“He is faithful.” I have that tattooed on my arm.
I wasn’t sure what God had planned for me as I continued on this missionary calling He set before me. My journey as a brand new Communitas missionary started at Engage, the onboarding and training conference hosted by Communitas. This spring, it was in Pitlochry, Scotland.
Throughout Engage, I loved getting to meet other missionaries who were serving God all over Europe. We did training activities around church planting, learned about Communitas, experienced deep soul care, and Communitas leaders spoke words of encouragement and blessing over us and the ministries we were stepping into.
I left feeling filled by the Holy Spirit. And it was the conversations in-between sessions that filled my cup. Two nights in a row my friend, Gretta, another Communitas missionary, and I walked up and down the main street of this small town of Pitlochry. Through the rain and fog we built a deep connection and friendship… the type of friendship missional workers need when things get hard in ministry.
A week before, when I arrived in Scotland, Gretta showed me Glasgow on the first day (as we attempted to fight jet lag). We ended the day at Upper Room, a Communitas church. Upper Room started as a house church that grew and grew until they could no longer fit in a room! They now rent space from a local church in the area on Thursday nights for service.
Upper Room primarily consists of Persian refugees who have fled to the UK to claim asylum. It was beautiful for me to see the way Jesus has transformed the lives of these people. Their faith was vibrant and celebratory.
I sang songs with them in Farsi, and the pastor taught The Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4). We all shouted it in English first “Hear, O Israel: YAHWEH is our God, YAHWEH is one”. Then we all shouted the Shema in Hebrew multiple times, “Sh’ma Yis-ra-eil, A-do-nai E-lo-hei-nu, A-do-nai E-chad.” “Healing balm” to deep generational wounds doesn’t even begin to describe the power of Jesus in the room that night.
Imagine this: about 40 people who likely grew up in Islam now shouting with celebratory life and a worshipful tone “Sh’ma Yis-ra-eil, A-do-nai E-lo-hei-nu, A-do-nai E-chad.” It was miraculous. I observed this humble faith. I long to mimic that in my own life.
My last night in Glasgow, before Engage began, Gretta and I visited another church and we worshiped with young people who came to spend time praising their Savior. The Lord was so gentle with me as He continued to give me this picture of me sitting at His feet, clinging to His clothing, as He tenderly comforted me. I kept saying, “I cling to you, Lord; I cleave to you, Jesus.”
Following worship, Gretta felt the Holy Spirit prompt her to pray for me and invited others to pray for me as well. As one of them prayed, she said, “I just feel like God keeps saying ‘I am faithful.’ Remember that He is Faithful.”
I lost it. My tattoo will always be a reminder of His constant faithfulness.
The words spoken to me at the worship night were so personal to my story that I could not ignore God’s offer to let this journey affect me on a personal level. This was an invitation to let God transform my heart and remind me that I cannot keep Him at arm’s length.
The next days at Engage, God continued to remind me that this journey into mission–as a brand new missional worker– is more about Him than anything else. And through that He says, “Lexie I see you; I see your story; I love you; you are my daughter.” At Engage I was asked, “Where would you like to see your ministry in 5 years?” I had trouble answering because I’m not yet on the ground in Geneva, but I said, “Whatever God wants to happen, that’s what I want. I want to follow the Holy Spirit.”
I must cleave to Him and be as close to Him as humanly possible. He’s a personal God as much as He is a world-changing God. He longs to transform my heart as much as He longs to transform my neighborhood. I looked up the difference between “to cling” and “to cleave”. To cling means choosing to grasp something with your hands and hold on to it. To cleave to something is choosing to be bound or glued to something else. This is what it looks like to abide in Jesus. Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).
Could you see yourself on a missional journey like Lexie? How can we help you? If you ever want to have a conversation with a missional coach, just reach out to our team here!
Lexie Wolf is a missionary in Thoiry, France (near Geneva, Switzerland). She serves in youth and worship ministries at Communitas partner church, Crossroads Thoiry. Crossroads youths’ mission is to see a growing number of teens receive and reflect the love of Christ. After making an effort to arrive before the pandemic Lexie arrived in France a month ago and is finally on the ground serving. She is excited to see how God will move through France and the greater Geneva area.
