The kid on the left was being driven by his grandfather to a school playground one morning. But on the way his grandfather took a different route to the playground and saw a playground they had never been to before – so they stopped there instead.

The kid on the right was being driven by his mom to that same school playground – but it was closed, so she found a playground on her phone they had never been to before.  

While it is true that the two kids were guided to this new playground by their grandfather or mother, God was actually guiding the grandfather and mother toward missional unity. How do I know that?  As the kids were becoming friends, the grandfather and the mom began chatting. The conversation started out about the kids, then journeyed into adoption, then foster care, then the mom’s openness to fostering, then to the grandfather sharing his personal experiences with adoption and his friend’s experiences with foster care, then to the grandfather’s work of helping congregations and non-profits partner together on mission, then to the mom sharing that her father was a pastor who might be open to partnering with other congregations, to exchanging contact information. 

Since then, the grandfather connected the mom with 4kids (the organization that can help her on her journey towards fostering), and he connected with the mom’s father, inviting him to an important meeting with Love Has No Limits (an organization who is mobilizing congregations and non-profits to partner together). Her father attended that meeting a few hours later. 

That’s Missional Unity at the Playground.

The hands in the picture would have never met without the hands of the grandfather and mom guiding them to the same playground.

But the grandfather and the mom would have never met without the hands of their Heavenly Father guiding them to the same playground at the same time. 

Now let’s see what God does… maybe a child will be fostered… maybe the mom’s father’s church will partner with other churches… maybe God will do things we can’t even imagine – all because God was on mission when He led two strangers to join His mission at a playground.