22 Jun Love Bellevue
We are halfway through our second week here in the Seattle Metropolitan area working with Essential Church! Pastor Warren and the congregation at Essential have been so welcoming to us. It is so encouraging to see their love for one another and for the city of Bellevue, where we are staying.
Bellevue is an affluent area right outside Seattle. Warren compared the people of Bellevue to the rich young man in Matthew 19, who came to Jesus asking for eternal life, yet went away full of sorrow because he was unwilling to give up his earthly possessions. As we have conversations with people this is proving to be true. They are willing to have conversations, but not to change.
This week we are doing yard work for people in the community, mainly older people who cannot do it themselves. The goal is to build relationships and show love, not just through the work itself, but also meaningful conversations. As I have been talking to people there is this recurring theme, they do not understand why we would choose to serve them. The more I would talk about Christ and the church the more confused they would get. Why would a group of college students come spend their summer working for free?
The people are not living in poverty, they have no major needs that they cannot meet. Why do they need God? The people in Bellevue may look like they have it all together, they may even believe they have it all together, but they lack the only thing that really matters- a relationship with Christ. I think back to a particular conversation I had today with a woman who told me ?The church is great and all, but you need to get out and experience things.? This is the attitude reflected in the community, that God is just a nice thing to tack on to your life, but not to revolve your life around.
Pray for us as we continue to have Gospel conversations with the people in Bellevue and around the Seattle area. That we may have abounding love for everyone we come into contact with. ?Pray for God to give us words to speak, when like Christ we are asked ?What must I do to have eternal life??.
Mary Kate Conley
Summer LINK Seattle?