Josaih and Rachel, we are looking forward to having you at our World Awareness Confernce this yeat at CBC. I was just checking your blog to write up a bio. for you in our bulliten. See you soon Bob

How do I get an email to you, Josiah? Everything keeps bouncing off your mail server.

Hey I just came across your blog from off of shaun's. I think it's great how you guys are in missions. I interested in doing work in that field once I graduate. (I'm only in high school). God just recently revealed his calling for my life and it's missionary work too. I'm excited.

Keep it up you guys and way ta go! =]

Just thought I would share this artical that I wrote:

“Bring “The Problem” To Them”

I remember the phone call well, “we have this little church that needs a pastor and we think you are a perfect fit”, my first appointment! I was so excited that I drove by the church thinking of all the great things that could happen there, but at the same time thinking, “what in the world were they thinking.” Here I was, only a few months in to the course of study and only a practicing Christian for a couple of years and I was expected to lead a group of people to a better relationship with Christ. I remember thinking, “I sure hope they (God, The Bishop, My district Superintendent, and My Mentor) know what they are doing.” It seemed for someone like me, this could never happen. Who was I to deserve an opportunity like this? I knew so many other people who were more deserving, qualified and better educated then I was. Why weren’t they chosen? What did I have to offer that they didn’t?
I remember that first Sunday in front of the congregation. I was so nervous. I fumbled my way through the sermon and teared up as I tried to sing, but things have gotten easier and easier over the last 1 ½ years. Sundays have become the easiest part of my ministry. Oh, every now and then I have to raise my voice to wake someone up but for the most part we get through the Sunday morning service without any problems. No, I have found that Sundays aren’t the problem at all, it’s what we do once the music stops and we walk out the doors. It never fails, no matter how pumped up we get inside that sanctuary somehow we lose that passion by the time we get in our cars. There is nothing more deflating as a pastor then to see all that passion dissipate in a matter of minutes.
One of the biggest obstacles that I have had to face is my passion for ministering to “the least of these”. One of my main passions is to see that the homeless, the handicapped, the addicted, the alcoholics, the lost and the lonely are made to feel loved. I was told by my mentor that I would meet a lot of resistance from the church brining this kind of ministry to it. I guess I was just naive, but I thought it was the calling of the church to make sure that they were taken care of.?.? Well he was right. I have had an uphill battle ever since I started trying to get people to help with this ministry. I let them know that they didn’t even have to do anything, just support those of us who are reaching out to them. Well, even though ministering to societies outcasts was going to ruffle a few feathers, I decided that it was too important to let their negativity overrule what we are called to do.
I started simple, a meet and greet. I wanted to show the members of our church that we aren’t in an affluent community where we could pick and choose who we wanted to come to our church. They needed to see that we were actually in a poverty stricken area. In fact we are located in the 5th poorest area in Texas. So I though to myself, “what could I do to bring them face to face and to make the neighborhood feel welcome?” What do “the needy” need? I decided that I would throw a FREE Community BBQ, brisket, beans, potato salad, inflatable jumpers, the works! And it worked, kind of. It did bring a wide variety of people to the church, but you could stand back and see where the lines were drawn. Each group had their area. I didn’t sit down all day, running from group to group, making sure everyone felt comfortable. From that first event, we automatically noticed that our average attendance on Sunday nearly doubled! Everyone in the church was excited until they realized that our offering wasn’t reflecting the rising numbers. I could feel the tension again. How was I going to get through to these people?
Along with the BBQ where we fed whoever came in the door, my worship leader, Chris Swanson, and I started spending an evening a month at the homeless shelter. We made the congregation aware which night we were going to be there and the times we would be there, in hopes that some of them would come. Every night a different group is supposed to give a bible study from 7-7:45 PM. Before our first visit Chris and I visited about how we could best serve them? How could we provide a service for them as well as teach them a lesson about the Lord? You know, no offence to anyone who goes down there to teach them lessons, but we thought, “Who needs a lesson to teach them about Christ, we’ll just show them.” We ended up taking them a simple meal, playing music, singing, and just visiting with them. We listen to them. We hear their pains and their joys, their fears and their blessings. We treat them as “people” if you can imagine that.?.? We share our lives with them and they in return share theirs with us. We build a level of trust that you need in order to truly make a difference in their lives. I offered to pick up any of them who wanted to go to my worship service on Sundays. The first Sunday three of them took me up on the offer and rode with me to church. At first most of my congregation was hesitant but then warmed up to them. Not everyone knew their situation so they got to know them before they judged them. They started to see that these were real people, some of them just down on their luck. They were real people with real problems. They even invited the guys back. And they did come back, almost every week. My heart is full of joy about this breakthrough. My congregation is witnessing the personal growth that the guys are displaying. They are witnessing the miracle of Christ winning over souls that are lost and broken. They are seeing “life” come back into these hurting children of God and are starting to feed of it. They are starting to volunteer to help with my outreach ministries and if they are unable to physically help they are helping by supporting it financially. Our little church is starting to see that there is a world outside our own homes and outside the four walls of the sanctuary. I can’t express how excited that I am to see the growth that is happening right now. All I had to do was bring “the problem” to them. You see, most people live life by the saying, “out of sight, out of mind.” Well, it’s not out of sight anymore. For some people to understand the issues in society they have to see it for their own eyes. And for most of them, they are too caught up in their own worlds to see them. That’s why it is so important to bring “the needs” to them. It’s easy to read about starving children, homeless, handicapped, and all of societies lost and forgotten ones, but having them stare you in the eye is a different matter all together. Who could refuse a starving child that is right in front of them? Who wouldn’t help a fellow person in need if they are right there beside of you singing and praying. We have to get the lost into the door of the church by any means necessary. It won’t only save those who are lost and alone, but it just might save the person who attends church every Sunday too. We are commanded to treat everyone as well as we treat our selves and I doubt there are any of us who are excluded from that rule. Pastors, we need to find a way to get our lost brothers and sister in to the church so that everyone can fulfill what Christ has commanded. We are the ones who have stepped up and said that we will lead “His Flock” to a closer and more intimate relationship with Him. Well, that just might mean that you have to take that first step for them. His lost and broken children are waiting for someone to lead them home. Will it be you?

Pastor Wesley Perry
Speegleville United Methodist Church
Waco, TX.