Reaching More with Less by Chris
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| The biggest turnout we have had so far in Coopevega |
The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairsto every town and place, he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, and no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.’”
Today's Gospel is very appropriate for this blog post as you will see if you keep reading. Karen and I went recently went through some continuing formation training with our organization that was developed by The Evangelical Catholic and it is called "Reach More". After we finished the training, Karen and I decided to put it right to use with a community called Coopevega. Coopevega has some history with our organization as we have had missionary families serving here for about the last eight or nine years. The last family left that lived in Coopevega left a few months back and it was no coincidence that we had just finished our training at the same time. We felt called to very slowly work through this discipleship formation process with this community. Once every other Wednesday afternoon we head out to Coopevega. We started out in a person's home but the group grew and we now meet in the chapel. We have had many great families serve in Coopevega over these last eight years or so. The way that I see it, the folks in Coopevega have witnessed many people striving to be holy missionary saints that are genuinely trying to follow Jesus as disciples. Now, it is their turn.
When Karen and I went through our intense "Reach More" training we met every week via Zoom for a few hours on Friday mornings with other missionaries out in the field. We worked through a book, used an online portal called "NextStep" and also had one-on-one sessions with our point person. It all took place over the course of twelve weeks and we knew that we couldn't go that fast with this group. We also would not have the ability to have them use the online portal as many people do not have access to the internet. So, we went "old school" and are going at a very slow pace and diving deeper into each of the lessons in the program. We have been at it for a few months now and we are only on the second session of the twelve-week program. The people seem to be responding to it well and they are beginning to open up more. There are not a lot of small group discussions or sharing in the local church. For many of them, the whole idea of sharing what is on your heart or mind is rather foreign. It is all part of the process and we are enjoying it.
The last family to leave has a few of their family members coming back to visit Coopevega in a couple of weeks. We are excited to be able to hear from them what they think of the group in person. They have managed to stay connected to folks in the community via various WhatsApp groups and phone calls. I ask that you pray for this particular discipleship ministry in Coopevega but also pray to see if Jesus is calling you to become part of a small group discipleship opportunity near you. If you are, that is wonderful, if you are not, what are you waiting for? I am confident that The Lord of the harvest, Jesus Christ, is and will continue to send out more laborers for this abundant harvest!
Sunday, October 23, 2022, is World Mission Sunday and we ask for special prayers on this day. If you are able on that day, please pray for our family and all of the families and singles in the mission field.
St. Francis Xavier, pray for us.
St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us.
May you and your family be blessed,
Chris
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| We are able to share dinner together one time per month. |
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| Here is a picture of all of the folks participating |
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| Singing praise & worship together |
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| A photo shared by a participant |
We'd love to hear from you via email:
carmodyfamilyonmissions@gmail.com
If the Holy Spirit is nudging you to support us financially so that we can continue serving those in need, please visit:
or call Family Missions Company at
(337) 893 - 6111.
Peace in Christ Jesus!
