Tenaciously Missional 1

The first time I felt truly at home was 1 year and 1/2 ago in Hamburg, Germany. My heart was alive, my hands were busy, and I knew with all of my heart that someday I would do ministry in Europe. I just had no Earthly idea what that would look like. I was a business major who dreamed of being a writer and owning a publishing agency. I suddenly had no plan, but plenty of calling.

Being apart of MLK church reminds me of those two weeks in Germany. The church is far from perfect, and yet it is already home. One thing I have taken note of is that every member can be, and for the most part is, heavily involved in the church. My mom is associate pastor at the church I grew up in, and my dad was the financial administrator; I have an extensive history in serving at church in an American church. That history has been marked with a pervading sense of exclusivity. An inner circle is revered, and worship leaders are pseudo worshipped themselves. This is not the intention, but many times it is the sad outcome.

Even now, an outsider looking in, the members of MLK welcome people to come, to serve, to eat, and to be together. Many of the people I've talked to have been there only months, and yet they are an active part. There is very little sitting in the back row, soaking wisdom like a sponge without ever getting the chance to be rung out a little. The pastors here encourage every member to use whatever God has put in there hearts-from coffee to cleaning to singing on a stage. There is no room to feel isolated by the thriving community. The message that radiates from the people and the services is that you are welcome just as you, welcome to come and find a place no matter what you've been through or who you are.

Another interesting thing here at MLK is Pastor Ivan.
He is such an anointed preacher (seriously, he is amazing), but he openly admits that he is called to preach only. He's just not really good at anything else. And that's okay.

His admittance of this gives him room to do what he is called to do and to do it with absolute excellence. It also gives others in the church a chance to rise up into their own calling. Pastor Nicolas counsels. Pastor Beatrice heads up programs. Pastor Jean does youth and other things. Then there are coordinators for the services, and after that heads of each serving program. Have they got it perfect? No, and far from it. But I truly see an example of the New Testament church every Sunday. I love it. Have I said that already? Because I do.

Perhaps if, in the some of the churches I've served at, the leaders and members wouldn't see serving as a "service" or a burden, the way church is done would change. People here want to be here. And they are here all the time! Almost every day! They love church. Their sincere love for Jesus and the words just translates into a love for the work that is done here. Church should not be a container that we take out on

Sunday morning, but only for a few hours because we have a lot of "real work" to do. Church should be a living, breathing part of who we are and what we do.

In regards to ethnicity, lets just say wow.
I have never in my life been around so many cultures at once. On one hand, there is the classically French people with their crepes and there soft rolling "r"s and on the other is North African immigrants who have the same accent but a different color skin. MLK is diversity central, and no one even blinks. In fact, it's more normal here to have interracial marriages than not. It is beautiful and awe-inspiring, and I can barely think about it without tearing up a little.

When diversity meets freedom and freedom meets love, it makes for a collision, sometimes a very loud collision, of skin colors and cultures and languages and dreams. I'm so honored to be able to glimpse it, if only briefly.