June 14th, 2010

Before it even began, the Kairos team had questions about Kairos MOVE, a night of intentional service: Will people get involved? Will they understand the purpose behind it? How will things turn out?

Last Tuesday at 7:00 p.m., Kairos began with a regular time of worship in Hudson Hall, followed by a word from Bob Carlton, Brentwood Baptist Church Planting Minister. At the end of the abbreviated worship experience, all in attendance were charged to get up, go, and serve—right then and there.

Within minutes of giving them the challenge, the Kairos team got the answers they were looking for—and they weren't disappointed.

Stations were set up around the building and droves of young adults were directed to participate in various activities: writing letters to military and widows; painting church rooms; cleaning windows in the Children's Ministry area; praying for missionaries and the lost; helping out with the Deacon Ministry; and picking up supplies for Graceworks, Hope Clinic for Women, and Set Free Nashville.

This was a first-time experience for Leslie Wood, new Kairos intern. Only on the job a couple of weeks, she got a taste of what Kairos is all about and was blown away by the generosity of those who responded, gave, and served.

"When Bob was talking, they really grasped what he said and put it into action," she said. "I saw the body of Kairos go above and beyond in their service to these ministries."

Later in the week, Leslie took the items Kairos members donated to the offices of Hope Clinic for Women. Their response? "The women on staff couldn't believe the amount of diapers, baby clothes, and personal hygiene items that Kairos donated," she said. "They commented several times while I was there that they were running low on diapers and the donations from Kairos helped them tremendously."

Michelle Ceylan, Kairos Activate Coordinator, who had a hand in arranging the evening, said, "Both community and mission are values in Kairos. Our philosophy is that if we aim for community, we'll get nothing. If we aim for mission, community will be a by-product. Last Tuesday was a great example of this. The focus was mission through service and prayer, and the natural consequence was community through joint accomplishment. The end result was a massive blessing for people all over Nashville."

The whole point of the evening was for Kairos to model Christ. It was an intentional effort to show people where they can serve, how easy it is, and to get them to move into action on a regular basis.

Cathy Patterson, Kairos Minister, said, "Your faith without action is dead. So much of the world is set on consumerism and we want to battle that, so we made it very simple for everybody. They didn't have to get in a car and drive across town or jump on a plane and fly around the world. The main objective was to show people how easy this is right here—and to just do it because Jesus said so."

Quoting Thomas Hale's book, On Being a Missionary, she said he summarized best why they did it: "No one can say: 'Since I'm not called to be a missionary, I do not have to evangelize my friends and neighbors.' There is no difference, in spiritual terms, between a missionary witnessing in his home town and a missionary witnessing in Nepal. We are all called to go—even if it is only to the next room, or the next block."

According to her, Kairos is called to just that—GOing and DOing the work of Christ in the world where they have the most influence—where they live, work, and play. And this is just one of the many times Kairos will be challenged to practice missional living right where they are.

"Yes, we can be called away to foreign lands. But, for most of us, it's about sharing our lives with those around us," Cathy said. "When we share our lives, we share our stories. When we share our stories, we're compelled to tell others about Christ. This night gave our young adults a starting place. We offered many ways for them to serve right in the next room and on the next block. It's time for us to stop talking about serving and start doing it."

By Kaylan Christopher

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