Construct: Like an Extended Family Part 2

Last week, I got a chance to hang out with Hrant and Ojen and their son, Reuben. What a beautiful family! They welcomed me into their wonderful home and treated me to some killer Lebanese food. During our time, Ojen shared with me a bit of her story of leaving Nav staff to go be with her family.

We met Ojen while we were on staff at UC Irvine. The year we left UCI, Ojen graduated and joined the UCI Nav staff team. A year later, Ojen sensed God calling her back to her family - most of whom live in close proximity to one another around Glendale/Burbank.

I knew the close ties with which the Armenian community is held together. During our visit, Hrant and Ojen gave me some more insights into the source of some of those ties. I'm sure they had some part in God's leading Ojen back home.

Much like an extended family ought to be a support around the immediate family, we want to support and encourage what Hrant and Ojen are doing in their community - their family, their friends and the Armenian church. Their sacrificial love poured out to their people is really the most important piece. Without it, this network is useless.

The Union is only as good as the communities you all serve/lead/build in your lives. For Hrant and Ojen, I offered, "Without disrupting what God has called you to, we (The Union) want to encourage that one area in which you probably won't get a ton of help: Disciple making."

With a nod, Ojen asked, "How?"

That's the question we have to figure out together.