By Pastor Rob
Although our family has only been a part of Heritage for about 27 of this local church’s 48 years of gathering, her passion for taking the Good News of Jesus to all peoples has stirred, refined, and shaped us. Heritage has always been a people shaped together by God’s heart for the nations.
We still grin remembering Dr. Kroll squeezing one more steep from his teabag, declaring with a wink, “so we could send another missionary!” Who else recalls the Five Day Clubs, hosting opportunities for our neighbors to learn of God’s love in Jesus, even when they were still unwilling to cross the threshold of a church building? And then Pastor Nathan and Jessica, hearing the call to stay and send more, treasuring Jesus’ glory more than their own, leaned in and set about the work God had given them.
For decades, we, the Family at Heritage, have prayed. We have planned. Sacrificed. Participated. Sent. Cared. All so that even more would have the opportunity to hear the Gospel, repent, and put their faith in Jesus.
As I pray and dream about the start of 2026, there is one value of the Global Ministries team that comes to mind for Heritage in its 49th year of fellowship: together.
We have been a church that has sought to grow together, from Sunday main gatherings, to Discipleship Communities and Disciple-Making Teams, Wednesday night instruction, community outreach and evangelism, regular and special giving, pouring into our children and youth, and caring for the sick and hurting in our midst.
And we have pursued the nations together. Training up long term Global Workers to serve in places with far less access to the Gospel, we have resourced these laborers in significant ways, not only financially, but also through care, love, and support. This has included Global Care Teams, Short-Term Ministry Teams to come alongside them, Global Houses and cars during temporary Stateside visits, and most crucial of all, battling faithfully in prayer with them.
Heritage family, I love you. I love that we get to do this together!
As I look into 2026, I see God granting new ways to strengthen the togetherness of Jesus’ Body at Heritage. We look to formalize the pattern of a plurality of elders within our congregational model through an updated constitution, by which God has presented us with a fresh opportunity to covenant together.
We have four more family units heading to North Africa, one to Japan, and a few others yet to be announced! I am eager for the families who will gather around our sent workers in Global Care Teams, praying, supporting, and stirring one another up in love for those separated from the Gospel, both here locally and among some of the unreached and hardest places in the world.
Not only do we celebrate all God has done, but our eyes are drawn to all He is doing and will do through His church at Heritage. I pray these next steps draw our hearts deeper into the wonder of God’s Good News in Christ and the role He has purposed for His Bride. May our anticipation for what He has prepared specifically for the local expression at Heritage fill us with palpable joy as we together pursue His glory in Lynchburg, our nation, and among the nations.