It Begins With A Vision

A long term project such as this mission trip has to begin somewhere. This one began with a vision by a pastor with a heart for missions and a heart for his church. He did not see them as two separate things, but intertwined. But he is also a man of action. At the CBF of Missouri Assembly in 2005 he heard of the call of missions to Kenya in partnership with Buckner International. He contacted Naomi and myself about going on a "Vision Tour" to Kenya with Buckner. Of all the people in church, Naomi is perhaps the only one who had ever heard of Buckner, but he did not know that. We went, we came back, we reported what we say. But it did not stop there. Bob Webb formed a Task Force for us to determine "What Now". It was determined by the team that we should go on a mission trip to Kenya in August 2008. Bob did not make the decision, did not lead the task force, did not do the planning. He knew that it had to be a church decision, not a pastor decision, in order to be successful. But he's been as supportive a pastor that anyone could ask for. He would have loved to have gone as a part of the team, but could not due to scheduling. But that did not lessen his support. Now, come Wednesday morning as we gather at church with others for prayer as we depart for the first mission trip abroad for this church, who better to lead those prayers than Bob. You see, instead of "doing", sometimes the best thing a pastor can do for his church is "seeing". It would have never gotten off the ground without that.