We’re excited to bring you this story from Amanda Birnie at The Well in Binbrook, ON. She and her husband Kevin made the move to Binbrook to plant a church in this growing area. Be encouraged by her story!
We’re one year into this church planting journey and we already have countless stories of God blowing us away in the pursuit of His people. When we set out to church plant, our heart was that people who were not following Jesus would come to know Him through our ministry here in Binbrook. He has absolutely blown us away in every way.
There is one story that I want to share specifically. I hope it encourages you to see that God is on the move, not only here with us, but amongst you as well! The Holy Spirit is always at work, and He loves when we earnestly seek Him and look for ways to bring others to Himself.
One morning last summer, I (Amanda), woke up and felt it strongly on my heart to go to the Early Years centre in town. I didn’t really feel like going that particular morning but I sensed the Holy Spirit telling me to go, so I did. That morning I became friends with a mom in our community. I discovered she was recently divorced, was raising her child basically on her own, and it didn’t seem like she had much of a community to support her. I talked with her that day, we had her over for dinner shortly afterwards, and now, despite growing up Hindu, she attends regular services at The Well. I realized she probably didn’t have a Bible so one day we dropped off a new Bible for her and The Jesus Storybook Bible for her child. She called me in tears, overwhelmed with gratitude. She said, “You have brought God into my home.” We are so excited to continue to get to be a part of her journey to Jesus.
That is just one of many stories where all that was required on our part was simple obedience. If we want to reach people, we must have our eyes open to what God is doing around us. The verse that is continually coming to my mind lately is, “God places the lonely in families…” (Psalm 68:6). The commands He gives us to love our neighbour, to care for the orphan and the widow and the destitute…these are not empty platitudes of the faith. These are the markers of what a Christian needs to look like in the world in order for us to shine the light of Jesus. All we need to do is have our ears open to Him and then say is, “yes” to whatever small act of obedience He calls us to. Then we get to watch, in wonder and awe, as He draws His beloveds to Himself.
Please continue to pray for this growing community!