Seeing the Unseen

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed." Luke 4:18

On Sunday, April 1, the Mission Athens team hosted a guest speaker at Central Church of Christ from the nearby Lincoln Village Ministry in Huntsville, AL.  Darren Raby is an old friend of the family at Central, having worked as Central's youth minister several years ago.

These days, Darren and his family are devoted to Lincoln Village Ministry.  During his message Sunday night, Darren shared the story of how this ministry has evolved over the past 20 years, sharing both the highs and lows of this journey.  Even when faced with obstacles, adversity, and challenges, the ministry continues to grow and thrive, proof that God's presence is with those who are working tirelessly to help the poor, the orphans, the downtrodden, and those "unseen" members of our communities who many choose to ignore.  You can learn more about the Lincoln Village Ministry by visiting their website at http://www.lincolnvillageministry.com/.

As the Mission Athens team continues to work to shine a light upon and serve those less fortunate in our community of Athens, AL, it is truly inspirational to hear stories like those of the Lincoln Village Ministry.  Over the past 2-3 years, Mission Athens has grown, changed, done many things right and made some mistakes along the way, too.  We are learning, searching, seeking and praying that we will continue to do the Lord's work in our community.  The Bible implores us as Christians to love the unlovable, to see the unseen, and to elevate the "least of these" by helping them, serving them, and loving them just as Jesus did time and again throughout His life.

Throughout the past few years, our team has helped lots of children, lots of elderly widows, and lots of people who are battling life-threatening illnesses.  In most of these cases, it is easy to rally support and assistance.  However, we have also helped convicted criminals, people who struggle with addictions, people who have failed relationships, and people who have made a lifetime of really bad choices.  These are the types of people most folks cross the street to avoid.  But, the cold, hard truth is that each of these people has a soul.  Each of these people deserve to be washed in the blood of Jesus, who died for them just as He died for us.

If we, God's children, don't help these unseen, forgotten, poverty-stricken people, who will?  Our dilemma is not agreeing to help, it is opening our eyes to see the opportunities all around us.  Our battle is not against the will to help--most Christians have lots of good will to help, to write a check, to support a cause.  Our battle is against indifference.  The indifference that causes each of us to blindly overlook the dozens of people we meet each day who need Jesus.

Our daily lives are consumed with our jobs, our kids, our friends, our families, our Facebook, and our sports teams.  Because we only see our small, little worlds, we literally walk right past people at the grocery store, at our kids' schools, and on the street who are desperate for someone to SEE them.  We have become a group of people with good intentions who are too wrapped up in our own little lives to SEE the moments God is giving us to reach out our hands and share His love with these precious souls.

The battle is against indifference.

We don't know what exactly the future holds for Mission Athens, but we have faith that God will guide us in this venture.  Our prayer is that our efforts will grow in our community, touching more lives and bringing more people to Jesus.  We also pray that passion and commitment will grow, and that we will zealously seek out opportunities to share God's love. 

At the end of his message, Darren shared the attached video that challenges all of us to see the unseen as God sees them....His precious children who desperately need us to take action and help them. The video says it all.