How many times do you think first of the church you will attend when you relocate?
We critically think through the suitability of a neighborhood, the length of the commute to work, or the ease of getting to the nearest town. But do we, with the same magnitude think of our soul’s home? Or do we only start looking for a sound fellowship two weeks after the boxes are unpacked and pictures are hung?
I found myself pondering over this after the Lord’s Supper on Sunday, as I watched how the members of my church strived to love and serve one another, not in a vague, sentimental way, but genuinely. They mourn with those who mourn, rejoice with those rejoicing, and pray for you even when you forget to ask. At that moment, my heart was filled with deep joy to be part of such a sweet fellowship.
I remembered the weight of my first major transition a year after university. Moving from Nairobi to Diani brought a cocktail of emotions. There I was, moving toward a dream: a great job at the largest mining company in Kenya and located just a few minutes to the beautiful Diani beach🤭, but internally, I was grieving at the thought of leaving Upendo Gospel Community Church, an amazing, small, close-knit church, where I had been a member for a year.
At that time, my concern over finding a warm, sound fellowship actually outweighed my curiosity about the job itself. Therefore, I began searching for a church months before the move, and the Lord, in His immense kindness, led me to South Coast Community Church. Despite it being much larger than Upendo, it was sound, super homely, and radiated a coastal warmth that made the transition easy though it took some time. He also gifted me amazing friends there, proving that wherever you find those born of God, you find a family, and a home!
However, a year and a half later, the road led back to Nairobi, and this time, the challenge was different. Upendo had moved to an area far from my new residence, and I was once again faced with the scary responsibility of “church hunting’. Anyone who has done this severally, knows the sheer social fatigue of being the new person🥹. You find yourself answering the same questions for a couple of sundays as people get to know you: Where do you work? Where did you move from? Why are you here? How long are you staying?
After the surface-level questions have been answered, you now have to let your guard down since true fellowship only begins when you open your heart, and while trusting God, say: “Lord, I don’t know these people yet, but if You have bundled us together, I trust that their strengths will cover my weaknesses, and my strengths will serve theirs.
The process was never easy in both transitions and I wrestled with the “what-ifs”: Will I gel with these people? Will I establish solid friendships like those I’m leaving behind? Will I feel out of place or at home? In my fear, I forgot that God orchestrates every event for our good, and for His glory.
The Lord led me to Grace Reformed Baptist Church, and I can say with a full heart that after every Lord’s Day, my soul sings:
“Blest be the tie that binds, Our hearts in Christian love, The fellowship of kindred minds, Is like to that above.”
I only recently learned the historical weight of those lyrics. In 1782, the hymn writer John Fawcett was actually preparing to leave his small poor church in Wainsgate. With four children to feed and a modest salary supplemented only by his parishioners’ donations of wool and potatoes, a move to a prestigious London parish with more financial resources, seemed like the best option at the time. But as the wagons were being loaded and teary goodbyes made by his congregation, their deep love overwhelmed him, and he ordered the wagons to be unloaded. He decided to stay, realizing that the “tie that binds” was worth more than any ‘better life’ that London could offer.
Whether God calls us to stay like Fawcett or move across the world, the necessity of that tie remains, and is better experienced while actively being part of a local church. J.C. Ryle captured this perfectly when he said,
“The Christian is like a burning piece of wood plucked from the fire… A piece of wood, if left alone, soon cools and goes out. But a bundle of wood put together will keep one another hot and maintain a bright and cheerful flame. It is just so with Christians.”
We bless the Lord for bringing us together as pilgrims from different parts of this country, and bundling us together to keep each other hot. With all the relocations, He has made me understand that the connections I find in one church won’t look exactly like the ones I left behind, but it is exactly what my soul needs for that specific season of my pilgrimage.
May He cause us to treasure this great gift, this sweet fellowship!