Why the Family Baptist Fellowship?

Planet Earth now holds six billion people. Around the world people still need Christ and many have never heard of Him. Because members of new generations come into the world constantly, the urgency to repeat the good news of Jesus Christ is as fresh as God's mercy with each waking dawn (Lamentations 3:22-23). The task gets bigger everyday, much as the proverbial snowstorm that keeps covering the walk before the workmen can finish shoveling.

If the task gets bigger, how can anyone make a difference? The answer to that question is revealed in the story of the elderly man walking along the beach, who noted a younger man picking up starfish and throwing them back into the surf. Hurrying out of curiosity the older man caught up with the younger and asked him what he was doing. Not wanting the starfish to die, the youth reported he was tossing them back into the water to preserve them. The elder labeled the action as foolish because there were thousands of miles of beach and probably millions of starfish. How could he expect to make a difference?

The young man's answer was classic. Reaching down to pick up one more echinoderm, he looked at it, looked at his elder, and said, "It makes a difference to this one!" Then he tossed the fortunate creature back into the ocean.

Whenever a task is too expansive, one can only responsibly affect what is closest to him in heart or location. For world missions this means some Christians must move to another part of the world-beach to take the message into a foreign land. If, however, one cannot go, or is called to remain closer to home, he needs to make a difference where he is.

A fundamental premise of this church is that people "all" around the world need the gospel and sometimes it is easier for American Christians to look at the fields on the other side of the planet than it is to remember the mission right at our back door. Because the task seems so big, it is convenient to ignore it close to home. After his own family, the second greatest field of influence for the average Christian is the "Jerusalem" where he lives (see Acts 1:8). To some extent, the great task of global evangelism circles the world to arrive here once again. It is no wonder Jesus told His disciples to "lift up" their eyes to behold the harvest right in front of them (John 4:35).

American Christianity has allowed an unreached culture to grow up right in the shadow of visionless churches. Having viewed herself as missionary-sending, the church in America, including the church in Washington state, finds herself living on a mission field. An impact needs to be made right here.