Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Pursuing God’s Call

First Baptist Church, Cornelia, Georgia                                                                                                         First Baptist Church, Matagalpa, Nicaragua

History
   In 2006, First Baptist Church, Cornelia carried its first medical mission team up into the mountains of Matagalpa, Nicaragua.  On that trip we began a relationship with First Baptist Church, Matagalpa that has radically shaped and transformed our understanding of our mission in partnership with God in the world.  In these seven years, God has developed and deepened many wonderful relationships between individuals in our two churches.  These relationships form the foundation and freedom to pursue a new calling. 

Calling
   Over the last 3 years First Baptist Cornelia has prayerfully asked to God to prepare us for our calling in the world.  Based on the relationships built in Matagalpa, we feel very strongly that God continues to call us to join First Baptist Church, Matagalpa in its kingdom work in Nicaragua.  
   At the same time, we have begun to sense that our calling goes beyond our current once-a-year medical mission trip.   We sense God calling us to pursue a more focused, holistic, kingdom impacting, and encompassing partnership in the Matagalpa community. 
   A few mission values have arisen in our prayer and preparation:
  • Reciprocal – God is at work both in Matagalpa and Cornelia.  We must share this experience of the Spirit together. 
  • Contextual – First Baptist Church, Matagalpa knows its mission field.  We desire to come along beside them to further their kingdom impact in the world. 
  • Mobilized and Sent – Jesus commissions every individual Christian to go into the world to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20).  We desire to develop a mission vision which engages as many individuals as possible to use their gifts and passion.  For example, we want more individuals to have the same experience as our medical personnel who use their gifts and passions.  These gifts are varied as the individuals and include:  educators, carpenters, artists, and business people.
  • Community Development/transformation:  In the name of Jesus, we desire to see individuals, families, schools, and communities transformed by the Kingdom of God. 

Discernment
   Based on these relationships and these mission values, we feel God calling us to join the work of First Baptist Church, Matagalpa in one of its two mission settings:  Santa Emilia or Quebrada Honda.  We desire to enter into a discernment process with First Baptist Church, Matagalpa to pursue the shape, nature and function of this calling.          
   Knowing the shape of this calling will be developed together, we offer this possible vision.  What if …
   First Baptist Church, Cornelia made a long term commitment to work with First Baptist Church, Matagalpa in Santa Emilia (or Quebrada Honda).  As part of this commitment, we will assess the spiritual (evangelism, congregational life, spiritual leaders, etc), physical (health, housing, etc) , educational (school, parenting, etc), and financial (employers, employee, banking, etc) needs of the community.  FBC Cornelia then works with FBC Matagalpa, the community and other partners to develop a comprehensive, long term commitment to make steps in addressing these needs one day at a time.  We want to work alongside FBC Matagalpa to impact these communities for the Kingdom of God. 

Process
   What we present here is a result of many years of listening to the Spirit of God in the life of FBC Cornelia, FBC Matagalpa and the lives of our members.  In our discernment process we were challenged by these three questions:
  1. Is it good news?
  2. Does this seem impossible to accomplish?
  3. Is there a good chance that we will fail?

   We felt that if the answer to these questions was “yes”, then God must be in it, and we should move forward together!
   One of the ways we have felt God move recently has been a new ministry contact with an NGO started in Atlanta and working in Matagalpa.  This ministry uses a model which invests time and resources into a specific community, by initially partnering with a public school.  Rayo de Sol has been working in the school at Barrio Tule for several years, and their model for focused community transformation has struck a chord with the sense of calling we are feeling.

   First Steps: During our medical mission trip (5/31 – 6/8), we will send a 4 person vision team to pray, discern and pursue this calling with First Baptist Church, Matagalpa.
This is a possible schedule:
  • Sunday:  Worship with the communities of Santa Emilia or Quebrada Honda at the FBC, Matagalpa mission sites (this would be 4-6 people of the larger team).
  • Monday:  Site visit with Rayo de Sol at Barrio Tule.  Conversation with Peter, national director of Rayo de Sol. 
  • Tuesday:  Site visits at Santa Emilia and/or Quebrada Honda and conversations about next steps. 
  • Wednesday:  Community visits
  • Thursday:  Vision team participates with Medical Team
  • Friday – Vision team will be a part of the regular medical mission team. 

   After our return, the vision team will work with our partners to begin developing a process and steps for moving forward.

- Posted by
Dr. Eric Spivey
Pastor, FBC Cornelia