I attend a church in Kentwood, MI called Encounter Church. The church is relatively new, about 3 years old, but it’s been the recipient of one blessing after another. If I tried to list them all, the task would stretch nearly to infinity; indeed, perhaps beyond, even though the church has just begun.
Encounter Church recently purchased a building that was housing a defunct athletic club, and since moving into that new space, a huge number of people have stopped by on a Sunday or during the week to check out the church and its new space. Because of the church’s presence in the city and its desire to be a blessing to its community, it is already in use during the week for a number of non-church activities. It may seem unusual to host so many non-church clubs, but it’s a deliberate choice for Encounter. The church houses a group of special needs elementary students on Mondays, a Hitting and Homework club on Wednesdays (elementary kids come to hit golf balls in the indoor hitting nets and then they do their homework with some amazing adult leaders—because, hey, the basement of this building is enormous!), and people drop in throughout the week to play racquetball or to grab a latte with one of the pastors in the café, a café that is furnished with professional equipment. And here’s the best part: the church doesn’t actually run any of this programming. The elementary school across the street asked if Encounter had any space for their special needs kids to use. And then a community member who doesn’t even attend Encounter asked if he could set up Homework and Hitting in the church basement. And the professional café equipment was donated by a local entrepreneur and small business owner who decided to bless Encounter with this gift.
The thing is, Encounter didn’t seek any of this out. Encounter only made it known to the community that the purpose of having 7-day-a-week space is to be a blessing to others. Previously, Encounter met at a local elementary school cafeteria, and was able to rent that space only on Sunday mornings.
The thing is, every decision has a ripple effect that even the decision-makers themselves cannot control.
The Encounter leadership was well aware of this. What does it mean to have open doors 7 days a week? What does it mean to take on a mortgage and to heat and cool a space for others to use all week long? Well, it means being open to God’s leading, it means saying “yes” to God’s nudging, and it means recognizing that every action results in a reaction that cannot be predicted by the action-makers.
And that’s where God comes in. God uses these actions to stir the hearts of individuals and of communities for his kingdom. And when God is stirring, stand back. This is the lesson I learned last week at Encounter, and this is the lesson I take with me tomorrow.
Tomorrow, my husband Dirk and I will drive to Elkhart, IN to attend the funeral for Dirk’s Opa, Hans van Eyk. Opa died this past Saturday after a long and courageous fight against esophageal cancer, a nasty cancer that robbed him of his strength, of his ability to play his harmonicas, of his ability to share meals with his family, of his ability to laugh with his great-grand kids, and ultimately, it robbed him of his life. He died at home surrounded by his wife of more than 60 years and his children. But the cancer couldn’t rob him of his spirit, of his trust in God, or of his knowledge that Jesus Christ is truth and that he is the way to eternal life. And it is that faith, that legacy of devotion, which created a ripple effect far beyond what Opa imagined when he made the decision as a youth to follow Christ.
Opa grew up in the Netherlands and lived there through the horrors of WWII. It’s true that you can’t choose always the consequences of your behaviors, so Opa trusted God to be faithful and he himself remained faithful to the promises of God. Opa didn’t get to choose whether or not to engage WWII; he was engulfed by it. He survived that terror by “hiding in crawl spaces and swamps” and eventually he joined the Dutch resistance. He chose to fight back against evil, and because of his actions, he preserved the lives of others and aided liberation. He risked his life so that others could live. And even when he was forced from him home in the Netherlands after the war because of the resulting housing shortage, Opa trusted God and made a plan to move his wife and two children to Indiana, where they found a home, a church, and a community that they served faithfully for decades. The added two more kids to their family and made Elkhart, IN their permanent home.
Opa had a tenacity and courage that could not be broken. Knowing nothing about his new home country and its language and customs, Opa became self-employed, working in construction and increasing the use of his property. Eventually, Opa had so much business that he was able to found a formal business, van Eyk and Sons Roofing, a company that is run today by his son Hans.
Opa’s life proves what we all know: we can choose our actions, but we can’t predict the ripple effects that those actions will create.
In the case of Opa, he led his family through a war to a new country where his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren have prospered. Opa’s decedents work in medicine, in education, in construction, and in a number of Christian ministries including radio and parish ministry.
See, Opa knew to trust God, to act on God’s guidance, and to trust that God would use those actions to cause a ripple effect for the Kingdom of God. And that is just what has happened. Three generations of van Eyk decedents in this country claim God and his promises, and that’s all that ever mattered to Opa.
No comments:
Post a Comment