A Welcoming Church Family

“All of the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all of the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

When a community service project was held one Sunday following the worship service, many people in the congregation stayed to participate. Volunteer help was needed with the upkeep of a house and garden used for outreach in a neighboring town and also with a church in downtown Detroit.

The cinder block walls in the basement of our church building also needed scraping before a new coat of paint could be applied. In addition, a room formerly used for storage needed to be cleared out and an unused bathroom prepped so that it could be repainted.

As people went in different directions, a few of us stayed behind to work on scraping the cinderblock walls of the basement and bathroom. I volunteered to scrape the walls of the bathroom along with a young fellow, who will be called “Roj” in this account.

We had met previously, chatting after church one Sunday.  Roj had recently moved from India for employment in the States. It seemed as though he was very well educated, had a good job and was adjusting well to life here. However, with his family still in India there must have been times when he felt lonely.

Our conversation picked up where it had left off as we scraped the old cinderblocks and then repainted them with a sealer, trying not to spill too much paint on our clothes.

I wondered if he grew up in a Hindu home and he replied that yes, his family was Hindu.

 “Well, how did you happen to become a Christian?”

 “Oh,” Roj responded, “but I am not a Christian. I am Hindu.”

“So, what brought you to our church?” I asked puzzled.

“A missionary who came to our village invited me to church. He said I would always be welcome there. When I came to America, I decided to do what the missionary told me and that is how I came to this church.”

That was certainly brave on his part. “Well, do you feel welcome here?” 

He assured me that he did and was even coming to the mid-week service regularly.  We continued talking, first about the Bible and then about stories that he had learned from Hinduism, while finishing up the walls.

When the job was done, we cleaned up before leaving, happy that there were only a few spots of paint on our clothes. It was a good afternoon—great being part of the service project and wonderful getting better acquainted with Roj.

The fact that he found our small church to be friendly was encouraging. His desire to be part of a close community was strong enough to overcome shyness or fear of the unknown.

With this experience in mind, a few days later I had another interesting conversation with a shopper at the local supermarket who was pushing her cart down the cereal aisle looking intently at the shelves.

 “I don’t know what I’m looking for, but I’ll know it when I see it,” she commented.

“That is going to be hard,” I said laughing, “Especially if you don’t know what you are looking for.”

It turned out that a coworker had shared a granola bar with her. “It was the best one I’ve ever tasted!” she said emphatically. “I want more!”

Just then, she found the right box. “This is it!” she said, as she dropped it into her cart and continued on with her shopping.

Having tasted it once she came back for more, like Roj, who was inspired by the missionary in his village to search for a church home. Hopefully, he will say, “This is it!” and come back for more!

Dear Lord, may those who are searching be drawn to Your sweetness and love through the Holy Spirit. Help us to be a welcoming church family! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

*Acts 2:44-46 NIV