5 years ago today I woke up and realized things were decidedly different.
The day before was Easter Sunday and our Missio Mesa MC’s had gathered for the last time with our Tempe based MC’s. As I drove away from the Lutheran church used as a gathering space I remember feeling an odd mix of bitterness and sweetness. We were only moving our focus a city away- but that had a cost. It meant leaving what was familiar, it meant far less time with some friends, coLaborers, and disciplemakers we enjoyed dreaming and scheming with. And it meant we knew we’d be tested in fresh ways as we planted the gospel in Mesa.
It was bitter because it had been 10 years before that we planted our first MC’s in Tempe. Many of us had been mesmerized at the stories we were now a part of. We were in awe of the way the kingdom of God continued to break into lives and communities,.
A small tribe of us had been discerning that the Spirit was stirring up something fresh for us though. We had been aligning more of our time, talents and treasures in disciple making just east of Tempe. The calling was clear. The decision was made. But this didn’t make the bitterness of leaving the friends and the familiarity any more desirable. But businesses had been started, homes had been purchased, leases signed, and friends re-oriented in new zip codes. But that was only the beginning.
The last five years as an extended spiritual family have been a journey of experiencing why God was calling us into this space at this time. We faced scenerios as a community that have tried our faith- but it’s come through refined as gold. We’ve seen disciples made, we’ve suffered, we’ve loved a city and one another through a global pandemic, we’ve baptized friends, we’ve started businesses, we’ve seen MC’s planted, grow, reproduce, and others de comissioned as they served their assignment and moved on to what was next.
We’ve grieved at gravesides, celebrated at weddings, and spent countless hours in prayer and shared spaces enjoying the gifts of friendship and coLaboring kingdom work. We’ve said goodbye to friends as they moved to make disciples in other parts of the country and done with less to continue seeing new works emerge across the world. It has been hard. It has been good. It continues on.
So a few months ago when Charlie met up with the leadership team of Missio Dei Communities to say that The Missio Tempe MC’s wanted to move over and collaborate in a new way with Missio Mesa it was also bitter sweet. It was bitter because I know there’s a lot of pain in that decision. I know there’s disappointment. I know there is a deep love for the disciples of Missio and a discerning care that led their elders to that decision. It has now been 15 years since we first planted the gospel through MC’s in Tempe. The seeds of those MC’s have scattered and formed hundreds of communities, equipped thousands of disciplemakers in over a dozen countries, and served as a place of healing and hope for countless neighbors.
The ending of a form is bitter. But make no mistake the substance is continuing on. The mission of seeing healthy disciples made, matured, and multiplied has not shifted. We will absolutely continue to be formed by God, for the sake of others- Together. We are welcoming in our extended East Valley family, and are honored to continue the work of bearing witness to the gospel alongside them.
This is the sweet part of the bitter sweet. The initial prayer for Missio was to have a community where the message was always the gospel and the methods were always missionary. That means we wanted to be faithful to the biblical story and contextual in the ways we arranged our communal life to the times and places we were sent. I believe that the Spirit is present in the move of the Tempe MC’s to form a disciple making hub with our Mesa and Gilbert MC’s. We will be blessed with the gifts and perspectives of sisters and brothers that wasn’t present before, we will get to hear of what God is doing all across the East Valley, and we will continue to collaborate towards gospel saturation in the Valley! I’m sure the shift will not be without struggle, but in that struggle I fervently believe we will experience the salve of the Spirit’s work.
So today, the day after we celebrate the Resurrection, may we lean into what the Spirit is doing in us and through us. Yes, the future will be decidedly different- but isn’t that the message of Easter? A day that changed almost everything. Everything but the faithful love of God and his ongoing work to reconcile all things to Himself in Jesus!
So may we be filled with faith, hope, and love. Remembering that the greatest of these is love.
Jesus is risen and we follow him together-
Kevin