Community
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
2 John 1:12
I don’t think a verse could better express what our prayer has been over this past year than what is stated in 2 John. The AKC team experiences community numerous times each month through our zoom meetings and, if we’re lucky enough, we get to see each other in person every once in a while as well. We are a team made up of different denominations, different roles and are in different stages in our lives. We have a grandparent, a new parent, two engaged, and a few married for a few decades. We have entrepreneurs, kingdom builders, paid positions and volunteers. We are a part of churches who are thriving and churches who are in the midst of rebuilding. Simply put, we are a community of believers who are blessed by spending time with one another. We pray for one another. We encourage one another. We laugh together. We cry together.
This need for community seems to be screaming at us in all aspects of our lives. People are craving connection. Why is the need to connect so great? Why are we ‘better together’? I’m not a fan of bringing up Covid but one lesson I re-discovered (often) is how incredibly important community is. Distance from my church, my family and my friends took its toll on me both mentally and physically. Being removed from my core groups affected me.
Our creator created us to be a part of community. So often, we pour our energy into ensuring the families we are ministering to know they are a part of God’s family… that there is a place at God’s table for them. Do we remind ourselves of that though? Do we remember that we too are a part of God’s Kingdom… that there is more than enough room for all of us at God’s table?
The theme for this year’s conference was not chosen by chance. It was the comment we heard the most at last year’s conference… that those who were there were thankful for this community. It was a place where they could see they were not alone. It was a place where they discovered others experienced the same joys and the same sorrows, found new ways to connect and were affirmed in their ministry roles.
But again, 2 John says it best: I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
This is our hope - that we visit with you and talk with you. That we can experience community together. Because together, we really are better…. not because of what we do but only because of what HE does through us.
Blessings friends. Thank you for the work you do. Thank you for being a part of this incredible KidMin community.