Pit Stop Ministry

Karl Bozeman has been a part of my life since I was in elementary school. He and his wife showed me God’s love before I had any concept of God’s mission. Their influence began about fifty years ago…and it still continues today. Karl directs men’s ministries at Mimosa Lane Baptist Church; he mobilizes men. Karl equips and empowers men to give their skills and talents to God, using them to minister to people.

In the ongoing dialogue about whether churches should seek to be attractional or incarnational, Mimosa Lane Church has decided not to split hairs trying to decide. Instead they simply invite people to come to be served in very tangible ways. That is what Pit Stop Ministry is about.

Senior adults, single moms, and those living on limited incomes drive to the parking lot of Mimosa Lane’s Pit Stop ministry, often in cars that would not pass inspection and consequently could not continue to be driven. During their visit, men and women of the ministry team will do a vehicle inspection and correct most problems. Additionally, they will perform routine maintenance on the vehicles to keep them operational. And for many of those serving, it is the first time they have found something they feel competent to do in ministry.

What is the cost? Nothing. These services are provided without cost as a ministry to bless recipients much like Jesus did when He walked the Judean hillsides. As I listened to men and women talk of how God has blessed them through Pit Stop ministry, I was convinced that this ministry attracts people not just because it is free, but because it expresses Christ’s compassion in very real ways. And that is incarnational!

I hope that you will be blessed as you watch the brief video that Karl Bozeman and the Pit Stop Ministry team allowed us to produce. Perhaps God will use their story as a catalyst for your own church in finding a creative expression through which Jesus-in-you can bless the people in your community.

This Missional Church Center video can be viewed by clicking here.

Latvian Mission to Baltic Pastoral Institute

Next week Milfred Minatrea will be in Riga, Latvia where he will be spending twelve days (December 6-17) with church leaders and church planters in training. As Baltic Pastoral Institute completes its first year in existence, Minatrea will facilitate the course, Empowering the Church for Mission. The course will be offered as a one week intensive and will provide opportunity for students to interact with Minatrea in both pastoral ministry and the development of missional cultural expressions within existing congregations as well as new churches being started.

Bishop Peteris Sprogis extended the invitation to Minatrea after obtaining a copy of his book Shaped by God’s Heart: the Passion and Practices of Missional Churches. Since regaining independence in 1991, the 88 churches in the country of 2.3 million people have struggled in a society with the fourth highest suicide rate in the world, where only five percent attend church regularly and only 1.5 percent of the population have the Bible.

Today there are 66 pastors for the 88 churches in Latvia. Leadership for both existing churches and for new churches is critical. Developing those leaders is the reason Baltic Pastoral Institute was begun. The Evangelical Union of Latvia has a goal of starting 100 new churches over the next eight years. New churches are essential if the Gospel is to reach the massive population of this country once dominated by communist occupation.

If you will pray for Dr. Minatrea in this mission to invest in leaders for Latvian churches that exist today and those that will be started tomorrow, please communicate via email to minatrea@missional.org. Simply indicate “I will support you in prayer during the Latvian mission.” If God prompts you to provide financial resources to help cover the costs of this mission, please make your check payable to Missional Church Center and designate those gifts on the memo line of your check For Latvian Mission. Checks may be mailed to Missional Church Center, PO Box 142412, Irving TX 75014-2412.