I LEARNED ABOUT THE NEED FOR INVOLVEMENT IN THE LOCAL CHURCH…

photo & graphic: Martha G. Brady

As a result of our time in Jamaica, I became a firmer believer in the local church. It was during the days of having babies for us. Often Ron was preaching out of town on Sundays. Some months I didn’t get to church very often. Staying home reading or listening to a sermon was more helpful than battling 2 little kids alone in church.

But life was rather dry in terms of worship…public worship that is. We were part of a local church. We just didn’t get there a lot. There was no Sunday School for children as young as ours were. Nursery didn’t exist. I didn’t want our to be there and be the disruptive ones.

I was aware of the need for help when facing difficult issues, but we weren’t all in the same church

Then, when some of these hard issues came up like affairs, questions of abortions or not, and other issues…there was no resource like you would have in a church where you submit to the healthy authority of elders. Having their help and guidance during difficult times as well as when we are dealing with sin is so helpful.

Of course, I wasn’t in the same church as the people I mentioned in this story and this one. But having a church to go to with elders or officers that could help out? It would have definitely helped a lot despite the fact that we had ordained men on our staff at the Bible College.

We were seeing the need for the local church and more involvement in it. Our 6 months in the US for Ron’s study leave/furlough time helped. We had the opportunity to be involved in a church in Philadelphia. The girls had a chance to be in a Sunday School and loved it.

We realized we were missing out on a fuller experience of the local church than was healthy. Yes, we were involved in ministry to students at the Bible College, but we weren’t as involved in a local church as we needed to be. It’s something to think about and pray for your missionaries depending on where they serve.

When we returned to JA, we were more involved in our local church as a result of experiencing involvement in one while we on our leave

If I remember correctly, we became more involved with our local church just after our time in the US by working with a group of young couples with kids the ages of ours…all from the same church we attended.

We enjoyed working with a group from the same church where we could participate together in worship as well as be part of a small group where we studied the Bible together on Sunday evenings. It was one more step for us to be part of the community in general.

Challenge: Are you involved with a local church? Have you made a commitment to be there and be mutually accountable to them?  That means that you need to be open to what elders have to say to you, especially during times of difficulty and sin.