The Presence of Christ
When Scott Edinger heard about Faithful Friends, he was excited to jump in and participate in it himself. But it didn’t take long before he started thinking about the possibility of Journey Church, where he is a pastor, partnering with FF.
“As a church we try to partner with other organizations, because we don't want to have to recreate the wheel. We want to partner with organizations that are doing kingdom work in both our local community, our region, and in the world. Once we started talking through it, we knew this was something we could introduce to our church that would fit into our heart. In our church we want it to be about the next generation of our community. And I could see our church participating in Faithful Friends not just at a transactional level, but also at a personal level.”
Scott shared that as helpful as giving financially is, there is a need for more people to give their time. “Giving is an accessible way to really feel like you're doing something significant in the kingdom of God,” Scott says. “But for me, there’s just something about being with people. I think the personal reward is so much greater. There's something different when you get your hands dirty; literally, like at a park, but also figuratively as you're interacting with the lives of other people. The way of Jesus is rarely the easy way, and if we want to have a Christ-like impact in our communities, then we have to be willing to put in the time and have our feet on the ground. That kind of work that will really impact lives.”
Scott put so well the heart and goal of Faithful Friends:
“It’s bringing the presence of Christ into these spaces. The Christ-centered nature of the relationship is the goal and heartbeat of Faithful Friends. Not that you’re evangelizing at all, but it’s at the heart of the relationships.”
This motivation behind what we do is one of the things that makes FF so unique. We believe that every child is special and deserves to be invested in, and that the love that God has for those kids needs to be at the center of our relationships with them.
Scott prays a blessing over the Faithful Friends programs, current and future mentors and mentees, at Be a Rock 2023
