An Open Thank You Letter
- toriohlerking
- Apr 6, 2016
- 2 min read
An Open Thank You Letter To Ps. Jimmy Rollins and I5 Church:
Dear Ps Jimmy,
My heart is so full. After spending last week with you guys at I5 Church as part of “RedWeek”, serving the people of Odenton, Washington D.C. downtown Baltimore, and more, I am blown away.
Not because of any outrageous act of kindness (though there were many)…but because of the soul and heart those acts were done in.
One night, during a shopping spree for families experiencing homelessness (yeah, that was one of those outrageous acts of kindness) I was marveling at the culture of this church family and you said to me “What’s the point of having a service if we aren’t going to BE a service?”
But you don’t just say that. You MEAN that. You LIVE that. You teach others to eat, sleep, and breathe that.
Your entire church is based on and even named after the idea of loving Jesus through His children…the “least”… food, water, shelter, clothing, care…”we will ‘be the 5’ because ‘HE IS the 5’.”
So profound, so deep, but so absolutely what our every moment of every day is designed to be filled with.
I am so full and honored to see a church live every waking moment to expand the dimensions of Heaven.
I hope and pray that more and more churches will catch this vision.
That outreach isn’t a marketing tool, it isn’t just an annual Christmas giveaway that makes us feel good, it also isn’t a money pit. There may be no foreseeable “return on investment” in it for you. But you understand that it is worth every moment and every penny because it is what eternity is built upon. To love Jesus by loving the “least”.
Ps. Jimmy, you invest where you maybe aren’t sure a return will show. But you do it because Jesus would. Because the return will show in eternity where it counts.
You made it a priority to hire an Outreach Director even before filling other needed staff positions because you know that the church is built OUTSIDE of it’s walls.
I’ve seen you stop everything to make it about others…to love extravagantly, to cast the vision to those who need to know that their purpose on this earth is for others.
You GET IT. It isn’t about getting butts in seats on a Sunday. It’s an exchange…people come in and get sent right back out…breathe in, breathe out.
Thank you for not just HAVING church but for BEING church.
I am a fan. And I pray this heartbeat spreads like a wildfire.
So much love to you all.
Thank you for letting Josh and I visit.
Tori Townley
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