One of the surprising outcomes of the summer was being involved with the Chinese Church of Akron. It wasn’t even on my radar in May, but in July things changed. That was fun.
Todd leads the teaching at the training. I could tell he had taught them before. He had them engaged with the topic!
My friend Todd McKenney has ministered for a long time with them, particularly when he on staff at The Chapel. Todd needed me to fill in for him on the preaching schedule in late June, so I gladly did so. If you’ve ever had an interpreter as you spoke you know that it can take a bit to get used to. Just when you’re on a roll with a good story you must remember the interpreter needs to catch up with your words. That’s exactly what I did. I looked over at my interpreter and she had a glazed look on her face. Oops! I launched into a great story and realized about halfway through that I needed to slow down. I preached from Philippians 4:2-9. There’s powerful truths about how we secure peace in our lives.
After the service I had the privilege of teaching them in their seminary. About thirty members from the church gather after lunch for a two hour for training and equipping. Todd and I taught for three Sundays in July at the seminary from the first three chapters of “The Ways of the Alongsider.” Through a variety of methods (discussion, Bible study, and illustrations) we helped them to think about:
- Thinking small to have big vision.
- The way of the amatuer.
- Being a friend of God.
- Engaging with the Scriptures.
- A picture of a disciple.
Making disciples that make disciples is hard stuff for churches or for anyone. The Chinese Church wants to strengthen their skills. This is a great conviction. There is a bigger vision though.
Pastor Wang, who leads the church told me that one third of the Chinese churches in the US do not have a pastor. Why don’t they have a pastor? One reason is the lack of disciple-making. The God-sized vision for this church is to disciple in such a way that not only do the help mature every believer in their congregation, but they impact also all Chinese churches in the US. Isn’t that a God-sized vision that He would use them to make disciples and fill The Church with fully formed disciples! May the Lord use them powerfully.