2009 in Review

This year our house church family began to draw nearer to one another in many ways. We're still learning what it means to love one another. But, at least we're being more honest about our fears, and what holds us back from being loved and showing love.

Our house church family has learned to embrace those among us who are going through difficult financial times. We've taken time to listen, to pray for, and best of all, to dig down deep and provide financial blessings for families in our Body who are struggling.

We're learning how to set aside our own personal preferences in order to honor those among us who have needs that are different from our own. Sometimes that means waiting patiently for others to wrestle with things we may have already endured.

We're also learning to honor our children again. Welcoming, and encouraging them, to share more and speak up, and participate as fully functional members of the Body of Christ.

I am still learning when to be silent and when to speak up. I'm being challenged to prepare teaching more often, but also still careful to at least try to listen more than I speak. It's not easy.

For me, this year was pivotal. This was the year when I ceased being the pastor of the Mission and became one of the members of the Body. Now I am one of the brothers here, not the leader. Our leader is Jesus. And more and more we are learning how to allow Him to actually lead us, and speak to us, and be the head over us.

Our themes this year were love, the priesthood of the believer, the headship of Christ, compassion to one another, and corporate prayer.

I've been very blessed to begin every Sunday gathering with 30 minutes of prayer time. As we gather together to seek the Lord's leadership and guidance for the day, I've seen the Lord working more in our midst and teaching us more about His will for us.

For the last 4 years the word for this church has been "love". I believe we are still mainly called to explore this core command of Jesus together. What does it mean to love one another? How can we become experts at loving our family, our friends, our neighbors, and our co-workers? How can we learn to love one another more? What does that involve?

One thing I do know is that love is messy. Just like church. There are no easy answers. Things can be more challenging and difficult than we imagine. Love is not easy. It does not come naturally to us. Love means letting go. It means laying ourselves aside for the sake of others. It means dying to ourselves. Love means putting others first. It means enduring seasons of discomfort in order to comfort those in pain.

So, I may not know what is ahead for us in 2010, as a church family. But I do know that, as we allow Jesus to have more of us, He will lead His Church. He will speak to us. He will reveal His heart and He will make His will known to us.

-kg

ROBERT HIGGINS

For the last several weeks I have been doing my best to spend time with Robert Higgins. He's a 77 year old man who lives alone in the motel where we serve each month.

The manager of the motel, Pete, is the one who helped Robert get off the street and into a room there just over a year ago. Pete and I confer together and do our best to make sure that Robert has food, is doing well, and is cared for as much as we possibly can.

Just about a year ago Robert fell and broke his arm very badly. They put a plate in his arm to help it heal but now, after 11 months of agony and endless back and forth visits to UCI for CAT Scans and MRI's, he is still in pain and unsure of what to do next.

Today I took him lunch (he loves Taco Bell burritos) and we sat and talked about his situation. I prayed for him and he finally agreed to go and see an M.D. about his other symptoms - emphysema, vertigo, chronic fatigue.

I've also been trying to help him get back in touch with his son (Robert Anderson Higgins) and his daughter (Cynthia Anne Higgins). So far I've had no luck getting in touch with either.

As I stood up to leave his room this afternoon, Robert hung his head and said, "Thank you so much for keeping up with me, Keith" and I saw him pause and his face contorted and his eyes squeezed shut and I knew he was trying hard not to cry.

I touched his shoulder. "I'm happy to do it, Robert," I said. "God bless you."

Whether or not Robert ever gets in touch with his children again, and whether or not he ever gets his medical situation worked out, I think his greatest need is simply human contact. He needs to know he is loved. He needs to be reminded that God sees him and loves him and has not forgotten this little, fragile, old man.

Pray for Robert today if you would. Pray that God would reveal more of Himself to Robert and bring healing to his heart, and to his soul.

Amen.

PICTURES FROM THE PURPLE PALACE IN TIJUANA, MEXICO

Our house church has been blessed to serve the wonderful kids at the Purple Palace orphanage in Tijuana.

Here are some photos from recent visits to bless these awesome children.

MOTEL CHRISTMAS - SUNDAY, DEC. 21

While our family was in El Paso, Texas for vacation, our Mission House Church family was delivering Christmas gifts to the children (and our friends) at the California Studio Inn in Santa Ana, CA.

Our church family was joined by our brothers and sisters in Christ from Orange Coast Christian Church who provided 50 boxes of food for the families living here.

This is what Christmas is all about!

Like Sheep Without A Shepherd

On Saturday several of us from The Mission passed out free groceries and hosted a bounce house for the families and residents of the California Studio Inn in Santa Ana.

It was a great day. We had a chance to pray with a lot of people, some of them even hung around and talked with some of us, others shared their pain and their struggles with us and we did our best to give them assistance, advice, phone numbers to call and organizations to seek out for help.

One person really impacted me. His name was Vic. He told me with tears in his eyes about how he had just gotten off of drugs after many years of struggling with addiction. He was about 17 months sober. He and his wife had an adorable little baby girl who was only about 6 months old with them. After losing his job about a month ago, and then losing their apartment soon after, Vic had been in a motorcycle accident a few weeks ago and was needing surgery on his knee. Then he told me about his father who had just passed away from a massive heart attack a week and a half ago.

Could it get any worse, I thought? This guy has been through more pain and more disappointment than almost anyone I've ever met. Still, he talked about his faith in God, and about how he knew that God would see them through this time. I had a chance to encourage him a little and, of course, we prayed for him and his family. I even gave them a phone number to see if they could get set up at the Village of Hope in Tustin, but still I felt that there was still so much to do.

As we stood around talking I caught a flash of something in my mind. Maybe it was a vision, or maybe just a stray thought, but I saw these residents sitting in folding chairs and worshiping Jesus. I saw myself teaching them from the Bible. I saw others from the Mission praying with them in small groups. I saw us laughing with them and eating with them and playing with their kids. I saw us being in community with them.

Then I heard a verse of scripture, just part of one actually, that said, "They are like sheep without a shepherd".

The next day at house church I opened my Bible and found this verse. Here's the entire passage in context:

"Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.'" - Matthew 9:35-38

These dear people at the motel need more than free groceries once a month. They need more than a free breakfast and a sermon every other week, what they need is to be part of a loving community of mature believers who will help them and stand by them and pray for them and invite them into the fellowship of the Family of God.

What does this mean? I'm not exactly sure. But I do know that I believe that our house church needs to pray about investing more than we have so far in the lives of these people. I can see now that they are like sheep without a shepherd and since one of my primary giftings is to shepherd I can't help but feel compelled to pastor them. I would prefer not to do this alone. I pray that others from our house church would also decide to join us in "being the Church" to these dear people a bit more...whatever that might mean.

This is something for our house church to pray about together and to hear from God about. Does it mean a monthly church service at the motel? Does it mean something more often? Does it mean changing the way we minister there? Right now I don't know exactly.

Please God, show us what you would have us to do in this place as ambassadors of your Gospel and carriers of your Kingdom.

-kg