May 1999
[The first year I mentored our group was all Christian women. It was a valid ministry as a support group for young moms, and I think significant in the lives of those who participated in the meetings and the Book Study. However, we came home from the spring convention—thank MOPS International for moving it to fall when we begin the new year!—the Team was challenged to reach out beyond our comfort zone to bring in moms who did not know Jesus Christ. Here I am exhorting the women to do that.]
We are Debtors
Most of us owe at least a house payment, if not a car payment, or perhaps a furniture payment. We know what it means to pay back what we owe. But what do we owe God, Who created us and then bought us back, redeeming us with His own blood. Paul wrote that he was a debtor, and indeed so are all of us who profess to be Christian. How do we repay that debt? Not with silver or gold, but by loving others as He loved us, by sharing the Good news that we have heard and received with joy.
This our last month of MOPS for this school year. Be thinking about someone you can invite next season. Perhaps a neighbor, an old school chum, or an acquaintance from PTA or T-Ball. Do you know a woman who struggles with the challenging task of raising preschool children without the benefit of instruction and support from a local church? She needs MOPS.
The calling of MOPS is to present the Gospel through our lives, reaching out to young mothers and providing a safe haven of friendship for them. In this comfortable place we share the love of the One who taught mankind the concept of family, the Friend Who laid down His own Life that we might have eternal life. Let’s make next year our season of harvest as we reach beyond ourselves, perhaps beyond our comfort zone, to bring into the Kingdom of God those who do not know the peace and joy we experience as Christian mothers.