A Little Bit of Our Journey

Before moving to the south, we lived in Flint, MI. It's true that the weather was not ideal, but we loved our home, loved our church and loved our friends as if they were our family. So, why did we ever leave there? It can be boiled down to two words...BURN OUT. As much as Jim loved his ministry there, holding two positions was just getting to be too much. We felt like if he continued at that pace, he would be done with ministry altogether and no good to any church within a year's time. When you're feeling that way, every little frustration seems much bigger than it is. At the same time, we were feeling this moving of the Holy Spirit to look south. So, we put out a feeler...one resume...to one church. That's when we got the call to Midland Valley. Though we were settled in Michigan, we truly felt that it was God's timing for us to move on from that place and come to where we are now. So, through tearful good byes we packed up our lives and began putting down roots in a new place.

For the first year of service here, it was like a fairy tale really. Jim was dreaming big, through God's leading, and the resources were coming in. People seemed to be catching the vision of what God had in store for the FUSE youth ministry. The best thing about it was that youth were coming to know Christ in new and real ways. Kids who had sworn off of church or never been through a church door were coming and learning and growing. There were brand new kids coming through the doors every time they were opened. An environment of "come as you are" was created and the students responded. There was finally a place for them and their friends with no judgement but simply Christ-like love. In our years in youth ministry, things are sometimes difficult. We have personally sacrificed, especially in the area of finances. It is a hard world, especially in the youth culture. Kids are dealing with things that are beyond our humand understanding. It's the small victories that make it all worthwhile, and we were seeing these victories over and over again at FUSE. Then suddenly it all came to an abrupt end with no warning and no real reason given. Our world was turned upside down.

Since being kicked out of the church, we have had some ministry opportunities that have come our way. There were some truly great churches with amazing leaders, but we just didn't feel that they were God's place for us at this time. One of the biggest draw-backs to these positions was that it would mean leaving our beloved Nazarene denomination. So, Jim got a "real" job in order to try to make ends meet, and we are now waiting on the Lord. My desire has always been to move on from the hurtfulness of the situation...move forward in positive ways. However, it seems that every time we strive to do that, we are knocked down and beaten up all over again. Not only were we forced out of the church family, reputation tarnished, income gone, in danger of losing our home, kids kicked out of the school (for "disharmony" which was not created by us but for which we reaped the consequences), but now we are being sued by the church for the money that they freely gave us as an incentive to come and which Jim agreed to repay through service to the church (for 5 years), service which he desired to continue. On the subject of this matter, we received a certified letter from the church board back in January which requested that we set up a meeting with them in order to discuss the situation. We immediatly responded to the board secretary (as requested) and set a time and date for the meeting to take place. However, we were told that the meeting would not go forward. Since then, we had not heard anything more regarding the matter until we were served with lawsuit papers this week. The suit states that there have been repeated attempts to collect this money. That is simply a lie. There has been no attempt by the church to resolve this matter through discussion or arbitration despite our willingness to do so. Before writing this I seriously considered saying nothing at all and just dealing with it quietly. But we have tried that route, and nothing has come of it but more heartache. I don't think that it is ever a negative thing for the truth to come out of the shadows and into the light. It can only be a positive thing for both our family and the body of believers. Also, I believe that people have a right to know about something that their name is signed to since the suit is filed by the church as a whole and not by an individual.

All of this causes in me a mix of emotions. Of course there is rage, but there is also a deep sadness for the state of this church. The Bible is very clear about the matter of lawsuits and how believers are to treat one another (just read I Corinthians 6). There are so many good people with good hearts at Midland Valley Naz. But the church is not being the church, the body of Christ. It makes me sad because I've seen the church as it should be in other places. Let me use East Flint Nazarene as an example. The summer before we left there, this church that was struggling financially itself due to the poor economy of the area made a radical decision. They took their annual Vacation Bible School (always done up in a big way) and changed its location. It was moved to the poorest of the poor neighborhoods in the city. Not only did they move it, but they made it the biggest and the best ever. All of the resources that they would have given to the one held at our church were given and then some. The people gave of their time and anything else that they had to make it happen. It was the church truly being the hands and feet of Christ and taking not just the gospel but hope to where it is needed most. I can think of so many other things that were done there so unselfishly. There are times that I wish we had never left. But then I'm reminded that we had a calling from God and followed that call here, and I'm also reminded of all the good that Jim's ministry accomplished during our short time at Midland Valley. My prayer is that good things continue to happen and that God will be seen. I pray that more and more youth will come to know him in a real and genuine way and that they will go out to offer that hope to others, becoming the true church themselves and offering grace, love and compassion to the world around them in Christ's name.