one of the big experiences of my young Christian life was working summers @ mountain top (tennessee outreach project). from '93 to 2001 i spent some aspect of my Christian leadership formation on those mountains of appalachia. this summer decisions were made to change the leadership of this ministry. while this might not sound like much at first, it's big as the leadership changes are the people who helped found the ministry back in the early 70's. many are excited for the change as there are many ill feelings and burnt bridges from the past leadership, me being one of them. decisions like the ones made were hoped for by many years ago. however, things have been working on God's time.
two years ago you wouldn't have gotten anything but hurtful or critical words from me regarding the ministry's organization or varied policies. however, i'd always cap a sentence "good thing God works despite ourselves." in these past years though i've prayed often to give away the anger or resentment that would fill me. in the past year i've truly felt a sense of peace with my old feelings to reaching out to these folks and the ministry again. God has worked me to a point now where i find myself at the front of the efforts to heal, rebuild, & build the bridges for people to come back to the ministry and again make it something that we can say is 'God blessed' & a Christian model of ministry, not something that works "despite ourselves." the people who have made decisions and are leading this process are the right people for the job. the people in their leadership positions in prior years would not have sought God's heart in these changes. God felt the time was right. i'm excited for these changes and i hope to see a vital ministry emerge again.
for those interested, or those old mtn top friends who might actually read this blog. please check out a website effort to "gather the sheep" & bring together old and new friends to help heal, build bridges, and rebuild. www.supporttheministry.com.
