"Church Without Walls" Blows Roof Off Their Goal
POSTED ON Nov 19, 2009
Missio Lux—Latin for “Mission of Light”—is sometimes called a “church without walls” because of its flexible organization. The Sammamish, Washington–based church meets in “communities”—groups of ten to fifty people who share a passion for the same type of service—to share meals, learn together, and plan and carry out their “missio” service projects.
Some time ago, Missio Lux member Laurie Bunnel met longtime Children of the Nations partner Doug Hanson, from whom she heard about COTN’s mission. “We thought it would be the perfect fit for Missio Lux,” says Tamara Buchan, Missio Lux Lead Visionary Pastor. “One of our three goals is to love and serve the world.”
This past June, the Missio Lux communities set for themselves a goal of packaging 40,000 meals. So they began hosting parties: “Parties with a Purpose.” No more than fifty people attended any one event, but the two or three parties a month added up. By October 29th, 412 volunteers had packaged 44,440 meals—exceeding their goal by more than ten percent! “It’s amazing,” says Tamara, “I am still hearing from people who want to schedule a party.”
“I’m ridiculously impressed with Missio Lux and the whole community out there,” says Fraser Ratzlaff, COTN Seattle Feeding Coordinator. “Laurie and Tamara have been driving the effort… they’ve been patient, kind, organized, and highly motivated—a huge blessing!”
Fraser greatly enjoyed working with such a unique ministry. “Every two- or three-thousand-meal event pulls in more people because of their community-organized church network,” he says. “I don’t think you really get that in a church with walls.”
According to Fraser, Missio Lux plans to partner with other churches in the Sammamish area to raise $71,250 to host a fully-funded 285K Meal Marathon on May 1, 2010 during COTN’s national Hunger Campaign. They hope to assemble 1,200 people to package the 285,000 meals. Fraser’s excitement to continue working with this church cannot be contained. As he puts it, “My socks have been blown off!”
Missio Lux hopes to continue having an impact. Says Tamara, “We hope that the ripples we have started [in partnering with COTN] will just keep rippling for eternity.”
For more information on Children of the Nations' Food Packaging Program click here.