The Africa 7- Changing the World

Some of you have wondered why I was in Africa last week. I have a good friend who gave his life to Jesus around 11 years ago. He has been extraordinarily successful in business so for the last 10 years or so we have taken a trip together to see where he could and should give money to ministries around the world. My friend has the gift of compassion and is also extremely wealthy and to be around when those two rivers come together has been a wonderful experience for me. He moved to Charlotte 5 years ago and has started taking some of his friends on these trips to check out what is happening in the world. These friends come from diverse religious perspectives. They are simply friends who met each other at neighborhood functions and really care about each other. I spend most of my time with people who believe what I believe so it was refreshing to spend time talking with guys who came at life from a completely different direction. As I spent time with them a couple of things became clear. These were good guys. I really liked all of them. They loved and cared for each other. They all knew there was something more to life than what they were getting and were very intrigued with what was going on in the ministries we saw. As I got to know them and they got to know me we had some remarkably personal conversations. They were open to having me speak into their lives. Here is the thing. These guys would never come to a church like ours because they received something in the mail or someone dropped by to invite them once. But they all have a deep hunger for Jesus whether they can name it at this point or not. They value friendship and allow their friends to walk just about anywhere in their lives. I came back thinking we need to become a church that is completely dedicated to changing the world one neighborhood at a time, maybe one neighbor at a time.The Beyond Our Dreams strategy was to bring the church closer to neighborhoods via venues. Now we have to get serious about loving our neighbors and our neighborhoods. I have never been more sure about something or more excited about where we are as a church and where God is taking us. The Africa 7 all really loved each other. They were all seeking. What they needed was one friend from their neighborhood whose eyes were already open to lead them to the great Friend and Savior. It was my privilege to be that friend for a week. Now I encourage all who read this to figure out how to be that friend right where you live, right with the people God has placed around you and together we will change the world one neighborhood at a time.