A Compelling Vision

How a pastor and a church gained healing through helping.
Matthew Cork

"Do you want to be healed?" Jesus asked the invalid who for 38 years had lain helpless by the pool of Bethesda. That question has haunted me. I too needed healing, and didn't even know it. A Christian as long as I could remember, I wasn't really a true follower of Jesus until family circumstances, church turmoil, and a trip to India in 2007 helped me see the complacent Christian I had become.

In 2003, I became the lead pastor of a church that was $14 million short on a half-constructed building. Staring at major staff reductions and interpersonal tensions, this was not the ideal first pastorate for anyone, but it was God's calling for me. I had been on staff at Friends Church in Yorba Linda, California, for 13 years, was asked to leave that staff, and then was asked to rejoin as lead pastor eight months later. It was amazing to see God restore his church and provide a vision that would change and heal us from the inside.

Part of our healing occurred when we set out to build 20 schools for a people group of India known as the Dalits ("untouchables"), outcasts considered less valuable than animals and locked in a form of modern-day slavery, all 250 million of them. That 2007 trip was a pivotal point in the life of our church. I heard Dr. Joseph D'Souza of Operation Mobilization share a plan for 1,000 schools in 10 years. He said that our church already accounted for 20 percent of everything they were doing, and that they could not do this without us. I was humbled and embarrassed. We had committed to only 20 schools—not a big deal for our church. I heard the words "1,000 schools in 10 years." The Holy Spirit spoke to me, and I spoke out loud.

In a small voice but with a spirit of deep conviction, I said, "We can be 20 percent of this great vision. We can be responsible for 200 schools over the next 10 years. We can do that." I repeated it. The conviction took hold. "And we will do that for your people."

Instantly, the magnitude of my public statement hit me privately. It had flowed from deep within my soul. I had committed our church to roughly $20 million over the next 10 years. Doubt flooded my mind. Worry gripped me. If I could have taken it back, I would have. But God was at work. This was his deal. My role was to listen and be faithful. So I gulped, took a deep breath, and smiled. My team looked at me with a nonverbal query: "Are you crazy?" But, I knew this was a God thing.

In those few moments, it became clear that my life, ministry, and focus were changing. This is the way it is with God. The picture may be unclear, the "how to" incomplete. But the vision is compelling. It touches so deep within your heart that there is only one choice. Am I willing to believe God, or do I sit on the sidelines until I have everything figured out? Do I move forward or wait until all the questions are answered, doubts cleared up, and risks eliminated? I chose to lead and to trust God with the results, to obey and believe that he would be faithful.

Am I willing to believe God, or do I sit on the sidelines until I have everything figured out?

Today we have an open door, a platform among the Dalits to proclaim the freedom of knowing Jesus in a genuine and personal way. It is a freedom that can liberate souls from the bondage of sin and death. It replaces despair with hope and life. Eternity will be radically different for many thousands of people. God's church in our little town in Southern California is being radically changed.

God began the healing process and rocked my world—from coming back to this church in 2003, to raising money, to completing a building, to watching God restore his people, to seeing God in 2007 give us a vision worth dying for, to helping us raise close to $19 million in 2009 during a deep recession-—plus, the making of a motion picture set to release in 2010. How exciting it is to be part of a God story! I am being healed, our church is being healed, and God gets all the glory.

Matthew Cork is the lead pastor of Friends Church in Yorba Linda, California. To learn more, visit ylfc.org. To learn more about work among the Dalit people, visit DalitNetwork.org, omccindia.com, and NotTodaytheMovie.com.

Copyright © 2010 Christian Leadership Alliance.