Churches of different denominations working together in unity for the Kingdom – I believe this is a beautiful picture that makes our Lord Jesus smile. We were made for this! Yes – we are different. Churches are different from one another. Their lives are different. Sometimes their way of thinking is different. But despite our differences, we can have unity -because it is our differences that make the body of Christ whole. I believe that everyone is going through different things at different points in their lives. Some people may be happy, some may be sad – some may feel like life is quite normal –without many ups or downs at the moment. But we all have something that’s the same no matter where we are at if we know Jesus – we have His love and grace to take us through any situation.
Five years ago, when we first moved to Ratchaburi, the one big thing that was on our heart was to see the local Christians working together in unity. Throughout the five years, we have prayed and we have shared our heart to see unity. We started to work alongside the local church – each church individually first. It was not easy – but we desired to be God’s instruments- in any area that could help to bring unity in the body of Christ here.
Some churches took more than a year before they would even begin to work with us. Some churches thought that we were like “wolves’ coming to steal their ‘sheep’. There were many walls that we have had to overcome, but God helped to us walk in love; sincerity; and faithfulness in serving them. Over the years we have begun to see the walls breaking down.
We have served the churches without thinking of any benefit that we ourselves might receive. Some people may wonder if nobody ever remembers your name should you continue working day in and day out without ever being able to claim any of the fruit as your own. I guess that’s the beauty of being a part of the Kingdom of God. The picture is much bigger than we could ever imagine – and while we might never be remembered one day for what we are doing in the church here and we will never be able to claim any fruit of our labor – it all belongs to Jesus at the end of the day. We work for His Kingdom… every Christian belongs to Him, no matter what church they attend.
The thing that I want people to remember, much more important than my name, is the name of Jesus, and His love for them.
Throughout the time that we have been working with the churches here, we have often felt that we could not see the fruit of what we are doing, but when we look back now we can clearly see that the fruit of what we are doing is: friendship, faith, trust, belief in one another, a sense of family, a feeling of being a part of the same team – that the churches have given to us. This is so valuable and means so much to us. Through all the things mentioned above, God has answered our prayers. Not just our prayers, but everybody’s prayers for unity. On the 28th of December, many of the churches in Ratchaburi will join together for the first time ever – and as YWAM Ratchaburi we will join them –holding an evangelistic Christmas event.
Through the friendships that we have developed over the years in all the churches, we are the one organization that everybody sees as neutral and I feel honored to have been asked to be the chairman of the committee that is organizing this event. We have named the planning committee – Ratchaburi 2010.
No matter how many people attend the Christmas event that will be held on the 28th of December, we know that God will be pleased to see his body in Ratchaburi taking a big step towards working together as one. Loving one another and valuing one another for who He made them to be. All glory be unto Him!
