to hear them share how this dynamic has worked out in their marriages and how their giftings differ with their spouses.

We had a surprise visitor the last two Sundays at church. in July when Hope Church hosted the fun day a courageous young girl came by herself after receiving a flyer in the door. She met a few of us but we mostly forgot about the whole thing. Two Sundays ago, she walks into the church by herself at the start of the service looking to participate. She has since come the following Sunday and to a mid-week gathering at the church even though there is no one her age. Two of the elders visited her house to meet her mother more formally and give her reassurance that she is safe in their care on Sundays (I don’t think the mother was concerned). It seems like maybe one day her mother will join as well. This girl told me she had never been to a church service before and doesn’t own a Bible. I showed her a copy of John and she commented that she would never be able to read all that. It would be a tremendous testimony if years later she could say, “I just started going to this church by myself when I was ten because they were friendly and kind, and they told me about Jesus.”

The connection with Michelle has also been encouraging. Two of the elders took her to lunch a couple of Sundays ago to hear more about what she believes. She genuinely seems to have developed a biblical understanding of repentance. I truly do not know where this knowledge came from. We all are encouraged by what we see and think that something has changed (or is changing) in her life. We are hoping and praying that the Lord saves her and assures her that she has been redeemed. The friends at the café in the park where I met her were kind enough to send me off with a goodbye and one of them even brought a little cake to share. I had a short opportunity to share the gospel with them before I left. Given their disdain for the financial corruption they perceive in the church I shared with them a bit about corrupt periods in the history of the church and then contrasted that with Jesus driving out the money changers from the temple. I emphasized that Jesus did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.

One task I volunteered for in Liverpool was to re-cloth the felt coating of a pool table which the church was going to discard. If the table were repaired, it could be given to a fellow in the church who lives in a senior community. This was a fun project that allowed me to work with my hands and learn/refine certain skills. It is now located in one of the common rooms and is open to be used by the residents. This fellow is very open to having a friend and to talking about his faith and circumstances. He is very zealous about knowing Christ and can discern sanctification taking place in his life. But I also am aware of some strife in his marriage which reflects poorly on the gospel. Through working on the table I got to talk with him much and had a firsthand view of how he was treating his wife. I am thankful that he took my criticism somewhat well given our short friendship. Also, on my last day in Liverpool I met two of the elders for lunch. I raised some of my concerns hoping that the church would be able to counsel him. I was thankful to learn that he had actually met one of the elders that morning and disclosed some of the things we had discussed. That was a really encouraging finish to my time in Liverpool.

But not all is as encouraging in the church. Indeed, some of the least expected relationships have produced the most encouragement and some of the most laborious relationships have produced the most discouragement. One fellow in particular at Hope Church has been walking through a valley of doubt and trial (somewhat of his own devices/choices). The pastor shared that on a weekly and often daily basis he is having to remind this fellow of the gospel and question what or whom his faith is in. This coincides with periods of isolation on this fellow’s part. Another fellow has been absent in the church for a couple of months now. The pastor shared that he often feels like he is a father and grows very tired. In our last lunch both elders shared that in previous churches they have never had to respond to so much internal need within the church. They have known churches with greater maturity and capacity for external focus. But at Hope Church they labor to shepherd their small congregation with little confidence that many will still be attending in one month’s time.

On Monday I arrived in Birmingham for the new phase of my time in England. As a point of clarity, the church in BHM is also called Hope Church so in the future when I refer to Hope Church, I mean the one in BHM. The church already feels very different. The church in Liverpool was planted by a nearby church and I was the only American at the church. In Birmingham the church was planted by missionaries with the IMB that have since been joined by a missionary family from the Greater Europe Mission. The church also has three missionaries that attend who serve with campus outreach, two missionaries that are on journeyman stints with the IMB, and a professor at the local campus as well as his wife. All of the above people and their nine children are from America. Suffice it to say, many who serve in the church are American and it feels quite different. That said, apart from the original missionaries everyone else on the team has arrived within the last two years. Tomorrow will be my first opportunity to gather with the church, and I have been told that many have come to faith in Christ from all sorts of cultural heritages. The desire is that in a future time the American influence is unnecessary. But as one young lady aptly noted. We Americans serve because these things would not happen if we did not. We hope that one day the church will continue without our influence.

This week I have been familiarizing myself with Birmingham and my immediate surroundings. I live on the verge of city center and have many high buildings around me. But the community surrounding the church is quite different. I hope to serve in whatever activities the church is doing while also familiarizing myself with what would be considered my “neighborhood” and considering what unique opportunities I might have to meet people and tell them the gospel.

Also, students are coming to university this month and the campus outreach team has a number of activities seeking to connect with students as they arrive. Today we were helping students outside of their accommodations upon arrival. We would help them carry bags or personal belongings up to their new apartments. Most students we helped were women, and unfortunately there was only one woman on our team. We were still able to help them in many ways and get their belongings to the right places but the one lady on the team did the bulk of the talking and introductions. That said, while standing at the street corner a fellow walked up to me with limited but clear English and asked, “Where is the best shop to by a sim card?” I responded with a series of questions and got the following information. “I am a student from Pakistan. This is my first year. I arrived in the country today and the flight was very long. Do you think that this is a good university and that I made a good choice coming to England for University? You are my first friend in England.”😊I helped him as much as I could. Unfortunately, we did not get his phone totally working but he has my contact, and we should have his future number once the phone situation is sorted. I expect we will hear from him again. He seemed very interested in meeting us and the offer of getting a tour around the city. That was a totally unexpected meeting, but it was exactly what we had prayed for.

Here are ways that you can pray with me:

• Balance between seminary coursework and prioritizing the best times of the day to meet people.
• Opportunities to follow-up with people that I have already met, especially this Pakistani guy.
• Humility. Pride of performance often displaces thankfulness for opportunities that God gives and health that he sustains.