February, 1988, was one of the most challenging months of my life. After more than 20 years as a lead pastor, during which I was surrounded with a support team that many of my peers envied, I was alone. I was charged with a task – namely, to plant urban churches. The project had drawn the attention of key leaders within the region known as "Bos-Wash." One in five US citizens lived within a few miles of these five key cities: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
The strategy included training interns, arranging housing and paying their stipends and planting a church. At the time Candace was a freshman at Wheaton College, Jonathan was a junior in high school and Joanna was entering high school. I was trying to be a good father, a loving husband and do something no one had ever done in the same way. Then the big shock came! I would also need to share the responsibility of raising massive amounts of money.
The first Wednesday evening as a missionary I had invited myself to speak and share our dream with Paterson Assembly of God, a newer congregation that we were partially responsible for starting. We would be on friendly turf because we had enlisted our church members to assist the new assembly at tis beginning five or six years earlier. But, I was as uncertain and cautious as if I were preaching my first sermon as a rookie with a new diploma from Bible college. Being the pastor of a church who gladly followed our lead to become a leading missionary supporting congregation is significantly different from being the missionary! I discovered quickly that giving was easier than asking!
Many details of the service are tucked into unreachable crevices of my memory. I remember that after defining the mission to the best of my ability, Pastor Capers stood and told his congregation, "People, this is an important man and I believe in his mission. I want you to give now! Give folding money, no coins, Brother Wegner deserves our full support. You come up here and put your offering in the basket and tell our brother how much we appreciate what he has done for us in the past."
The instruments began playing, the people started to clap and sway as they made their way toward the offering basket. Men, women, boys and girls hugged me, expressed gratitude, and promised to pray. The basket began filling with bills and checks. Toward the end of the line that passed by a young man, somewhere between 14 and 16 years old, stepped forward and pressed four quarters into my hand. He hugged me . . . tightly . . . for a time that seemed too long for my German comfort, and then he whispered, "Here take this. Pastor said, ‘Don’t give coins,’ but this is all I have!" Others may forget moments like that, but I will always remember! And then he added, "Pray for me because some day I want to preach just like you!" More than 25 years have passed. A new pastor leads Paterson Assembly. I haven’t been back for many years. But, I do pray that that young man is somewhere preaching because he taught me that night that I could do something that I had never done before!
Several other "I-never-have-done-it-before" challenges have come along since. That experience with an inner-city church in a difficult location blessed me with their generosity that night, and the lesson learned that night enabled me to approach new challenges with confidence. In fact, on occasion I still look for a task that I have never before attempted.
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