GlocalNet

Is the church truly a reflection of the body of Christ?  What does the body of Christ look like?  All Anglo? All Hispanic?  All Vietnamese?  No.  Let’s start from Revelation 7:9-10, the body of Christ has every nation, every tribe, every people, and every language. A couple months ago Pastor Bob asked me:  “How can we become more multiethnic?”  I began to pray and ask God to reveal to me what He desires for us to do.  I began to purposefully seek out our ethnic families in Northwood, greeting them, calling them, taking them out to lunch, inviting them to my home and ministering to them.  More and more, I began to see that there are so many nationalities represented at Northwood!  They are Indian, Korean, Chinese, Malaysian, Singaporean, Mexican, African American, Trinidadian, Laotian, Hmong, Iranian, Vietnamese, etc.  Further more, as I heard their stories, I began to understand that they are here at NW because they believe in the leadership and vision, but they don’t feel like they are part of the family yet.  Thus, some of these families have been thinking about looking for another church.  That was when God laid upon my heart to gather these families together to talk, share their hearts and fellowship in meals together.  The response was tremendous. Once a month, each family brings a small dish to share while we meet in the fellowship hall to share about their talents and gifts, education/professional background, vision for the church.  I began to help plug them into NW ministries by introducing them to the leadership.  More and more, they’ve shared that they feel more at home in NW.  They now invite friends, families, and neighbors.  Now, the next phase is to get the other NW members and leadership to come meet/greet/share and connect. 
What are the lessons?
1. Pastor Bob had a desire and a vision. (Luke 11:9 ““And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”)
2. There was an intentional seeking out of these people (cell concept), also a reflection of how Christ seeks us out (Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”)
3. Everyone matters (1 Corinthians 12: 4-6 “There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.”).  Nurture the Mustard Seed.
4. Listen to their stories… minister to them and commit to pray for them daily. (James 5:16 “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”)
5. Introduce to leadership.  They come from a culture where church leadership is horizontal not vertical.  They cannot feel connected if they have not even met or shook hands with their pastors (John 13:16 “I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.”)
6. Get them plugged into the various ministries.  No longer ok to just put 10 words in small print in the bulletin to say “contact us if you’re interested”.  Ethnic culture as well as some Anglos, we are intimidated by the “order” and “established, professional” atmosphere of church ministry… so they will not contact if they have no experience or not an outgoing personality. (Romans 12:4-5 “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”)
7. People who have active participation and investment tend to be much more satisfied and more likely to share their experience with close family and friends.(Acts 2:46 “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.” Acts 4:32-35 “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.)