On November 22, 2008, MBC Loudoun officially participated in its first partnership with Turkey Outreach. The event was a huge success. With every event Loudoun has executed, the people of the Loudoun Campus have impressed me with their zeal for God and with their selfless determination to create an environment that is welcoming, where people can comfortably come to know the Lord. God has truly blessed our congregation at Loudoun with many generous hearts.

One of my favorite books in the Bible is the book of James. In the second half of Chapter 2, James talks about faith and works: “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead” (v.26). The fruit we bear, the love we show towards our brothers and sisters is a direct reflection of Christ spirit that lives in us. If Christ is in us then good works are a natural by-product of His presence. The believers that I have encountered at Loudoun are so reflective of that verse. Several times we have started an initiative and I find myself thinking, how are we going to pull this off? The key to that statement is the “we” – we alone couldn’t do it. He has been with us through it all.

I was both humbled and amazed at how God worked through Loudoun’s first Turkey Outreach. I was and am still amazed with the speed that our congregation responded and how God moved in your hearts not just to be generous with your time but to be generous with donations, suggestions and coming up with ideas for things we may not have considered. I appreciate so much everything that everyone participated in to make the event such a success. I don’t know if any decisions were made that day but I believe with all my heart that in big and small ways that God reached the people He intended to reach.

I had so many volunteers talk to me about how excited they were to be a part of this and how excited they were to see it come to fruition. It was amazing to see God work through the event and through the volunteers to touch the lives of others. I’ve always been overwhelmed at how blessed MBC has been to be able to do the outreach that it does. I believe that is direct result of God working through you and your love for Him and that your hearts truly reflect Christ’s call to “love your neighbors as yourselves” (Galatians 5:14).

Yet even as the economy continues to tighten, it has done little to the wealth and giving that exists in your hearts, and I’m thankful to each and every one of you. Even the ones who couldn’t make it but offered prayer for the success… that was no small part. In fact, that was and is one of the things we can never have enough of and is the most powerful tool we have (Philippians 4:6).

We all have different gifts and different strengths and you guys have shown that you are not bashful about using those gifts or sharing the bounty that God has given to you. I’m excited to see what God will do in the future with our campus. I’m honored at the prospect of working with you all in various projects and opportunities that arise. God willing, my hope is that we will have many more successful years to come. I truly believe as long as we move ahead with Christ as our Focus and our Hope, we will continue to be amazed at what we can achieve through Him. I pray we all are always open to being used by Him in whatever way He calls us. That we’ll always have the trust in Him to say “… Here am I, Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).

Thank you for all you’ve done, for all you continue to do and for faithfully loving the LORD.

Greg Lilly
Turkey Outreach Leader

For more pictures of MBC Loudoun’s Turkey Outreach 2008 visit flickr