Why small groups are important

We had a wonderful going away party with our West Side home group last night! I find it amusing that after blessing the food and helping ourselves to generous servings, we all broke up into 2 major groups, almost naturally into - yes, you guessed it - boys and girls. The set up was not so much far out from our family gatherings in the Philippines when the aunties congregate among themselves and talk about ideas, people, places (i.e. gossip) and the uncles pretty much enjoy their Jack Daniels (or whatever alcohol was available). In our case, we had a fun time (or at least I did) talking about "female stuff" pertaining to ourselves; I'm not exactly sure what the guys were up to, but they did look pretty serious whenever I glance over to their direction. Maybe I'll ask my husband later.

Joining a small group is important for both Rupert and me. When we were living in the Philippines, building friendships was fairly easy for us because we were already surrounded by people who we already knew for a very long time. I also came from a pretty big extended family, so socializing was just a normal part of daily life. When we moved to the US, however, the lives of the people here seem so isolated from one another that we immediately found out that if we wanted to be plugged into the community, we had to actually make an effort to go out and meet people. And not just any people, but people who would be good mentors and models to us.

When we were in Akron, OH, we were fortunate that we had a solid group of Filipino friends (most of us were in residency training) that we can spend time with. We had the most fantastic get-togethers and just spending time with them was a riot! I love Filipino sensibility and sense of humor! At the same time, we also wanted to be plugged into a good church community so we decided to go to The Chapel and joined a community group in West Akron area. I truly enjoyed this small group because Rupert and I were the youngest, most of the members were in their 50s and 60s, and they are all truly just gems of knowledge. I miss them a lot.

Here in Yakima, Rupert and I decided that we wanted to join another home group, so when we found West Side Church, we immediately zeroed in to the community group web page. God, in His providential hand, led us to the Fries' home group where we met 5 other wonderful couples who are our age (or close to). All of us are young in our married lives, but each of us are in different stages. Some are newly-weds, some have kids, some are thinking of having kids (like us). I thought, what a great mix! We could all learn from one another, and we could lead each other, too. It's encouraging that even though our group is small, we know that we could count on friends who would be good examples for our future kids.

Small groups are important because it is a place where friendships are established and nurtured. We are held accountable for one another, so it is not just ourselves that we are on the lookout for, but for others as well. It's important to be in a small group with a strong biblical foundation on Jesus and what Jesus has accomplished, because when crisis strikes, we're all on the same page as to what needs to be done - turn to Jesus and repent, read the Bible for guidance and pray for one another.

The other obvious perk - we get to go out or stay home and just party!!!