If These Walls Could Talk

Last Tuesday I spent my day in Portland, Oregon. I visited a couple of our little churches there. One of them was called Woodland Park Chapel. Arnold Motz, the pastor, has been there for years. His father, I was told, also was the pastor of the church. It’s not very big, and it hasn’t been remodeled in years, but anyone who walks into that building experiences some history. Lives have been changed, the Word has been taught, and a clear understanding of the cross of Jesus Christ has been shared.

It’s not a megachurch. You won’t hear about it on the radio; it wouldn’t make the Top 100 churches in Christianity Today. But that’s not important.

Alan Baumgarden, who was showing me around, pointed to the back pew and said, “It’s in this pew that…,”telling me a story about a man who accepted Christ as His Savior in that very pew. I began to think, What if these walls could talk? What if these walls could tell us about the different people who came broken, received the truth proclaimed through God’s Word, and went away to change the world?

There are a lot of Woodland Park Chapels in AMF. They’re not big or flashy. They’re just solid. I’m glad I’m part of a mission that has such a rich history and such a great future.

http://www.americanmissionary.org/