During my early childhood, my family lived in the small Palestinian town of Beit Jala, which is situated in the West Bank, about 2 km west of Bethlehem.  We were there because my parents were missionaries and we belonged to a small congregation of Palestinian believers that met just down the hill from where we lived.  In my hazy four-year-old memory, I don’t remember much about that church, except playing outside during and after the service and eating apricots from a tree.  However, I do remember that my parents were close friends with many of the people who belonged to that church, and that they would come over to our home, or we would go to theirs, and eat together.  While the kids played outside, I remember that the adults would sit in the living room in a circle and just talk.  As a child I thought, “How boring,” but as I’ve grown, I realize the importance of what they were doing.  I remember that they were always talking about the Lord, the church, and simply sharing their lives with one another.  And, before everyone dispersed to go home, we would always circle up, hold hands, and pray together.  They were family.

              Now I have been living in the States for some time, and the more I think about it, the more I miss those times.  I feel as if our churches here are made up of people who, for the most part, are disconnected with each other except on Sunday mornings, and even then, we rarely dwell deeply with one another.  We are a bit disjointed.  While the little church in Beit Jala was never perfect, I feel that their perspective on life was quite different from ours.  For the believers that we knew there, following Christ was never about church.  It was about relationship with Jesus and relationship with each other.

              This is what my heart is for The Oaks.  I don’t want it to simply be a Bible Study or just another activity to fill our already too busy schedules.  No, that would be the worst.  My heart is that The Oaks would be a family.  That we would, in fact, dwell deeply with one another.  That we would come together, broken as we are, and walk with each other toward the freedom that is found in Christ.  My prayer is that we would bandage each other’s wounds, wipe each other’s tears, bolster each other’s confidences, and rejoice in each other’s joys.