One half of our life exists inside the world of the AIM office… the other half is with Lanier Hills Church and the Lake Lanier Club Apartment Complex. We have jumped in, head first, to event planning and chaplaincy! We’re definitely up against a steep learning curve, but we’re climbing steadily!
The biggest challenge we face is that we are pioneering new territory. The apartment complex has had great events in the past, but not for the purpose of building relationships that lead toward Christ. The leadership at church has great experience in building relationships that lead toward Christ, but not in an apartment complex setting. So here we are… blazing new territory… learning bits and pieces and trying to see where they fit in our puzzle.
We have had a few events tank. Movie night… game night… no good. We’ve learned that if someone can stay in the comfort of their own home and do the same thing… they aren’t going to come out to play with us. On the other hand… free food and kids’ stuff has had great turnouts! Not only have a lot of people come, but we’ve gotten to actually sit down and have conversations… building relationships!
One of the great moments actually came from an event that we would have considered a failure. 15 minutes after Movie Night was supposed to start, a mom and two small kids come in. Dad wanted to take a nap in peace and quiet and it was too dark for the playground, so Ta Da! We have Movie Night guests! The kids were really too young… even for Wall-E… so we mostly just played. By the end of the evening the mom was super comfortable with us and the kids had become our new best friends.
The next day was the Kids Easter party… this time Mom, Kids, and Dad all came to play. Turns out Dad’s name is also Corey! We had tons of fun running around the playground and then a thought occurred to me… We’re having Easter Dinner tomorrow…
I argued with myself for a while… Why would this family come over to our house when they’ve only met us twice? Why would they spend Easter dinner with strangers? … not only us but we were having some AIM friends over too! Then… from somewhere deep inside… a bit of courage came from somewhere. “The worst they could say is no!” And I invited them…
They said yes!! We spent the whole next afternoon together, playing with kids, eating great food, and just having fun. Since then they have been regulars at our events and we’ve even exchanged phone numbers.
This is why we do what we do. There’s been no Gospel presentation… there’s been no altar call… but there is a friendship there. And God has promised that He is living inside of us and flowing out of us. So when there’s a connection… it’s a bridge for God to easily walk across. The more our friendship develops, the deeper the bridge can reach. It’s not our job to “save” our new friends… it’s not our job to get them to pray a prayer… it’s our job to move them one step closer to Jesus. The best place for that to happen is inside of our unconditional friendship.
…this is the good stuff in life.
