Coffee Talk
with Marc & Denise Atchley

The picture above is of the rotunda of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.  Our visit to the museum was part of a week-long trip in late-June / early-July that included at least three significant opportunities to share with others about our call to ministry in Greece.  Though the Natural History Museum was not one of those opportunities, it does factor into the topic at hand ... disciple making.

The Great Commission spells out the mission of the Church rather clearly ... to make disciples.  Yet as Todd Engstrom (a pastor at the Austin Stone Community Church) in his blog on Missional Community practices suggests, "Unless we intentionally make time for people outside our [Christian] community, we often won’t do it. Very few of us naturally drift into mission! What does it mean to obey Jesus and be a missionary?"  Engstrom answers his own question with, "Obedience means gathering for the sake of people who don't know Jesus".  He then follows with an explanation of how "third place" fits into his church's strategy for introducing lost friends and neighbors to Jesus.

Engstrom's blog on "third place" doesn't elaborate on what happens once the friends are invited to the coffeehouse or park.  But at least one essential activity must be "good conversation".  Dr. Jim Coffield, an associate pastor at Christ Covenant Church (our home church), likes to say that "good conversation" covers three areas -- the external, the internal, and the eternal.  While some evangelists may be adept in moving directly to the eternal in conversations with strangers, most of us follow a progression -- external, then internal, then eternal.  And "good conversation" doesn't have to happen all at once, but can happen over multiple settings.  The important thing is that we are intentional about having "good conversations" with people who are lost.

Which brings us back to the Natural History Museum.  On our journey back from Pennsylvania (more about that below), we stopped in Washington, D.C. for a night. Before leaving the next day we went to visit the National Museum of Natural History.  We arrived and huddled in the rotunda to plan our time.  That's when Mike (not his actual name) appeared and asked if we were waiting for the tour.  Mike is a Smithsonian employee and his tours usually lead through the Sant Ocean Hall.  We hadn't been waiting for a tour, but decided to take it.  And for the next 45 minutes he took us to various exhibits and described ocean life from a secular, evolutionary perspective.  Right at the end, when everyone else had drifted away and Mike was talking about trilobites and millions of years of evolution, Denise informed him that we are Christians and believe in a Biblical view of creation.  Mike turned off his mini-megaphone and began to engage us with questions -- polite but skeptical.

For another 20-30 minutes we had a "good conversation" with Mike.  We discussed the light we see from stars that are millions of light-years away ("How could that be if the created universe is just thousands of years old?"). We talked about beliefs and presuppositions regarding science, "miracles", and God ("If God can create the star from nothing, then He can create the light from nothing ... the star didn't have to come first.").  When Mike assumed that the Bible is chiefly about morality, we responded -- much to his surprise -- that it isn't.  Instead, the Bible is principally about who God is.  And it tells us who we are, and how far we have fallen in rebellion against God. It tells us that this just, holy God must punish every evil and injustice, every failure to love God and to love our neighbors (who bear His image).  But it also tells us that Jesus, God the Son, has taken upon Himself the punishment we deserve, if we repent and trust in Him.

Honestly, that day we weren't seeking out a "good conversation" ... we really just wanted to see the museum.  But we're so glad that the Holy Spirit had other plans ... who knows how God might use our brief conversation with Mike to change his life.  It certainly had its impact on our lives as we were reminded that the mission of the Church is not only clear, it's constant (1 Pe 3:15).   We look forward to operating the kind of third place that facilitates new relationships and "good conversations".  And we look forward to the liberty to pursue disciple making as part of our daily routine.

Our trip to Pennsylvania was largely due to a wedding celebration for Denise's cousin Abi and her husband Lelo.  Abi has been a nurse and missionary in South Africa for several years, and that is where she met Mpumelelo (it's so much easier to say "Lelo"!).  Lelo is preparing for ministry through Reformed Baptist Seminary, and their church wants to send them out as missionaries once he's finished.

Though family and friends had traveled from across the country to celebrate the wedding of Lelo & Abi, they graciously invited us to share about our own plans for Greece.  Their interest, support and prayers are so encouraging!  We are privileged to be part of such a loving, generous, missions-minded family!

While in Pennsylvania we couldn't resist the opportunity to visit the church where Denise grew up.  Grace Baptist Church of Millersville (just outside of Lancaster, PA) is the church that her father planted and pastored for 23 years after the family returned from Peru. And several of its members played significant roles in Denise spiritual formation. That Sunday we were given the opportunity to share with the congregation our vision for a disciple-making ministry in Greece.  And we asked them to once again play a role, not only in what God continues to do in Denise's life, but what He is also doing in the lives of the next generation (our children), and of many others in Greece who desperately need Jesus.

After leaving D.C. we made one more stop on our journey home from Pennsylvania.  Rod and Michelle and their two daughters are old friends from our days in Kenya and they now live in Virginia.  Rod is a pilot and when he worked with Samaritan's Purse in Kenya he flew missionaries and supplies in and out of bush areas across east Africa.

Knowing of our trip, Rod and Michelle invited us to stop over at their house where they hosted a party on our behalf.  They invited friends from church and colleagues from work -- about 30 in all -- to their home to hear us share our vision for using a coffeehouse as a platform for disciple-making in Greece.  We're so grateful for their continued friendship and for their efforts to help us get to the field!

While most of us are aware of the economic devastation wrought by the Greek government's debt crisis, some may not have heard of the devastation wrought by summer wildfires and floods. Please pray that somehow God will use the these catastrophes to draw the people of Greece to Himself.

Greece has experienced a number of destructive wildfires this summer.  The most recent incinerated the village of Mati and resulted in over 80 deaths.			On the heals of the desolation of Mati, northern suburbs of Athens experienced flash flooding. Flooding last November in this area took 16 lives.

 Marc and Denise Atchley, TEAM