No Fear

Out west there is a cutting edge clothing designer called No Fear. They used to have great lines on their T-shirts. Here are two of my favorites:

You can't steal second with your foot on first. No Fear

You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. No Fear

Missionary life is uncharted territory. Crosswind volunteers, in the past couple of weeks, witnessed a kidnapping, were right in the middle of another, were handed crack cocaine in our office and had a supervised "flushing" moment, rescued a child almost three who no one knew was legally blind, were involved in Hospital psych floor issues, a restraining order, sheriff visits... and on and on.

But it is in this uncharted territory that in that same period we had record LIFEgroup attendance in the neighborhoods, saw families stabilized by faith in Jesus, and volunteered hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars...all for the sake of what Jesus may do in people's lives.

And we are by no means alone. Tommy Wilson's Living Free Ministries had to break a wall out and buy 100 seats for people who come hungry for Jesus and his Gospel to set them free. Gary Caveness and the Lighthouse have been having a marvelous breakthroughs in restoring Godly manhood and fatherhood after 15 years of working with mom's and kids. Bill Chemowski is planting a church in a trailer in one of our trailer parks so he can be an effective servant to that community. Love and Truth church has 'adopted' the mini-cities community and are making that neighborhood their mission field bringing love, truth and hope to their neighbors. If you ask any of these Christians how they're doing, they'll tell you they're having the time of their lives. If I may let me state the two axioms above in missional lingo:

You can't reach your neighbors if you stay in your church. No Fear

You lose 100% of the people you don't reach out to. No Fear

Become all things to all men so that by all means you may win some.

-BC