Missions Chapel

Daily chapel is a regular part of campus life here at OC. There is a "main chapel" everyday in the auditorium, and there are "alternative chapels" that meet on various days once per week. Every Wednesday there is a missions chapel, wherein students, faculty and staff come together to consider mission principles and mission efforts that are taking place in Jesus' name.

I was given the opportunity to speak in last week's missions chapel, and took the time to share with the students and others about how God has provided for us, titling my speech "My Voyage to a Village in Vanuatu." I wanted them to see some of the ways in which God prepared the way and provided the means for us to end up leaving corporate America and ultimately spending 2+ years in a rural, village setting.  I've actually blogged previously about this here if you're interested in some of the details.

I opened my talk by considering Philemon 10,11,15. The fact that the name "Onesimus" means "useful" has always stuck with me, and I've even found myself praying that I could be "Onesimus" in God's plan. Paul says "perhaps..." in v.15 which indicates his belief that God was working things out for Onesimus to live up to his name.  My story would indicate that God has been working things out for our family to be useful in His service in a similar way.

The takeaway for the students, hopefully, was for them to be prayerfully considering how they can engage their gifts and talents to be "Onesimus" to God, and expect Him to provide ways for that to be fulfilled in their life, regardless of whether they are "missionaries" or not.  The world needs Christian businessmen, Christian nurses, Christian engineers, Christian teachers and Christian parents as much as anything! May it be said of us all... "now he is indeed useful."