I don’t like May. In fact, I think May may be my least favorite month of the year. Why, you ask? Well…because May is a proven kleptomaniac! Have you noticed that whenever it shows up, people we love tend to go missing? Without fail, May comes around and before you know it, many of the college students who are a part of our church family are gone….some, never to be seen again. I don’t like May!

And yet despite all my protest, here it is again- in all its thieving glory. It’s time to wave off some of our students….time to feel our loss and grieve their absence….time to say those dreaded goodbyes as we watch them leave.

I don’t like May!

Or do I?

If you’ve spent much time around Mission Point, you know that our calling as a church is to invite everyone EVERYWHERE to life in Christ. And, if that’s really true, then there is much more to the story of May. Maybe even cause to welcome it through the tears.

Because, as difficult as this time is for us, we realize that whenever our students leave, that just means God is relocating an army of storytellers to places where His story needs to be told. God is simply changing where His people do the inviting. So, maybe it’s better to think of May as a month for divine reassignment. God is strategically moving some of our (HIS) people to different mission posts….maybe for the summer; maybe for good, but definitely for the Gospel.

Yes…our numbers might shrink a bit, but more significantly…the reach of the Gospel will expand. Yes, our students are leaving us, but in a greater sense, God is launching them. Yes, our hearts will feel loss, but more so God’s Kingdom will experience gain. Yes, there will be lots of missing because they go, but there will also be a whole lot more mission because they do. Our church will not be the same, but neither will the world!

So, I don’t know. Maybe May IS a kleptomaniac. Because, it borrows students from us to plunder souls from hell. That I guess I can get used to.

So, to our students- whether for the summer or for longer, make the most of your post. Your location might change, but the mission stays the same. You are being reassigned to invite everyone there to life in Christ. Make our grief count.

And to those of us stationed in Kosciusko County for now…let’s hold down the fort by holding out the Gospel! Invite someone to life this week.