I am sitting at a table in the 2nd floor lounge of Burton Dormitory in Oberlin, OH at Oberlin College. Since Thursday I have had the privelege and the honor of taking a part in the National Council of Churches Commission on Faith and Order. This commission is the division within the NCC that works towards ecumenism.

I will have to admit to you all that this process has been rather overwhelming, and I realize that there is no way that I will ever be able to relate to you what I am feeling in my heart right now. In my present exhausted, mentally drained, and semiconscious state, my heart is both full with the new love that I have for my new Catholic, Episcopalian, Luteran, Presbyterian, Disciples of Christ, Church of God, and others, friends who have impacted my life in the last 4 days in ways I did not know possible, and heavy that I will not see many of them soon. These people, young scholars and theologians all in their own right, have reached out to me, befriended me, and listened to the questions, concerns, and passions of an admittedly often ignorant and nieve Pentecostal. I am endebted to their friendship, love, understanding, and openness. I will definitely be experiencing "withdraws" from being without them over the next few days. Their dialogue, filled with warmth and genuine concern, has been been so refreshing and eternally helpful to me as an idividual who needs intellectual conversation, a sense of greater purpose, and a desire to affect both my fellowship of tradition, as well as my religious tradition of Christianity.

I will also eternally be grateful to the professors and church leaders who prepared for and poured into my life this week. Though representing a number of Christian tradition, many of which I knew substantively little about, they showed me love, affection, and grace as though I had been with them on the journey all along. From dialogue within the small groups to nightly conversations at at local establishments, the connections were invaluable. I was particularly affected by tender dialogue with Rev. Dr. John Ford of the Catholic Institute of America. As our discussion group leader, he was very open and affirming to our different perspectives, and was thrilled to be able to walk and talk with us for extended periods of time from plenary session to group or group to meals. He is an example I will try to follow through the rest of my life.

I am especially grateful for the work of the forerunners of ecuminism in my fellowship of the Assemblies of God: Dr. Amos Yong of Regent University Divinity School, and Dr. Mel Roebeck of Fuller Theological Seminary. I am particulary taken back by the great sacrifice that Dr. Roebeck has made to ensure that Pentecostals, particularly the Assemblies of God, has remained at the table of Ecumenical dialogue. If I am to ever experience anytype or ecumenical achievement, it will be because of the path that he has beaten and becuase his sholders were strong enough for which me to stand.

Finally, I am in awe of the ecumenical task that God has laid before me. As many of you know I recently accepted a position with the General Council of the Assemblies of God. I have dreamed of having and desired this position since I was five-years-old. I have always assumed that it would be the culmination of my ministerial career. I am now realizing it is the beginning. In 2007 I have entered into Ecumenical dialogue by attending the Society for Pentecostal Studies annual meeting, visiting Nairobi, Kenya, and now being a part of the young scholars and theologian program at Faith and Order. The LORD is continuing to do in my life what he started when my family first began as foster parents, bringing in children of other races who were the poor and disenfranchised. The work that he continued through having classes and dialogue with very good friend Dr. Paul Alexander and my very good friend Dr. Johan Mostert. I now sit here today knowing that God has a plan for my life that is so much grander than I could have ever imagined. I sit here knowing that doctoral work is not an option but a requirement for His plans and realizing that if I am to work for Him the work will be hard. I also sit here knowing that I will not be alone, that He has placed help in my path, a community of friends, a body of believers to help me, and not forgetting the precious Holy Spirit.

Though the task be difficult, I will resonate with the words of my new friend Rachel who said tonight, "It is worth it, for such a time as this."

May the Grace and Peace of the LORD Jesus Christ be among us all.