The Quiet Mission of Park Church

Who doesn’t know about our mission in Brazil and West Virginia, the great work of Tiger Pause in Beaver Falls and the Salvation Army in Rochester?  Most Park people recognize the names of Sue Makin and Rebecca Mihm.  We are a church with a mission and a people on a mission.  God always sends (mission is from the Latin mittere, “to send”) his people into the world to bear the Good News in word and deed. 

In addition to our well-publicized mission program there is another more quiet mission carried out day by day here at the church and through the lives of countless Park missionaries, ordinary people who share God’s love and compassion wherever they are and through whatever they do. 

Last June, God sent me from my study into Mary Beth’s office to share the Good News with a young man who had been sent to us.  You may remember the story (you can click here to read it again).  

Since that day in early June when a broken and confused young man named Mike (not his real name) wandered (directed, I believe, by the providential hand of God) into our building and into our lives, God has continued to use Park Church to help rebuild his life.  Every couple of weeks Mike drops by the building just to check in.  Almost always he spends a few minutes with Mary Beth who is one of the people God has put into his life.  Hers is a word of encouragement and caring concern.  Mary Beth’s perspective on life and faith is an important one for Mike to see and hear. 

Sometimes when Mike is at Park he goes into the Sanctuary to spend time before the cross and the Table where he and I shared the Lord’s Supper and where Mike felt the healing balm of the Spirit in his heart as much as he felt the stinging sorrow of the tears in his eyes. 

And then, if he sees that my door is open, he’ll come by and we will talk.  Sometimes it is just about the Bible and theology, but usually it is about his life.  Sometimes he feels as if he will never be able to crawl his way out of the dark pit into which he fell, but usually he has a sense that he is a little bit closer to having his feet on firm ground (Psalm 40:2). 

Life has not been easy for Mike during these past three months.  His wife has left him and there have been bitter fights over the custody of the two boys.  Finances are always tight and have gotten close to the breaking point.  But Mike has returned to the church community that first nurtured him after his baptism (a Pentecostal church in another Beaver Valley town) and they have been good to him.  Mike is a thinker and wrestles with the Bible and wants to plumb the depth of its meaning and its demands on his life, maybe in ways to which Pentecostals are not always accustomed.  And so we talk and pray together, and he goes out to face another week feeling a little stronger and a little more able to face those situations that will be so discouraging and which may cause him to at least wonder about giving up. 

This week, for the very first time, Mike was willing to accept a small gift from our Economic Emergency fund.  He needs to eat and has been going without food in order to provide the basics his sons need when they are with him.  He has rent to pay and his paycheck has not been able to keep up with all the demands on it. 

Park Church is a place to which Mike has returned frequently since June.  He has found an encouraging welcome every time he sees Mary Beth.  He has found wise counsel in God’s Word as he and I have talked together.  He has experienced the generous care of our congregation in the gift we gave today.  Thank you.  And yes, the Economic Emergency Fund is in need of replenishment.  The gift to Mike was not large, but there are others in our church family whose needs we have recently met.  Those who can give to the fund are encouraged to do so.  Just check the Economic Emergency Fund box on the yellow pew envelop. 

Before he sent his disciples anywhere, Jesus called them to himself that they might learn his ways.   Sunday School is at 9:30 and worship at 10:55.