5-Minute Church

I've learned that a big part of international ministry involves ... just chatting.

We deal with an assortment of outside vendors here at Flamingo Road Church in Lima. We deal with a print shop where we print up all of our bulletins, teaching notes, publicity cards, brochures, and other items. We deal with a cafe where we have a free-coffee promotion. We deal with a parking garage where FRC-Lima attendees can park for free on Sunday mornings. We deal with a supermarket chain that supplies our food and supplies every weekend. We deal with a couple of hotels, where mission groups and other guests stay every time they visit us in Lima. We deal with a couple of other restaurants where we have special celebratory lunches or dinners or birthday parties. There are lots of other places, too.

One thing I've noticed is that when we enter these establishments, perhaps to pick up copies, or parking vouchers, or free-coffee gift certificates, or other items, the people working there frequently want to chat. They want to know how the church is going. They want to know how we are doing. They want to know how I, the gringo, am adapting to the culture and food of Peru (just fine on both counts!). And of course they want to tell us all about their lives, their families, their dreams, and their frustrations.

They really want someone to listen to them, even if it's just for 5 minutes.

That's what I call the 5-Minute Church.

Listen, I know that you are busy, and you may be reading this blog post and thinking, "I've got to just run in and out of those sorts of places, because I've got other places to go!"

If you adopt that attitude, then you're going to miss out on a big part of your ministry.

I have noticed that locals tend to take a shine to foreigners who are nothing more than ... friendly. Many foreigners, and sadly this includes many ministry workers, tend to spend as little time as possible with locals and natives, and that attitude is easily felt on the other side. So if you are nothing more than friendly ... then you're opening up a whole new world of possibilities and contacts for your ministry.

Take time to chat with the vendors who support your ministry. Take time to chat with the girl at the supermarket check-out counter, or the guy who serves you coffee, or the bellhop at the local hotel, or the waiter or waitress at your favorite restaurant or cafe. They just want you to listen to them for a few minutes. A lot of these folks have even started attending FRC-Lima as the result of the mini-chats that we've had with them.

Start up your own 5-Minute Church with these people. Watch how quickly you fill up the pews.