from June 3, 2012 prayer update

I have been reading and learning about the missional church for several years now – Barna, Cole, Frost, Hirsch, Roxburgh, Stetzer, among others. I also attended two Verge conferences, which targeted missional community leaders, exposing them to the stories and thinking of many of the national and international missional church leaders. After much reflection and prayer, I finally decided it was time to take the plunge. A few months ago I became part of a missional community.

A missional community is a small, closely knit community of believers. Outreach to a well defined audience where the gospel is clearly demonstrated and proclaimed is the glue uniting the community together. Our focus is local Saudi Arabian students learning English for nine months through TIEP (Texas Intensive English Program) in central Austin.

Saudi Arabia is one of the least reached countries on the planet, 92.4% Muslim. 27 million lost souls, without access to the gospel. It is an Islamic state, where the cost of conversion to Christianity is your life. It is the birthplace of Islam. It’s holiest city, Mecca, is the direction of prayer for Muslims world-wide five times daily, and it is a once in a lifetime pilgrimage destination (Hajj) for Muslims.

Our missional community is composed of five couples, one single, and me. We are a multi-generational community with folks in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. It includes a missionary couple with Pioneers (they are taking Christ to unreached Muslims in NW China). They were sent to the field from an Austin area church 10 years ago and are furloughing in Austin for a couple of years. It also includes two couples preparing to move and take Christ to Muslims living in the Maldives (off the coast of India). And the team is led by my dear friends, Richard and Sharon Hampton.

God has brought the Hamptons and I together in a variety of contexts over the years. Initially serving together as undergraduates through The Navigator ministry on the UT campus in the 1970s. We served together in a central Austin church plant more than 20 years ago. We often compared notes when we each served as lay missions leadership team chairmen in different churches in the city. We served together on the board of Mission Possible (a local inner city ministry). We have both been actively involved with the “Perspectives on the World Christian Movement” class, where Richard currently serves as the Austin coordinator. And now, once again we are serving together through this missional community. Relationships don’t go any deeper than this, forged in many years of kingdom service together.

Richard and Sharon are empty nesters with four children and a growing clan of grandchildren. Richard is a small business owner, intentionally using his business as a vehicle for creatively bringing Christ to hundreds of low income housing residents around the state that live in units he manages for others. Sharon is among the best children’s missions educators I have ever met.

TIEP has not yet paired me with a student. That may not happen until the fall (although the program does operate year round). Pray that God would superintend this pairing with a young man who God has been preparing for the gospel, and one who will become a choice kingdom servant following his conversion. I am praying John 15:16, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give it to you.”

Until then, I join with the rest of our team in regular intercession. Prayer that is tearing down the spiritual strongholds that must first be overcome with those trapped in Islam. And we engage in frequent social events around meals with the students we serve (and their friends and family members). These events help introduce our community to the Saudi community living temporary in Austin, building relational bridges that open doors for meaningful conversation.

We meet individually with the student we are paired with each week on their turf or in a neutral location to provide a friendly environment where they can practice English with us. And every Friday morning our missional community meets for several hours in the home of one of members. In our missional community gatherings, we alternate weeks between learning more about ministry to Muslims / sharing stories and intercession for the students we are involved with. What an encouragement and privilege to be part of such a like-minded and like-hearted group of believers.