June 6, 2001
Dear Heart of the City Friends,
It’s Mothers Day. The sun is bright, the city glows. People are just beginning to wake to a new day. “Happy Mother’s Day, Mam!” the driver yells from his car. “No Mam, Muni is free today. It’s Mother’s Day!” cries the bus driver. “May I help you carry the stroller Mam?” a friendly lady asks on the bus. “Here’s a flower for you Mam. Happy Mothers Day!” says a man at the counter of the restaurant in the Castro District.
Have you ever considered what life would be like if you could not see or hear? How would you feel about that? Would you be angry, scared, confused? Kellie and I both agree that we would be scared!
Kellie and I have been seeking the eyes and the ears to see and hear God’s Kingdom at work in our city for almost five months now. In the beginning we were scared. Our new city seemed dark and without familiar Christian sounds. How blind we were! As God has given us eyes to see and ears to hear, God’s work here has become evident. We have also discovered that many of our attitudes and emotions about the city were developed because of fear, which then turned into anger and confusion. Our model, however, is Jesus as we look at how he treated people and how he approached the circumstances of life.
Whether it be amongst our Christian friends at church and REimagine, our neighbors, the Bernal Neighborhood Center where Kellie serves senior adults, the Page Street Center where we serve food to the Lower Haight, the young soccer players I assist as a coach, a missions team from Florida, or just in our every day experiences, we are becoming aware of God’s love for our city and the work of the Holy Spirit amongst us. God is here! God is at work! His Kingdom is at hand and our prayer is that many would respond to His moving in their lives, repent and believe in the Gospel!
A few weeks ago I was boarding a plane. Kellie had dropped me off in San Jose and was driving home. Little did I know that the transmission would blow on the truck! What a dilemma for me. My family was stranded somewhere off the 101 highway with Kayla and Chase in their nightclothes, and while Kellie is an expert at a lot of things; transmission work is not one of them. As Kellie and I discussed the situation by phone I said, “Kel, I’ll stay back.” She immediately said, “No! God is with us. You need to go. Call me from Atlanta.” (Are you worrying with me?) I was a nervous wreck for five hours. I prayed and ate - prayed and watched a movie - prayed and read a book - prayed and prepared a message. Did I mention how worried I was? Are you familiar with the phones on planes that are on the back of the center seats - those we never use? Well I needed to use one and would you believe it was shut off! “Sorry sir,” I was told, “We are reconsidering the use of these phones and for the time being they are out of service.” Wonderful! As we landed in Atlanta I rushed off the plane to call Kellie. The phone rang once, twice, three times! “Oh great! I should have never got on the plane!” “Hello?” I said. “Hey Kel, how are you?” Kellie went on to tell me that not only did the car make it to a gas station, but would you believe that there was a transmission shop next door?!? How about this - the owner had Kellie driven back to our house in San Francisco! Almost a 45-minute drive each way. I sighed with relief and recalled Kellie’s words, “Kenny, God is with us.”
God is with us. He’s simply waiting for you and I to see and join Him at work. We thank you so very much for being with us by way of prayer and support. Together we are establishing a presence in one of the most diverse, unique and dynamic cities in the world. Will you pray with us that our city would gain the eyes and the ears of the Kingdom of God? Can you imagine the impact? We believe that thousands of spiritual seekers are some day going to have the eyes and ears to see and hear our God at work. There are hundreds of followers of Christ here in San Francisco that believes the same.
We would ask that you pray with us specifically about the start of a faith community committed to being the church in San Francisco. The fall is approaching and we continue to learn. We are praying specifically that a team of people would dream with us and that together we might continue to learn and journey as a community of faith that would bless and give life to the city. Secondly, Kellie is hoping to start a mom’s group here in our neighborhood. She has already begun the research and discovered that there is an interest and in fact a loose gathering of mom’s already meeting. Please pray for Kellie as her life is blessing so many here in our neighborhood. Lastly, would you continue to pray with us about the long-term finances? Like my airplane ride, this is an area of complete trust in the Lord. He continues to provide as only He can. We simply want to be open to each and every way God would sustain us here in the city.
Our summer schedule is already upon us. I am speaking at two camps, Kayla is participating in the wedding of two of our friends from our previous ministry, our REimagine team continues with a new phase of community and research and most importantly we continue to establish a presence here in the city as we prepare to implement some of what we have discovered. Please know that we pray for you weekly. Let’s stay in touch! When possible, drop us a line at heartofcity@aol.com.
Blessings,
The McCord’s
posted by Ken McCord @ 4:43 PM
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