I’ve been attending Milan Christian Church since 2005, shortly after moving to Illinois.  When my family and I first attended, we didn’t receive much of a welcome; in fact they just stared at us! Since then, things have changed…

Actually “changed” is an understatement; “transformed” is more like it.

Over the years, some have moved on to other congregations, many more have been added and throughout this process, God has done an amazing work!

So many people have grown spiritually.  So many people have come out of their shells and stepped up to serve God at MCC! If you had visited back in ’05 and then revisited today, you might not think you were in the same place!  I can guarantee you one thing, the people wouldn’t be staring at you from across the room, they’d be welcoming you home.

When I was growing up, I was pretty much the shy kid.  I never had lots of friends, nor was I ever close to being “popular” in school.  As an adult, I have moved on somewhat from that and yet I still struggle with it, something that surprises those who know me.  It surprises them because they might know that I often speak in front of groups of people, and in doing so I am entirely comfortable, but one-on-one and in social settings all I can do is try to act calm. (My little secret)

As a result, as an adult I’ve never had many friends, and normally I’ve had no friends at all outside of work and at work I’ve mostly just had subordinates. This is not a complaint, just a fact. Bottom line, making personal friends has always been hard for me to do.

Over the past few months, as a result of situations that I won’t bore you with here, it has come to my attention that everybody at MCC is a friend of mine. I have literally been overwhelmed by the amount of love and friendship that I have received from my church family… all in spite of my inadequate social skills.  In truth, I am wholly inadequate to respond to it all.

What has happened at MCC?

The people there have become what followers of Jesus Christ are supposed to be: A body of believers who share the love of Jesus Christ with their brothers and sisters in Christ, and with those who may still have yet to receive Him as their Savior.  No, it isn’t just me, for they are like this to everyone.

Who says that God isn’t doing awesome things right in our midst?  They haven’t been to MCC!