The Local Church

Healthy local churches are essential to fulfilling the Great Commission. And healthy churches require a lot of work.

We encourage everyone to find a loving, Bible-teaching local church and then find a way to minister through it. It is a blessing to serve Christians and non-Christians in your community through a local church. If you are already serving through your local church, thank you!

Our family served here and there at our local churches until about seven years ago. Then God called us to do more. He started asking us to do things we had never done...and things we were afraid to do...and things we were afraid we wouldn't enjoy. Each time we said "yes" when God asked us to serve—even if we didn't think we wanted to serve—we yearned to serve more. We found that we genuinely liked serving. The Holy Spirit was changing our hearts right before our eyes!

Our girls never seem happier or more grateful than when they are serving, and we feel the same way.

Not every part of ministry is glamorous, but every part is essential. All those kids who come to Sunday school need clean bathrooms. Someone needs to take out the church trash. Someone needs to keep track of church expenses. Lawns need mowing. Roofs need fixing. Nurseries need helpers. If you have a gift or ability—or just some time—see how you can serve at your local church. If you approach it with a good heart, it will be a great blessing to you and those you serve. And you just might find the Holy Spirit working in you so you actually enjoy it.

Our family has been incredibly fortunate to serve in many capacities at our previous and current local churches, volunteering for AWANA, VBS, children's church, soccer camps, and fall festivals; directing the men's ministry, and serving as deacon, to name just a handful.

But the service we've enjoyed most is teaching. God has blessed us with the opportunity to teach men's and women's Bible studies, teach children's and adult Sunday School, and preach sermons. We have a passion for teaching, and God has been gracious to give us the spiritual gift and desire to teach His word. We are exploring ways to leverage technology to teach God's word through the internet and through apps, and we'll let you know if and when those ideas come to fruition.

Other Ministries

No Christian can do it all. We each have our own gifts. Our own abilities. Our own missions. And our own communities to serve. Individually, we each are the body of Christ in action, but we are also part of a bigger body—the church as a whole.

That's why we support other ministries: because we alone can't serve all those in physical and spiritual need.

No ministry is perfect (they're all run by imperfect people after all!), but here are some of our current favorites:

• World Vision - provides support and shares the gospel with communities throughout the world

• Samaritan's Purse - provides support and shares the gospel with communities throughout the world

• Gleaning for the World - provides support to communities in critical need throughout the world

• Faith Comes by Hearing - records and provides audio Bibles in more than 1,400 languages with the goal of reaching people of every language throughout the world

• Local missionaries - share the gospel outside the local community and rely on local churches like yours for critical support

When choosing which charities to support, we encourage you to research them carefully and choose those that efficiently use the donations they receive to serve God effectively. Remember to pray before making your decision, because there's no better guide than the Holy Spirit.