By: Pastor Lars Janssen
It’s early on a Saturday morning in February. I don’t tend to enjoy having to be somewhere early on a Saturday morning. My preference is to sleep in a little and do some quiet reading. But on this particular Saturday morning, I have to be at Bethel Reformed Church on West Street by 7:45 am and I’m even looking forward to it.
I park and walk into the building right on time. As I enter the large multi-purpose room where I shared breakfast with this group the year before, I rehearse a mental checklist to make sure I brought all my tools. I have my computer, adaptor cords to connect to the TV, my Bible (it’s actually an e-reader this year … I hope it doesn’t glitch), and I remember my planned topic of conversation: “His grace toward me” from 1 Corinthians 15:10.
Entering the room, I see the familiar faces of John (the father of an old friend) and a new-ish friend of mine, Dave Van Kooten (Director of Mentorship for Organized Kaos). We greet each other and Dave introduces several others who have also arrived early. The Organized Kaos Mentors Breakfast doesn’t start for 15 more minutes, but people who work in the trades are often early risers.
I set up my computer, sit down at a table, and start to talk shop with several of these Organized Kaos mentors. One of them, who remembers from the previous year that I’m a licensed Tool and Die Maker, shows me an intricately machined metal coupling—its specific use is classified. We talk about it.
As twenty-or-so mentors trickle in and find their seats around the tables, we all settle into each others’ company. There is a level of understanding between me and them, as tradesmen, that these mentors don’t always have with pastors. We pray over breakfast, eat as we talk, and then hear some news and updates from Shawn Stuart (Executive Director/Founder at Organized Kaos) and Dave, the in-house pastor for Organized Kaos. Then it’s my turn to stand at the front of the room.
I know that these mentors care about their students. They teach them trades as a way to show them Jesus and I want to encourage them. So, after I introduce myself to the group, we begin by reading from 1 Corinthians 15:10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.” After explaining the meaning of grace as help I don’t deserve, I ask, “How has this help felt for you?” We talk. I ask, “What difference has this help made to you?” We talk again. I explain Paul’s openness to the churches about the forgiveness he experienced (he persecuted the churches, 1 Cor. 15:9), about meeting Jesus (1 Cor. 15:8), and about his life’s work with God (1 Cor. 15:10-11). They see how their students need to hear this from someone who understands them—someone like a fellow tradesman. We talk some more before it’s time to go.
I hope I can encourage them again next year. I love that we at Central support this ministry. We have mentors from our church family serving in Organized Kaos and we’ll get to hear from Dave Van Kooten as our speaker at the Missions Weekend on May 4th and 5th.
We often think of the call to missions as a long-distance call, but it always starts with a local call. Organized Kaos is one of those local calls for us at Central (www.organizedkaos.org).
Writing about every Christian’s role in missions, John Piper said, “There are three possibilities. They can be goers, senders, or disobedient” (Brothers, We are Not Professionals, 196).
Jesus’ words in the Gospel of John are even more clear, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21).
Central family, the question isn’t if God is sending you, it’s where.
And now is the perfect time to start figuring that out.
