Immersion Worship

Ghandi once said…

I like your Christ. I don’t like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.

Today, I hope, some people saw something that is so rare in us: Christ.

The facility that The Summit meets at were holding a Christmas brunch this morning, so we couldn’t have church. Instead, and in fact I’m glad it worked out this way, we joined up with a couple of other churches and the Manna Food Bank and gave out toys and food to needy families in ‘Motel Alley’ (known more commonly as Beach Blvd in Anaheim/Buena Park).

I’ve done a couple of these events now, and every time I walk away feeling both incredibly blessed and thankful that God has given me the things in my life that I have, but also with a heavy heart because I live in the richest country in the world, and there are families of 8 who are having to cram in to a single motel room and have, literally, nothing. The smile that a box of groceries and some bags of onions, potatoes, oranges, and apples puts on some people’s faces would make you think they’d just won the lottery. In fact, while in the line for the bathroom, there was a young mother who’s two boys were showing each other the soccer balls they had just been given, and I got talking to them (since Im a massive soccer fan). It turns out that this was the very first year that they had ever gotten a gift for Christmas. It’s heartbreaking.

And I just can’t help but wonder if we, the church, the global ‘Church’, really get it. Jesus said that He came to serve and to give. It just seems to me that we spend too much time serving ourselves and giving within than serving and giving to those who really need it.

I think Ghandi was spot on.

A couple of weeks ago, The Summit took a team of people down to Mexico to serve at ‘Casa Celestial’ (My Spanish is non-existent, but I think that means ‘Celestial House’). Casa Celestial is an orphanage located just over the border and out in the Mexican boondocks where a good friend of mine, Eric Sandoval, worked for a long time. He came and visited The Summit a couple of months ago and told us that, as small as it sounds, these kids really need closets. And so The Summit went down there and built some closets.

Where am I going with this? Well, perhaps you and I don’t often think about the significance of something like a closet. It’s just a dark corner of our bedroom where we throw our shirts and slacks. But for kids who, for the most part, have never known their parents and probably will never know their parents (because nobody knows who the parents are), and have been stacking their clothes on the floor, a flat pack closet from IKEA is a life changer.

I wasn’t able to go, unfortunately, but those who went made sure they documented the mission. Here’s the vid. Look at the smiles on those kids!