In my ignorance, I thought that Connect 09 would kick us off in engaging with the community around us.

This week I had the incredible privilege of chatting with John Dowe, a retired missionary minister from Katoomba, and I saw what we are striving to do with Connect 09, lived out every day for decades.

Let me share some of our conversation.

As I have been involved in Greek ministry for many years John met with me to discuss how we could work together in sharing the gospel with Greeks he knew in Katoomba. Many of the people he spoke about are relatives of mine, which is not surprising as nearly every Greek from a particular region is related in some way or other. What was surprising is that John knew them, their circumstances, their relatives and how they responded to Jesus much better than I did.

As I quizzed John about how this came about he reflected that when he was ministering in country towns he always set about making friends with the Greek café owners. He got to know them, and because he loves languages he asked them to read Greek with him. So they would together read the Greek newspapers and then move on to the Greek Bible. Many continue to meet to read the Bible in Greek, and have come to salvation. John still travels down to Sydney to meet up with his friends from days gone by, and the read the Bible together.

The reason John was in Sydney this week was to visit Solomon Islanders who were in hospital. You see, John was a missionary to the Solomon Islands, and so he seeks out Solomon Islanders to get to know, to care for and to share the gospel with.

Last year the parish the Dowes belong to welcomed a new minister, so the Dowes doorknocked their street, inviting their neighbours to their home to meet the new minister. This gave the minister the opportunity to tell his story of how and why he became a Christian. This also meant that relationship began between the new minister and the neighbours in a most natural manner.

This is connecting! Looking for groups that you can connect with and beginning relationships.

I know John is a missionary clergyman, but there is nothing special about what he does, except that he has a heart transformed by Jesus.

After our meeting I began thinking about why I so quickly assume I need to organise the big event to minister to people?

It may be that we favour the showy and don't make heroes out of everyday Christians who live wholehearetedly for Jesus.