Malachi's first fish. "I will make you fishers of men."
When Jason came to me about making Clay Pots into a ministry to reach the sojourner and 'stranger' in the United States I actually had hoped that something would change his mind. I was pretty sure we had put in our time as church planters and we were entitled to a normal and average life. As far as I was concerned it was time to "play it safe". Little did I know that God was about to change my mind!
Unless you haven't gone to a store, restaurant, or outside your own back yard in a while, it is pretty hard to ignore the fact that you don't just hear "English" being spoken everywhere you go. In fact, there are many places I go to that I feel that I am the outsider. It got me thinking. Both our ancestors came from Germany and Ireland. At one time, Jason's ancestors spoke only German and they came to the States for a better life for their family. As I thought about this, I couldn't help but sympathize with them and what they went through as they moved and adjusted to a strange and unknown land which was so unlike their own. I know what it's like, I've done it myself.
I wonder who the people were that reached out to them? Who surrounded them with acceptance, love, and help? I assume that there were people who did. I know that as their descendant I am considered an "all American" but they were not and they went through much heartache and struggle in leaving their country and being strangers and sojourners in a foreign land so I, their descendant, could have all of this. I do know there were German/English speaking churches for them to attend where they could feel safe and grow in their faith. This is a key element since Jason's heritage contains Christians as far back as he can figure; they handed it down to their children praying that their children would do the same. So, I think we know what we are meant to do with our freedom as Christians and as Americans: we are to be the ones reaching out and sharing the gospel to immigrants, strangers, and foreigners because someone did it for our families first.
If you are questioning whether to support the Clay Pots ministry I would encourage you to seek out your past, your history, and your heritage. Ask yourself who reached out to your family when they came to this country? Was there a church that spoke their language so that they could attend and feel safe and loved as strangers in a foreign land? This is the job of the church and our cities need that again. They need churches speaking their heart language and Christians reaching out and helping them settle. I ask that you support Clay Pots so that we can encourage and empower churches to reach out to Hispanics in our own town... and then, and because our God is a very big God, we wont stop there but keep on going to more nationalities. Send people to our webpage. Pray for us. Reach out to your cities.
"You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt." Exodus 23:9
His Clay Pots,
Kellie for Jason, Micah, Sophia, & Malachi Knapp
www.claypots.org
You can send checks to:
Clay Pots
S53 W24079 Glendale Rd.
Waukesha, WI. 53189
(You will be sent a tax deductible receipt)
