A friendly church is one of my favorite things I have seen on deputation. The truth is most churches are friendly. God’s people are some of the kindest people in the world…and we should be! Why is being a friendly church so important? For one, any visitor ought to feel welcome. I can remember the first time I visited our home church. This was back in the 90’s. I was in high school. The church was not very big. We only knew one person there (a man who invited us). None of that really mattered because the people were so friendly! We felt right at home. The choir sang about Jesus and smiled while they were singing. They didn’t look miserable! People came by and shook our hands and welcomed us to the church. People we didn’t know were introducing themselves and saying things like, “We are glad you came today” and “We hope you enjoy the service”. It was refreshing to us. The truth is, almost two decades later and I cannot remember any song that was sang that day. I cannot remember the message or the Bible text that was preached. I cannot remember specifically who came and greeted us when we sat down. I do remember a friendly church. Every Bible preaching church ought to be a very friendly church.

Our deputation has been full of friendly churches. I think back and one does stand out. We arrived early for the service, as we always do. We are almost always one of the first people at the church. The people were so friendly there. It took me back to the first service I attended at our home church. The church family smiled while they sang about Jesus. They all greeted us and seemed to be genuinely glad we were there. We felt right at home.

What makes a friendly church? I am sure there are many different things that can listed. We have been in a lot of churches. God has allowed us to be with well over 200 church families. Here are my thoughts about a friendly church…

• Size is almost irrelevant. A large church and a small church can both be friendly. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Neither translates to a friendly church. In other words, just because a church has fewer people or has attendance in the thousands, it does not make it a friendly church.
• Smiles go a long way. Whether it is the Pastor, the choir/music leader or the family sitting behind you, a smile is a very simple way to convey happiness, welcome, and friendliness to others. It does not come across well if a choir, quartet, or any other singing group is singing about Jesus and they look miserable.
• Friendly churches show themselves friendly. This seems obvious but there are churches where the people are not at all friendly. Churches show themselves friendly in several ways. Greeting people is important. Including people is important as well. Have you ever been to a church where the people each gathered with their own “circle of friends” and you were left on the “outside” of any conversations? This is not a good thing. A friendly church shows themselves friendly by greeting people and including them in conversations, inviting them back, making them feel at home.
• Friendly churches are interested and invested in the services. A church service is not a performance. People should be interested and invested in the service by actively listening to the Bible message, by singing along with the song leader, by serving in the church’s nursery, choir, greeting team, etc.

I am encouraged by the many friendly churches we have been in on deputation. It is not by accident, churches work at being friendly but I must say it does not go unnoticed. Friendly churches are some of my favorite things I have seen on deputation.

Deputation has been our lives for almost 2 years. At the publishing of this post, we are only 20 days away from our departure. We are in the process of sorting, packing, and passing on almost everything we have. This is not a 4 year commitment. We are going to Argentina as missionaries to stay as missionaries. This is a very big change in our lives. We have a lot of things on our minds. Something on my mind right now is finishing right.

We have had a very busy deputation. We have been in churches from Georgia to California and many places in between! With only 20 days remaining until our departure, we have six remaining churches we will be in. We are still not at 100%, but we are getting closer. This blog post is being typed out in a small town below Dayton, Ohio, we are in the midst of a missions conference. With everything else we have going on, I want to finish right. We have worked too hard not to. God has blessed us too much not too. These remaining meetings are hoping to see God use us in their churches. We want to do all we can to finish right.

Two things I am focusing on…

• Not “leaving” before we leave. We have not yet boarded the airplane, so we are striving to focus on the task at hand. Although we are very excited about our upcoming departure, we desire to be used of God to challenge every brother and sister in Christ to get involved in world evangelism. What I mean by “not leaving before we leave” is that we are not focusing so much on leaving that we fail to faithfully finish what we have started.
• Putting God first. God has blessed. We still need to partner with more churches, but most of the work is done. Even so, we realize that God has given the increase. God is the One who has brought this outcome. God gave us 6 more meetings and 20 more days before we leave. We are striving to use each day for His glory.

 We have worked too hard not to finish right. I believe by God’s grace we will finish right. This is just another thing that is on my mind with only a few days before we leave for Argentina.

Leaving for Argentina

Departure Date: March 24, 2016!

We are finishing up our deputation. We leave this month! We still have a full schedule up to our departure. This month, we will be in Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi, and our home state Georgia. This month will be busy with meetings in churches, but we will also be busy packing the remainder of our things, as well as getting rid of the things we are not taking with us to Argentina. Lastly this month will include a lot of good byes. We will be saying good bye to friends and family. We have dinners, lunches, and family events scheduled. This month is busier than any month we have had while on deputation. There is definitely an element of sadness that goes along with this month. We believe we are finishing deputation right and finishing deputation strong. We are getting closer to full support. Please pray that God will build the rest of our support before we leave.

Arriving in Argentina

There are hard days and sad good byes ahead, but this month also includes exciting days and “hellos” as well. When we step on the plane, we will have been on deputation for 2 years and one week as to go to Argentina. That dream will finally be realized! Once we arrive, we will have many things to do. We plan to work as hard as possible on the mission field. But before we arrive, we still have most of the month to finish our deputation. Please pray that we finish deputation right.

Serving Together,

Patrick, Leslie, Lily, Piper, and Ivy Henry

One of my favorite things on deputation started at a missions emphasis day at a church we were in. After the service a man came up to me and we started talking. This sort of things happens almost every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. Meeting people, hearing their stories, learning how God has worked in their lives, it is one of the greatest things about Deputation. This specific encounter however, was different from any of the rest. This small conversation sparked a friendship. I didn’t know I was meeting the man who would be one of the greatest encouragements in my deputation (and I trust on the mission field as well). His name is Bill. Bill and his wife Betty have continued our friendship. I don’t know why, but this couple loves us. I am not deserving of these two! Bill emails me on a regular basis. He reads the blogs I put out as well as any other email updates and he will often comment on them. He has encouraged me along our way. He has even tried to work it out where he and Mrs. Betty could meet us at another church in Pennsylvania (we both live in Georgia) to support us at a church we were presenting in (it didn’t work out, but they tried). They have been incredibly encouraging. Our oldest daughter’s Lily’s birthday was in February. They sent Lily a birthday present to her through the mail. Lily was ecstatic, Leslie and I were both humbled and felt very loved. Over and over they have encouraged us on.

Why is this one of my favorite things? It is not about the attention or the gifts they send our children. It is really about the love and encouragement they give us. We are underserving of this love. They are examples of “senders”. Our hearts are overwhelmed with love at the very thought of them. We suspect that this relationship will continue into our ministry in Argentina. They pray for us and encourage us on. They are really co-laborers with us in the Gospel. Paul talks about how some plant and others water, but God gives the increase in 1 Corinthians 3. In 1 Corinthians 3:9, Paul says, “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” Paul concludes this subject by saying that he and Apollos were laborers together. One planted, one watered, both worked together. Brother Bill and Mrs. Betty are not missionaries to Argentina, but in how they encourage us, they labor together with us. The relationship we have with Bill and Betty is one of my favorite things we have found through our deputation.