A Child's Coins

Ever hear of a “widow’s mite?” A gift that seemed so small in man’s eyes was great in God’s eyes. You can read about that story in The New Testament book of Mark, chapter 12, verses 41-44.

Equally significant in God’s eyes is what I call a “child’s coins.” I’m referring to 35 cents to be exact - a quarter and two nickels. Let me tell you the story of a child’s change.

Yesterday our daughter, Helen, and her three precious little children, also our granddaughters, spent the day at our house. They were having some remodeling work done at their house and they needed a place to “park” for the day.

We are always very happy to see our granddaughters come over for a visit, but there was something special about this time.

Five-year old Adia, the oldest, loves to ring our musical doorbell, and then wait in eager expectation to see Grammy or Grampy open the door with our usual surprised look. This time, after her Grammy opened the door, she walked in with a home-made envelope in her hand. Reaching out with a grin big enough to melt her Grampy’s heart, she gave the envelope to me and waited for me to open it. She made it for me all by herself.

I opened it up and in a very special hand designed card out fell three coins - a quarter and two nickels. It puzzled why she would give me money like that. It wasn’t my birthday, or some special occasion to honor me with money. So what was the occasion for this gift?

Her Mommy explained to me that Adia had gone into her Piggy Bank for the money so she could help support us since we are now home missionaries who are raising our financial support.

So what is 35 cents when we need a hundred or more people to give “substantial” gifts to support us in the Lord’s work as home missionaries? I can say with thanksgiving beyond words that this gift of a child’s coins is priceless. It is God who put the desire in a five year old’s heart. She wants to give her money to help support us because she loves us and she loves Jesus. And, she is one of the first to do so.

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Thank you Lord for the unexpected encouragement from a child’s coins and the reminder that you will provide through your children. And thank you, little Adia.

Confessions of a Reluctant Home Missionary

One of the best books on church planting in my opinion is a short work by Mark Driscoll, founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle and a leader of the ACTS29 church planting network. The title of this honest and straightforward book is Confessions of a Reformational Rev. His transparent treatment of his journey as a church planter inspires me to write the following personal comments about yours truly.

As a new home missionary (every Christian is a missionary according to the Scriptures), I have several things I need to confess to my readers and supporters.


Confession number 1: I had to overcome the fear of asking people to support my ministry.

A little voice inside me said, “Don’t ask, because people you know will refuse, or even worse, be offended.” But God showed us that he indeed will work through people we know, even without our asking. As I studied and read about faith missionaries, I learned that building a ministry partner team is not about me, it’s about asking people to give to God working through me and to pray. God has me on a journey of moving from fear to faith (1 Chr. 28:20). You might say I’m overcoming the fear of asking each day as I do ask people to partner with us in ministry.

Confession number 2: I had to become convinced that being a faith missionary doesn’t mean I am begging for support.

I guess I’ve seen too many men and women with their shopping carts and plastic bags standing on the street corners of Bellingham, Washington close to where we live holding up cardboard and crayon signs that say something like, “Please help – anything – candles, food, God bless.” I know that’s not what missionaries do, but when I am the one that needs to ask, it is another story. I am learning that we are asking people to become partners with us in God’s ministry (Phil. 4:10-19). Why shouldn’t ask our friends to join with us in doing God’s work? And, I am learning that I am asking to minister to others.

Confession number 3: I really have a hard time trusting God to meet my needs, really.

In the past I have trusted God to provide through a regular pay check, either from a job or from a ministry. But now I am learning that we are trusting God for whatever he sends through others. I had to dig deep, and when I did I discovered that pride and a spirit of self-reliance was getting in the way of saying yes to faith missions work. Now, God has to show up big time, and when he does as Jehovah Jirah (The LORD, the Provider – Genesis 22:14), it’s all about Him! I have preached on Abraham’s story in Genesis 22, but now God is giving me the opportunity to practice what I preach. I am learning that God really honors faith and it pleases Him when I rely on God alone (Heb. 11:6). I want above all to please God.

Confession number 4: I had to stop telling myself that I am getting too old for this.

When I began considering a faith ministry where I would need to build a ministry support team, I we told that it’s much more difficult to raise your support when you are my age than when you are much younger. I even began to tell that to myself, and often! Here’s wheat is replacing “you’re too old.” Do I really believe what God says about prayer (Eph. 3:20-21)? Do I really believe that the Lord provided for Abraham after he turned 99 years old (Gen 21-22)? Do I really believe that God doesn’t look at the outward appearance (including age) when he wants to use men and women (and me) for his work (1 Sam. 16:7)?

And so, we are on a journey of faith, and are inviting others to join us in ministry along the way.

My Old Stomping Grounds

Yesterday and today I experienced a taste of what is to come in my new ministry as church planting coach and it happened at one of the churches in my old stoping grounds.

Vancouver Chinese Evangelical Free Church now meets in a new building in Vancouver but it wasn't the building that caused me to ponder what God has in store. Over 10 years ago I served as a District Superintendent of the LowerPacific District of the Evangelical Free Church of Canada, a district that has a growing multiu-ethnic look and sound. VCEFC is one of the churches that I worked with then and where I just returned from today - a wonderful church of over 500 Chinese people with services in Cantonese, Mandarin and English. This year it hosted the Lower Pacific District Conference and I was a guest from across the border.

I met many people including pastors and leaders whose birthplaces included Sri Lanka, Viet Nam, Hong Kong, Korea and of course Canada and the US. The food, music, fellowship and teaching were great, but it was the people who impressed me and gave me a glimpse into the future of my ministry as a church planting coach and consultant in the Pacific Northwest.

There was Chad, a young former youth pastor but now a church planter struggling to make sense of his new ministry that he has dreamed about for many years. Chad and I taked about his experiences in the first few months of church planting, his frustrations and his faith. He encouraged me as I began to encourage him. We talked about his needs and he expressed to me that he and his wife had been looking for and praying about finding a coach who could help him. We talked some more and I offered to begin coaching him. He and his wife were excited to talk to someone who seemed to understand what they were going through and who could coach him in his journew of hard work and faith in God. He wants nothing more than to reach new people with the Good News of Jesus Christ and draw them into a new community (aka church) of believers and seekers. Our coaching sessions begin in the next couple of weeks.

Then there was a man who has helped to plant churches and still has a heart for church planting and who is a lay leader in another church . He was born in Viet Nam and has come close to completing a seminary degree. We talked much and I believe God will use him in some special ways in the near future to plant one or more "international" churches. I believe we will be in contact much more in the days ahead and I pray I will be a Barnabas to him in ministry and church planting in particular.

While at the Conference, I also met several Koreans who now live in Canada and are planting churches to reach Korean immigrants. One is the leader of a group of Korean pastors, church planters and churches. Hang around these dear folk and you can see and hear the love of Jesus and the vision to multiply churches that will multiply churches. They may struggle with the English language but they do not struggle with the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ. The leader mentioned to me that he knows of two other Korean church plants in the Seattle area and he wants to get them in contact with me.

It's been a great encouraging first week of new ministry for me and I can't wait to see what God has planned. Next week begins the hard work of contacting people who would be willing to join our Ministry Support Team. Who will send us? (Matthew 9:36-38)

Starting Out on the Faith Journey

Today one journey of faith ends and another begins. I have been called to be a Church Planting Coach by the Pacific Northwest District of the Evangelical Free Church of America. This is an answer to prayer. Here's a bit of our story.

In December I concluded a two-year contract ministry as an intentional interim senior pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Vancouver, BC, Canada. We are thankful to have had that opportunity to serve the Lord and to experience a very multi-cultural local church with many challenges ahead. We shared the Word of God and worked to restore the health of the church, preparing them for their next senior pastor. God was good and we left with many firends with such last names as Braun, Brendle, Cardenas, Chan, Demczuk, Li, Meier, Reich, Wong, Young, Cho, Collins, Gartner, Hugelshofer, Kabyemera, Nee, Ouellette, Sun, Yeung, to name a few. We saw a little glimpse of glory.

January came and went, but no job or ministry for either Marty or me. We prayed hard, submitted applications, made phone calls, checked church job and business web sites, filed out forms and applications, activated the Evangelical Free Church Placement service, and contacted district and regional leaders, but still nothing. We even applied to serve with Power to Change (Campus Crusade for Christ in Canada) and aaccepted the fact that we would need to raise our own support. Everything looked good until God used Canadian immigration to close the door on our living in Lynden, Washington where we are and work in Canada. February also came and went with nothing to show for all our efforts.

Some days we grew discouraged and wondered if God was listening to our prayers. (He was!)Some days our relationship with one another was stretched. We were going through what James 1:2-3 calls the "testing of our faith." But there were also those days and moments of encouragement as we saw God use three of our friends to give large money gifts "out of the blue" but from the heart of our loving God. One friend I didn't know very well encouraged us with a few timely words, also from the heart of God. Faith journeys are often emotional rollercoasters, and ours has been. But God has been there with us all along just as he promised.

Then came today. A phone call gave us the news that I am being called to serve as Church Planting Coach in the Pacific Northwest District of the Evangelical Free Church of America. That district covers churches in the states of Washington, Oregon and Alaska. This ministry will allow me to share my God-given wisdom, knowledge and skills that I have gained over 33 years of ministry as I mentor, coach, train, equip and encourage new church planters, churches that want to plant new churches and even work with other denominations and organizations in the Pacific Northwest including possibilities in Canada. I will be able to finish out my public ministry years in my ministry "sweet spot." Plus, we will not need to move, a fact that makes Grammy Marty and Boppy Charlie very happy, just ask out three little blond granddaughters who live 10 minutes away.

Now in the new journey, God is calling us to ask our friends to share in what we will be doing. We need to raise an army of people who will support us through their regular prayers and financial giving. We are building a Team to help reach an area known for the fact that it is the most unchurched area in North America. We are missionaries in a great harvest field the Lord is preparing.

Deciding what to name this blog came easy for a coach. It takes me back to my Junior High and High School days when our football coach had a chalk talk at each practice to try to communicate what it takes to be victorious in the game. I want my team to be victorious in winning many men, women, boys and girls to faith in Christ, in disciple-making and in multiplying churches throughout the Pacific Northwest.

You are invited to join our Ministry Support Team by praying, and if possible by your faithful giving to our needs. All gifts from the USA are tax deductable. I will soon be sending out letters, e-mails and making phone calls, but will be glad to answer your questions sent to charlieworley@gmail.com.