Sunerchomai has been through many changes over the last three years. We’ve had good times and bad times together. We’ve ate and laughed and played and ate and prayed and cried together. We’ve hosted two Thanksgiving meals together. God has been faithful all the way through this adventure, and we know He will continue to be.

One of the reasons for the many changes has been that we have tried different ways to expand Sunerchomai to more than just a meal. We have tried to make it into some idea that one or more people have had about what it “should be.” Those were good intentions that were good in theory but bad in practice, and it has never really worked. Ultimately, we have concluded that Sunerchomai is just about gathering together.

We are attempting to expand again. However, this time we will maintain the real meaning of sunerchomai, “to gather together,” and add another opportunity for people to do just that. At 4:00pm every Sunday, people will be gathering to “sunerchomai” for meal preparation. No longer will one person hold all the responsibility, but it will be shared, and we will have a great time doing it. This is just as much Sunerchomai as the meal is Sunerchomai, and anyone is welcome to come.

Ultimately, Sunerchomai rises and falls with God, and we will be open to His adventure.

Tonight at night at Sunerchomai, Bob shared that his friend, George, “accepted Jesus as his personal savior” just before he passed away recently. When Bob asked him why, George told him that it was “because of those kids” which was reference to the young adults that come to Sunerchomai. George had been coming with Bob for around a month or more before he got too sick. The entire time that we knew George, he was turned away from God and was uninterested in spiritual things. It seemed that he enjoyed the company and the food, and he was always willing to help with the preparations.

George came to Sunerchomai because Bob invited him to meet his new family/friends. Bob began coming around six months ago following a random meeting with Levi. Levi was at a store up the street and saw Bob in his electric wheelchair on the sidewalk moving a few inches forward at a time with long pauses between. His chair was out of power. Levi pushed him home and they talked for a while before he invited him to supper that night. Later, after recharging his chair, Bob came to Sunerchomai and has been coming ever since, often with dessert. Bob has expressed many times how thankful he is for meeting Levi and the others at Sunerchomai, and he calls us his other family.

I (Sara) have been thinking tonight about how we may never know the impact that we have on others. A seemingly chance meeting led to a new family which led to a new child of God. I can only speculate what it was that had such an impact on George that facilitated his repentance. There seems to be a particular grace that God gives to those who are near death. Bob said that George was not afraid to die, and now, he is partaking in the eternal glory. Amen.