About 2 1/2 years ago, while at a conference in Florida, Cherie and I met Pastor Joey Mack. He and his wife Martha pastor a church, Unity Prayer Center, in Livingston, LA. At the conference we hit it off and have kept in touch over the years. This winter, God lead us to head to Louisiana and visit Pastor Joey and finally meet his wife. They allowed us to stay on their church property, where they conveniently have RV hookups. That was truly a blessing for us. They told us numerous times we could stay as long as we wanted, but we headed out after a week, trying to position ourselves better for the winter snowstorm that hit the south in late January. We both wish we could have stayed longer.
The reason I’m writing about our stay is because I wanted to share about the incredible love that we experienced while we were there at the church. As we went throughout our week, I kept thinking, “THIS is what the church should be like.” Let me give you some examples this love in action.
The first Sunday there, we attended church and were initially greeted by a greeter at the door. As we walked through the hall and into the fellowship room to get some coffee (or “caw-fee” if you’re from Jersey), many people greeted us and stopped to talk to us. The difference was that this felt real. They weren’t just saying hi to avoid awkwardly walking by us without acknowledging us or making conversation because that’s what they’re “supposed” to do. We could sense that when they said, “How are you?”, they really wanted to know, like one of my brothers calling me to find out how things are going. They were truly interested in us as people.
Making our way to the sanctuary after our coffee, we were standing in the doorway speaking with Pastor Joey when we saw a young couple with a little boy, maybe 2 years old, who started to act up. One of the men from the church (no relation to the toddler) asked the little guy if he wanted to go to the playroom. The boy agreed and with the parents’ permission, off the two of them went. It struck me that this man saw a need and, without hesitation, jumped in to help the parents out.
Cherie and I found our seats for the service and several more people came up to welcome us. It’s important to note that this church isn’t too small, maybe 180-200 people. It’s not like we were new in a group of 20 where we would stick out like a sore thumb. They saw us and wanted to know us.
Soon the man that had taken the little boy to the playroom approached us to apologize for not introducing himself and welcoming us. Kevin apologized at least three times. He felt that bad. I cannot stress how sincere the love of this congregation is. We were strangers and were made to feel like we belonged.
The service was great. The worship leader was Spirit-led as she and her team ushered the congregation into the presence of God. We could feel God as we woshipped, and His presence set the atmosphere for the Holy Spirit to lead Pastor Joey as he preached. I’m seeing a connection here. The tangible presence of God and the tangible presence of love – you can’t have one without the other. (God is love, after all!)
During the week, we experienced several more instances of love in action. Although the timing never worked out for us, one of the men from the church, Joe, invited us several times to go out to lunch with him for boudin, an authentic Louisianian food. Not only did he ask several times, but he was going to take us to a restaurant in Lafayette, LA which is 1 1/2 hours away!
Also that week our bus got stuck in the sandy grass at the church. There was no lack of men who were willing to hook us up to their pickup truck and pull us out after the Wednesday night service. We felt awful for the mess of deep ruts we made in their grass, but no one even batted an eye about it. In fact, Martha, Pastor Joey’s wife, laughed as she told us a story about a teen who accidentally tore up much of their front yard at their house in a similar circumstance. With that kind of forgiveness, we couldn’t feel bad for long!
Another night, Kevin (you remember him) and his wife Maria picked us up to attend a gathering with them of about 800 people from about 30 different churches. They were meeting to fundraise and orchestrate an evangelistic outreach event at a stadium that hold 5000 in their parish. (Other states have counties. Louisiana has parishes.) Days before the main event, they were also planning to have a special gathering just for teens. The multi-day outreach was run by Rick Gage Ministries and called “Go Tell America – Livingston Parish”.
This was such a powerful example of unity. Different churches and denominations had gathered together for God’s glory and to make a difference in the lives of teens and adults in their area. There was no bickering about their differences, nobody espousing that their way was right and someone else’ was wrong. They simply focused on what they had in common – their faith and their mission to bring Jesus to people who need Him – and that put everything else into perspective.
(SIDEBAR! Here’s a thought. Ask your pastors if you can gather a number of churches together with mixed denominations to hold a gospel event in a stadium to win teens and adults to Christ. Go for it! When you have it planned, give Cherie or I a call to let us know where and when, and we will attend and be part of it.)
Another day we needed to have some papers notarized. Pastor Joey took us to the home of an elderly couple from his church because the wife is a notary. The notarizing took only a few minutes, and then we were able to visit with the couple, known to everyone as Papa Cobb and Mama Dale. What a precious couple! The love of Jesus oozed off them both as we talked, shared, and prayed together. They weren’t concerned about the time or anything else except being completely present with us, listening to our stories and sharing some of theirs.
Papa Cobb is recovering from a stroke he suffered a few months ago. In June Pastor Joey is headed to Peru on a mission trip and has high hopes that Papa Cobb will be healthy enough to fill in for him as the Sunday service speaker while he’s away. We prayed life and healing into his body, asking God to make that dream become a reality. (Please join us as we continue to pray for Papa Cobb’s full recovery by June. Thanks!)
Before we left, Mama Dale took us outside to pick fresh kumquats from their trees. They tasted amazing! Then we said our good-byes, gave our hugs, and headed to the bus. On our way back, Pastor Joey, Cherie, and I reminisced about the visit we just had. God’s love and peace radiated from that beautiful older couple. Pastor Joey said, “Mama Dale and Papa Cobb are the real deal.” We couldn’t agree more.
May God’s love quicken your spirit so that you may lead by His example.
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And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:13