SHOW REAL LIFE TO REAL PEOPLE THROUGH A REAL SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST By Vicki Smith I have always been a what’s next person. My husband Sid will always laugh and say that while we are on the way home from a trip, I am planning the next one. I do not think I am quite that bad, but I do like to have things moving and be around a lot of activity. In 2003 we answered the call to go to Honduras as missionaries. We were secure in that calling, and just as certain as we were that God had directed us there, we were also secure when after four years on the field He was calling us to return home. I remember taking a few weeks to rest and reconnect with family and friends and then thinking “What’s Next?” It was shortly after returning home that we became involved with National Missions. We received a phone call from Vince Daniel inviting us to attend a launch team meeting for Real Life Church in Mountain Home, Arkansas, and as they say the rest is history. The one thing that excited us about that meeting was the fact that we could see God working. The group there was enthusiastic and ready for the ministry God had entrusted to them. Fast forward ten years later, and we are still part of that thriving church with a weekly attendance of 1200, holding three services on Sunday. Over the course of the last ten years we have witnessed countless numbers of people come to know Christ and have seen lives changed. But that is not the best part. Once again, we have witnessed God working in our local community of Gainesville, Missouri. So on October 4, we have been able to be part of a second Real Life Church launch. And for the second time, we are working with an enthusiastic, God-loving group of people who are looking for evidence that God is working, and they are joining Him there. So now we have moved from Real Life Mountain Home to a brand-new church family at Real Life Gainesville. We are so excited for the “What’s Next”!
I remember vividly a statement that was made to me after we became involved more actively in National Missions. The statement went something like this, and I quote, “Well I guess you and Sid just can’t get away from missions can you.” It was one of those statements that you want to cock your head to the side and say, “SERIOUSLY!” My prayer is that none of us ever want to “get away from missions.” In Matthew 28:19-20 the Great Commission gives us the mandate. We are to go into All of the world. Look for areas that you see God working in your community, your church and even your family. We cannot risk getting too comfortable. When I accepted the position of Director of Women’s Ministries is was for no other reason than I saw that God was working through the women in the denomination, and He was not done with the ministry. While over the years we have traditionally thought of Women’s Ministries existing solely for the support of missionaries and the mission fields, I challenge you to broaden those thoughts. Missions is anywhere there is a need. It is telling the story that Jesus loves you. It is as we say at Real Life Church everything that we do should lead us to that “One More!”
General Baptist Messenger Winter 2020 | 33
