*Note: many portions of this column are tongue in cheek.  Especially the title.  I love teleworking.  Mostly because I don’t do any real work but shhh…
I don’t know about you guys, but frankly, I love when the pope visits DC.  I got to work from home for three days this week!  Thanks to the Holy See!  (What the heck is a See anyway.  If I were the pope, I’d have people refer to me by a much better nickname like the AllFather or the Super Robe or the White Wizard.  I’ve been reading too many comic books.)
The reason I got to work from home was because of the potential traffic gridlock caused by blocked off streets and massive amounts of tourists that was anticipated, so my employer decided to allow employees to telework if they needed to.  I heard some people were planning on sleeping at work or going in at noon and staying past midnight just to avoid traffic.  Because let’s be honest, driving in traffic in this area makes one really appreciate gun control laws.  But ironically, for those that did have to commute, it didn’t really turn out to be that bad.
Maybe it was because of the amount of employers approving telework in anticipation of the traffic or people changing their commuting schedules to avoid any issues.  Maybe it was divine providence because the pope really does have a landline upstairs.  Whatever the reason, those that did brave the outside during the pope’s visit probably had a much easier commute than expected.  For a region that prides itself on having only 1 road between Maryland and Virginia, that’s pretty good!  (In other news, seriously, get it together Maryland and Virginia.  Build a bridge or something.  It’s not that hard.)
Often times, we’re so much more afraid of what the consequences we imagine could be than what reality actually turns out to be.  In matters of faith, this is probably a concept many of us church-going Christians are all too familiar with.  “But if I commit to an oikos group, my Saturdays will never be free.”  “But if I tell people I’m a Christian, they might expect me to be good all the time.”  “But if I go to a missions trip, I might have to… do stuff... and not be able to shower.”  Yes, these are all very true potential consequences, except the showering part – this is purely optional but highly recommended for the sake of your teammates as well as the gospel.
But, in Christianity, there is no such thing as teleworking.  Jesus’ Great Commission is not a message to a select few super Christians.  The Bible is not a book to be read only by Christian nerds.  Our faith is not meant to be a lamp hidden under a bowl.  We are supposed to live what we believe no matter what the consequences.
And the truth is, the consequences are never really as horrible as they seem.  On a personal level, some of my greatest experiences of true vulnerability and community have been within an oikos context.  Telling people I’m a Christian at work has allowed me to share my faith with those I might never have spoken to about Jesus.  And every missions trip I’ve been on, not only have I showered (except that 1 time when I wanted to see how black my scalp could get), but I’ve seen God move incredibly in the lives of others as much as myself.  I also know for a fact that many others in our church have had similar if not even greater outcomes.
So, church, let’s step out in faith and say yes to the Lord in things both big and small.  No doubt, there is potential for some traffic on the 495 of our souls (my old English professor just threw up).  But the truth could be so much sweeter than what we fear.

From Pastor David’s Heart
September 27, 2015

Where is home? That was the question that Caleb, our oldest son, asked when we were packing up and preparing to return to the U.S. He was five-years-old and his younger brother, Caden, was three-years-old at the time we had left the U.S. for Thailand, our mission field and home for the last four years.
But before I answer the question of where is home, let me take a moment to introduce ourselves for the benefit of those who don’t know us. Though I was born in Taiwan, I grew up in Saudi Arabia from age one to seven. It was not until my family immigrated to the U.S. that we came to know the Lord through a Chinese church in the southern Bible belt state of Alabama. Lila on the other hand was born in the Midwest state of Illinois, and grew up in a Christian home with Korean parents. It was not until her parents divorced and her dad remarried that she relocated to Maryland. She started attending NCFC in 1992, and gave her life to the Lord in 8th grade at a church retreat.
Fast forward a few years, and the Lord brought us together as husband and wife in 2005 with a passion to glorify Him through our mutual call to cross-cultural missions work. Both of us received a clear calling from the Lord. And so after I worked seven years as a civil engineer and Lila worked eight years as an elementary school teacher, we decided to quit our jobs to attend seminary in preparation for vocational ministry. Eventually, I graduated from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 2009 with a Master of Divinity and joined the pastoral staff of NCFC briefly on a part-time basis. Lila returned to teaching in the public elementary school sector, while we continued to prepare for the mission field. At some point, we had two little boys, Caleb and Caden, along the way!
Currently, we are serving as full-time missionaries in Thailand with OMF International. We have just completed our first term of four years church-planting in South Thailand. We were involved with language and culture studies, relational evangelism, English teaching outreach, and partnership with an existing OMF church plant. Our youngest, Corban, was born in South Thailand, and we joke that he is half Thai!
And so that brings us back to the question of where is home? I must admit that at first I did not quite know how to answer that question. I have had my own personal struggles with answering that question myself because of my own cross-cultural childhood experience. Everywhere seems to be home, and nowhere seems to be home as well. But the best answer I could give Caleb was that home is where our family is together at the time. And so if we are in Thailand together, that is our home. And if we are in the U.S. together, that is our home. We also thank God for you, our church family, because you have warmly welcomed us and made the transition back to the States so much easier. And for that, we are grateful.
Ultimately, I am learning to teach my boys that home is where heaven is as well because, as believers, we are all on a journey towards that direction, and Scripture reminds us that “our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20). Even with the reverse culture shock that comes with adjusting back to the U.S., we are learning to be comfortable with the uncomfortable and reminded to always be gazing heavenward.

From Pastor Dave’s Heart
September 20, 2015