Pictured Above: Sara being baptized by her Missional Community leader, Becky.
A little over a year ago, I was leading a mission trip, and one of my co-leaders said she has hope in the family of God. I didn’t understand what she meant. Sure, I had a great church family that I relied on, but I’d been attending that church for a long time. I’d invested in relationships there. Fast forward to 5 months later with me in the Orlando airport saying goodbye to my sister getting ready to head to a strange city with nothing but two suitcases, to stay with a new co-worker I hardly knew until I could figure out where I was going to actually live. I was excited about my new job in vocational ministry, but knew that I would also need to find a Christian community outside of that. But I had never visited churches by myself, was not particularly tied to a denomination, and had no idea where to start. A co-worker knew some people from The Hallows and suggested I try it. Once I started to attend a Missional Community, they welcomed me into their family with open arms. There’s something special about knowing immediately that you have the most important thing in common with people. I’ve been in Seattle for nearly a year now, and I continue to see how God is working through His people here in Seattle, and the way His people care for one another- whether it’s meeting fellow believers who know the same people I know, working with church partners through my job who welcome and support my organization, or through individuals who care for marginalized people in the city. I can see that although I miss people that I’ve left on the East coast, that I have a family here who cares for me unconditionally.
When I decided to move to Seattle, I was told that it was a godless place. While the brokenness of living in a fallen world is evident here, the presence of God through His people is more evident to me. So now I get it. I have hope in the family of God, too, because in a place full of marginalized and hurting people, there are people who want to stop the hurting by showing the grace that’s been offered to them.