missional...sowing seed

This year celebrates three years on the Pauquachin Band Reserve. It has been a unique missional experience, in that we've had to move completely outside our walls...the walls of our building, the walls of our culture...and the walls of our comfort. I have been stretched from day one. I have been the blind man that has to rely on the the Spirit of God for wisdom and direction. We didn't know a whole lot about their culture. We did know from the residential schools, they were terribly wounded by religion.

It has all been in God's timing, we never forced are way onto their land with some agenda waving a bible. We were approached by one of the women on the reserve that was looking for help with the youth. There was a high incident of school drop out, teen pregnancy, drugs and alcohol...and no youth programs for youth. It was a woman's cry for help for a future generation.

It really has been like sowing seed. The time in preparing the ground has been slow. Because of past wounds, we've had to tenderly cultivate and dig the ground. So slow, that sometimes you wonder if anything will get planted. It has been two years of just hanging out with the youth and loving them, sharing food, talking about life, sharing experiences and playing games. The ground becomes very loose, and warm in this environment...it is ready for seed.

So we pray, we introduce Jesus, talk about faith, love, hope...and about this wonderful Kingdom that can be found in glimpses here and which we live in later.

Sowing seed, and being a Sower takes time. There is a relationship between the sower and the land. The Sower learns a great deal about faith. He learns it's far far more about the Spirit of God than him. He can only cultivate and sow the seed. God provides the Son and the rain that make the seed grow. The sower realizes there are seasons beyond his control, he can only rest in faith...and pray.

This has been one of the greatest blessings of my life, to have the opportunity to be welcomed into there culture, to be welcomed as a friend...and to be loved. But more than that it has been incredible to watch Jesus heal and mend lives and to see hope begin to shine again.

Missional is like sowing, it is slow going, it requires lots of faith and patience...but it is awesome to see something grow.