A Week at Victory Church in Winchester

Last week I had the privilege of spending missions week at Victory Church in Winchester, VA. Three services across the week, and each one was different.

Sunday night started with a prayer service. Several world missionaries prayed over their respective countries and regions, and I got the opportunity to pray for addiction in America. Not just for the people struggling with it, but for the families carrying the weight of it. The moms and dads and spouses who are holding it together while watching someone they love fall apart.

One of the cool things about missions week is seeing the different dynamics between US and world missionaries in the same room. The international folks raise support for a year or two, pack up their families, and go spend two to four years on the field. US missionaries operate on a different rhythm but it all runs on the same thing: churches that believe in the work enough to partner with it. Claudia, one of the world missionaries, shared some of her work with Global Teen Challenge overseas, including getting kicked out of one of the countries they were serving in. Teen Challenge is a worldwide movement and hearing those stories reminds you how big the scope really is.

Wednesday night was a missions dinner with the Kingdom Builders committee and members of the church. They set up a panel format, brought a mic around the room, and asked the missionaries questions over dinner. What scares you. How people can get involved. What the biggest challenges are.

The fear question got me. I answered honestly. We do this work and we see individual lives transformed through Teen Challenge. That part is incredible. But when you zoom out and think about the network nationally, the number of centers, the reach we have, we should be shifting the culture. And yet the addiction crisis keeps getting worse. We don't want job security in this line of work. We want to be worked out of a job.

Sunday morning I got to preach in the main service. I shared the Prodigal Son through the lens of the three gifts the father gave: the robe, the ring, and the sandals. Identity, authority, and purpose. The Holy Spirit was moving and there was a real response at the altar.

I'm grateful for the whole team at Victory Church. Pastor Keith, Pastor Matt, Peggy, Pastor Ron, and everyone on the Kingdom Builders committee. It's clear this church has a heart for missions. It's also clear they have a heart for their local community through the food pantry and the way they serve Winchester.

You don't get to walk into a church and see that kind of response at the altar without leadership that makes room for it. That doesn't happen by accident. It happens because this church prioritizes it. Vibrant, friendly, and anchored in the right things.

Thank you, Victory Church, for the partnership and for having us. We're grateful.

If you're in the Winchester area and looking for a home church, check out Victory Church. Sundays at 10 AM, 2870 Middle Road, Winchester, VA 22601. victorywinchester.com