Coordination is a Very Good Thing!
Aug 31
Gary and I were suddenly woken up at 3:30 a.m. the first Friday in August with the blaring sound of a fire engine siren. The engine roared down our nearby hill followed by a parade of about 12 other emergency vehicles. They came to a stop along the block in front of our house. That was rather intimidating! Gary quickly grabbed his housecoat and hightailed it out the front door in his bare feet to investigate. Apparently, the house two doors down from us was on fire. It had been vacant for the last couple of months, but the firemen didn’t know that. A couple of stretchers from the ambulances were rolled along towards the house to save anyone. Actually, I was very impressed with the total coordination process by these emergency helpers working together for I was able to listen to the voice from the loudspeaker coming from “command central.” He told the aerial truck to move forward as it seemed the roof was about to cave in – not the easiest assignment since the street was very narrow and crowded. Who knows how long it will take before the burnt out-structure will be dealt with; however, this whole scenario is rather suspicious as to how the fire started and who reported the crisis.
Sadly, too many churches today do not coordinate themselves properly enough to gather data (e.g. email addresses, telephone numbers, home addresses) from old attenders or newcomers to communicate to them as to what is happening in the life of the church on a regular basis or to connect with them to find out what is happening in their personal lives from day to day. We are trying to build that database for it to become a part of the DNA of Hillside Church. We have had a few new attenders during August and Scott Lockhart, our lead pastor, is sending out weekly emails to remind our contacts that we are still alive and well. Please pray for the growth of Hillside this fall.
Our friend Thomas in Myanmar and his teenaged son have built a bomb shelter on their property to escape the bombs that might come their way in the months ahead from the military regime who are after the fighting rebels. He has coordinated his family members and orphans to file into this small underground space through a narrow entrance on the side when safety is needed. This is a very stressful way to live. Please pray that they will be able to cope with this ongoing fear.
We can learn a great deal from Jesus in the 10th chapter of Matthew in the New Testament about his coordination efforts with his twelve disciples. He sent them out two by two to take his message to only the Israelites along with lots of valuable instructions. Jesus knew what he was doing. Check this passage out!
Don’t work too hard this Labour Day Weekend! I’ve just finished my grass cutting for another week.
Wendy