Balikpapan and the Fellowship of the Ring

In J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings there are 9 characters who are joined together for one purpose. It was the greatest of all tasks , to destroy the ring of power. They pledged themselves to the task and to each other. They called themselves, the Fellowship of the Ring. I am writing this from a hotel room in Balikpapan, Indonesia. I am here doing a conference for a group of missionary pilots and their families. It is a very cool group. They fly in and out of the jungle. They are all here for the same reason. They feel like they have been called by God for the great purpose and task. It is a task they cannot do alone. They need each other and so they have bound themselves together in a very special way. I have watched them. They eat together, work together, their kids play with each other, their wives shop together. They are a Fellowship. Since they are all pilots I have dubbed them the Fellowship of the Wings. Catchy! The thing that has struck me is that they have been forced together because they have been called to this place from all over. They did not get to choose their small group or their neighborhood or each other. They came and because of the God who loved them and called them by name they have learned to love each other. There is something immensely good and powerful in that. I want some of that, don't you? It is not without great growth and humility. Everyone, and I mean everyone, has rough edges. But for these families they have allowed God to use each other to rub off the edges. They have accepted each other and loved each other warts and all. This is what Jesus intended when he formed the church. I want to be a part of a group of people who have been called to participate in some great endeavor. What could be bigger than taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth? Let's all find a group of people with a passion to bring the love of Christ to our neighborhood or work place or country club and form a Fellowship. Let this Fellowship of the Wings be our inspiration. If they can do it at the edge of the world here in Balikpapan, surely we can do it in the middle of suburban America.