My college church, Amherst Koinonia Church, has grown through some major heart surgery over the past few semesters. Three semesters ago, everything was looking rough. Our pastor had just decided to leave, relationships were not mended, and members were not walking with the Lord. There was just no sense of community. But thankfully God decided it was time for open heart surgery. It wasn't comfortable at all; as a matter of fact it took a lot of uncomfortable situations to make it happen. In small groups, brothers began being more real to each other and more vulnerable. God tore those walls down and we started talking about real issues in our everyday lives. Then the next step was to reach out to the communities around us. That brought us closer together because we were taking steps of faith together, initiating spiritual conversations and developing relationships with people. And there was a lot of confrontation and reconciliation that had to be done along the way. Because of our upbringing and culture, that was completely uncharted territory. But we worked our way through it together, and God has finally mended those hearts.
It's a great depiction of community and it's interesting how my home church is covering the topic of Biblical community right now in our college Sunday School. Coincidence? No way jose. Crazy thing was, I remember this series back in my Freshman year 4 years ago. And it totally rocked my world. Sharing and letting others into my life? Wow, God has such a perfect plan.
This semester, we're gonna grow deeper and deeper in our relationship. This weekend is a very special weekend. The East Coast Asian-American Student Union is hosting their annual conference at Umass Amherst. And I don't think it's a coincidence AT ALL that it's being hosted here. God is presenting a grand opportunity for us. And we're gonna step up to the plate this weekend. There will be over 1000 Asian American students on campus, and we're going to step out in faith again to spark some spiritual conversations. We had a few last night and we're continuing to do some today also. If you could pray for us, that would be great! We're learning to go more and more out of our comfort zones. We need God's strength and humility!
Till next time!
