Sunday, January 24, was a joyful day for Vallejo International. It was the day we celebrated our 35th anniversary. One happy experience was that of a parking lot filled to overflowing, and of a worship hall with lots of guests, many of whom were first-time visitors. It was an answer to our prayers.
And the time of worship was an uplifting experience. The music team led the assembly in singing songs of faith and praise with gusto. And the guest preacher spoke an inspiring word of challenge and encouragement. Then the lunch that followed fostered a blessing-filled time of fellowship. It was a good celebration.
Yet there was much more to the celebration than was obvious to the casual observer. Working in the background, and mostly way before the actual celebration, church members joined together in a coordinated effort to put together the celebration. Each one took on specific roles to make up the whole—making invitations, worship program planning, preparing the bulletin, choosing the songs and rehearsing, preparing the media (slides and video), planning and preparing the food, cleaning and setting-up the facility, fixing the house lights, setting the audio equipment and stage lighting, prepping the gifts and prizes, buying and arranging the flowers, etc. So much effort was put in to make the celebration go well. On the day itself, a member even estimated that the food prepared was not enough for the number of people that showed up. She took it upon herself to order more food. And every one was properly fed. I am reminded of Paul’s description of the church when functioning properly: “From [Christ, the head] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:16 NIV).
There’s more. There were certain challenges that were way beyond human control. Less than an hour before the worship time, some technical issues sprang up. Somehow, the video that was produced wasn’t playing properly. Then the computer started acting up. Our tech guys had to restore the whole operating system of the computer to an earlier version. And we were not sure whether there was enough time to complete the process before the celebration started. But, once again, the Lord stepped in, and extended his grace toward Vallejo International. In truth, God’s gracious working throughout the history of the church is the whole reason why we celebrate in the first place! When the celebrations started, except for those directly addressing the problem, no one else was even aware that up to the last minute there were obstacles to overcome. God “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3.20).
—Keith Y. Jainga