The old African proverb and 1994 title of Jane Cowen-Fletcher‟s children‟s‟ book, “It Takes a Village”, illustrates the truth that we need each other to be successful. Cowen-Fletcher‟s book tells the story of a young African girl searching for her younger brother, only to find the rest of the village has been watching over him as well.

This truth is found in our Scriptures and applies to the Church. Along with the Holy Spirit, it takes the entire church to nurture a child into young adulthood, but even then the job is not done. Reaching out to others in the name of Jesus Christ and cultivating disciples takes devotion to God through consistent worship attendance, prayer, following Jesus‟ teachings, spending time in fellowship together, and generosity of spirit while caring for the needs of others.

Acts 2 reports the efforts and blessings that abound from being this kind of church: Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:46-47).

Though we do not literally meet together everyday, we do have opportunities to serve together everyday. Part of our mission is to have God add to our numbers every day “those who are being saved.” The summer of 2011 offers several opportunities for the church to “raise a child” while God adds to our numbers:

1. Fifth annual Thornwell visit, June 24-26 (Susan Baggarly, Outreach Committee)
2. Vacation Bible School, July 11-15 (Traci White, Christian Education)
3. First Day of School, Suder Elementary (currently Membership, Growth & Development)
4. Dog Dayz of Summer, August 20 (Bob Stevens, Membership, Growth & Development)

Your help is imperative; each of these events requires the help of everyone. Even if you are not personally able to attend, you have something to offer, especially your prayers. Look for listings in your weekly bulletins of what you can offer; check out FLC bulletin board sign-up sheets and newsletter articles; tell the coordinators now of your willingness to help. God‟s efforts to bring people into a loving, saving relationship with Jesus Christ can only be helped if the whole village participates. I pray God will bless us and add to our numbers daily those who are being saved so that together we may faithfully serve our Lord.

Grace and peace for the journey,
Pastor Sue