It Is a God Thing

“It is a God thing.” We sometimes use this phrase to indicate that the only way we can explain something that happens is that God brought it about. It is scary when it happens because it is clearly out of our control. But it is also exciting when it occurs because we get to see a glimpse of God at work.

When I arrived at New Covenant a year ago April, I learned of a desire to form a sister church relationship, especially with a church in another country. I knew from experience that this was a difficult process and thought it would take years to happen. God had other ideas.

Last June I was a part of the Business English Camp in the Czech Republic and met Bronek Lipus who ran the camp. He is a Czech national who is part-time staff with International Messengers. Bronek has a real heart for people, and many who attend the camp come because of a personal connection with Bronek.

During the 2004 camp, the seeds of a partnership began to sprout. Many students attend the Business English Camp, and some of them have attended 2, 3 or even 4 different years. Our desire was to find ways to continue reaching out to them after we returned to America. This would require us partnering with someone there in the Czech Republic. We were therefore excited to learn from Bronek the vision God had given to his church to reach out to their community. The church and the camp are not directly connected (other than Bronek being an elder of the church and also the one running the camp), but many of the students who attend the camp live in Trinec near Bronek’s church. Because of our shared desire to make disciples in Trinec, we recognized that we could accomplish more working together than either church could on its own. The basis for this partnership was more than just to have a “friendship” with a church in another country. It was an opportunity for us to labor together for the sake of the Gospel.

I very much believed God was at work, but entering into a partnership was a major step for us to take. We would not do so lightly. Next week I will share more about our “Project CR” trip in January as we continued to investigate whether this partnership was truly “a God thing.”