God WILL Send People...but why?

I have had the pleasure to live in Williamsburg, Virginia for twelve years now and I am looking forward to spending several more years working with the church that meets on Merrimac Trail. We are a church with an average attendance of 165-175. We have four brothers serving as elders and twenty-two brothers working as deacons. Our teaching force includes about 16 regular teachers and several substitutes. I wanted to share these figures with you to let you know that we are pretty much an "average" size church within our fellowship. An average size church in a very old and affluent community!

The real story here is that these figures reflect the current situation, but do not accurately reflect our immediate past history. The picture during the latter years of the 20th century were much bleaker. An average attendance of 110, three elders, no deacons, six Sunday school teachers and one Wednesday night teacher (there were no graded classes during the mid-week service because there was no reason to have any).

Why has God blessed us so greatly during the first decade of the 21st century? The answer is clear: prayer. God in his goodness answered our fervent prayers! It is a bit like, "when all else fails, why not pray?" The church here tried a number of things immediately prior to determining that only God could make this church grow! Our efforts were in vain. So, in 1999 we turned our chances of growth over to God! Our prayer was simple, "God, send us people and we will make every effort to be your church in this place at this time!"

Within a short time during this concerted effort to plead for His help, we began to see people coming through our church building doors that we had never seen. People were relocating to our community from all over the country bringing with them a fresh spiritual fervor that we had been missing. These were talented people! Elders and deacons who had retired from secular work and decided that Williamsburg would be a good place to live. Some folk serving in the military that were being stationed in our immediate area and decided to work with our church family. They just kept coming! Incredibly devoted and talented Christian brothers and sisters.

However, God did not stop there...He never does! He began to send people here who were searching for a church that would accept them, love them, and share with them the truth. These were not people "like us," but folk who were needy on many different levels. They were needing guidance, assistance, loving relationships, and much, much more. When we ask God to send us people we did not tell Him what kind of people...just people! To this day (nearly ten years later), He continues to send us people and we warmly accept them!

My point is simple. If we are willing to minister to those who are "needy" and can do so with an open and accepting heart, God will send us people! He will send us Christians who want to serve and are needing an environment that will allow them to serve. He will send us struggling families who need help to survive in this tough world. He will send those with addictive personalities that desire to be free. He will send us folk who have made major mistakes in their lives and are paying for those bad decisions. Yes, all kinds of folk!