āTime!ā I called out. I glanced at my phone. It was 8:11 a.m. on a dark and grey January morning in Parrish, Fla. I smiled because we had just shattered our missionās record for how quickly we wheeled all the tables out of the cafeteria and into the hallways at Parrish Charter Academy. They say, āmany hands make light work,ā and that was proven true by eleven energetic Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary students who traveled all the way to Florida to help our mission achieve small but significant wins on the way to even bigger ones.
From there, the seminarians set up for Sunday worshipāplacing chairs in neat rows, arranging the altar, setting up the speakers, rolling out the coffee cart, and preparing for our Mornings with Mommy program. Once the church setup was complete, they went outside to pick up trash around the campus. Just as they were finishing up, a familiar maintenance truck pulled in with a trailer attached.
A few weeks earlier, I had asked the schoolās maintenance man, Kelvin, if there were any projects our church could help with around campus. He thought for a moment, glancing at the basketball courts, soccer fields, and playground. Then his eyes landed on a sad pile of rolled-up turf. Hurricane Miltonās winds had ruined the turf around one of the playgrounds, and new turf had been installed in its place. The old turf still sat there, waiting to be removed.
āWe can help with that,ā I had told him confidentlyāunaware of the muddy mess the recent rain would create or that Floridaās infamous fire ants lay hidden beneath the turf.
That Saturday morning, the seminarians wrestled with the turf, mud clinging to their shoes and fire ants testing their patience. Meanwhile, inside, we welcomed families to our Mornings with Mommy session. By the time the seminarians finished, they were covered in mud and dotted with ant bites, yet still somehow eager to help with more.
After lunch, they helped us run a small sports camp for the community, where kids played football and basketball, leaving with Risen Savior water bottles and happy exhaustion. By the end of the day, we had connected with 17 familiesā families who, earlier, had likely never heard of our church.
One of the students asked me later how I thought the day went. I told him I was thrilled! As a brand-new church, itās hard to measure success in the typical ways. For us, a win can mean simply meeting more people and letting them know weāre here. It can mean building relationships with families or showing Parrish Charter Academy that weāre not just tenants but partners, ready to serve and make a positive impact.
Of course, our ultimate goal is to see eternal winsābaptisms, confessions of faith, and a growing, thriving church. But those blessings often begin with smaller steps: a friendly conversation, a helpful hand, or an invitation to join us. Each of these little wins matters because they reflect Godās love in action, planting seeds that he can grow in his perfect time.
Written by Rev. Benjamin Balge, home missionary at Risen Savior in Parrish, Fla.
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