Praise the Lord that I had a good conversation with my hiking partner named Bob. He's a winter visitor to Arizona here and is from Washington State where I am originally from. He expressed his willingness to help be one of the 100 callers we need to help fundraise and spread the word about the project. That was encouraging.
I've been making sketches of what I'd like to see take place amongst our fundamental Baptist churches today. Every church needs to be the epicenter of its members' lives. I was talking with my wife Katrina about how churches grow so fast their first couple of years but then slow down and agonizingly increase from then on. What's different? Usually, in the early days, a church family will fellowship together in so many more ways than 1-2 church services. Potlucks, softball games, picnics, family activities, etc all encourage more people to visit and join that church community. That's just what churches should continue to do - fellowship as brothers and sisters in Christ and give their lost friends something to desire to belong to. Of course, this should not exclude the importance of daily witnessing. I believe that it should also be a church function (after all it is the church's mission). The second thing churches need to do is save money for the future of their young people. What if God calls them to a Bible college and/or to be a missionary: will the church be able to help that young man or woman with their training? Will that church be financially able to send that young person to the mission field or did you think to plan for that?
I believe it wise that we protect our investment. That's why the Gospel Lilypad Project exists. Surely, we will build places for your young people to serve on the foreign field and receive further overseas assistance. With only a very few making it longer than 3 years these days, something has to be done.
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