July 17, 2014

 

Dear MLEPC Members and Friends:

 

As I write, we have completed 3 of our 5 weekdays with Mission:Possible 7, our yearly missions trip to the South Hills of Pittsburgh. One of our ministries is that of a team of hearty folks who greet morning commuters on Washington Road from 6:00 to 8:30 a.m. with coffee, water, and an offer to pray for them as they make their way into Pittsburgh. My wife, Juli, is on the team, so I've heard the alarm ring at a little after 5:00 a.m. each morning as she's made her way to church. Is it worth it? Well, here's an email sent to me by one of the commuters whom our team served:

 

Good Morning Pastor, I am writing to thank you and your team "Mission Possible 7" for making my day today. While sitting in traffic at a red light on Liberty Ave. I encountered your parishioners greeting commuters with a cup of coffee or a bottle of water. I rolled down my window and a young man, perhaps ten or eleven, handed me a bottle of water and asked "Is there someone you would like me to pray for today?" WOW. Did he put things in perspective. I said absolutely and rather than tie up traffic I said "For hospice patients to have a good death." BAM. The young man wrote it down and I continued my travels doing just that. The young man probably didn't realize the impact his one question had, but I can say, I counted my many blessings and prayed for those patients as well. Please share with your team that they indeed made a difference this morning at 7:00 in the morning of a weary traveler. Thank you and May God continue to bless your ministry.

 

Yes, I do believe that it is worth it when we receive responses like this one! As a follow-up to this email, I communicated with our coordinator for this early morning ministry. He was so excited to read and learn that we are making a difference. But he then thoughtfully told me of two other men, both in expensive clothing and late model cars, who asked prayers for their burdens about marriage and health. How very many needy people pass by our building every day. Some of them are "down-and-out," but others like these two men are what I call "up-and-out," and both types equally need the Good News of Christ that we have been given.

 

I am grateful for the 240 members and friends of MLEPC who are participating in this year's Mission: Possible 7. I praise God for those who cannot get involved this year due to health or travel issues and thank you for your prayers. Mission: Possible is a small taste of who we are called to be and what Christ calls us to do, namely, reach outward to the world in witness and service. The more and more we get of the Mission: Possible DNA into our church's identity, the greater our ability to reach the current generation that increasingly believes "church is irrelevant" or worse. The greater will be our opportunity to be the heart, head, and hands of Jesus to a lost and needy world.

 

Let's be God's Mission Possible People!

 

Pastor Tim

 

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