Your interest in living in "an intentional Christian community" may strike a responsive chord with many other readers of this column. More and more we are discovering that women and men and of your generation want to serve the Lord in more of a "team-work" relationship than the "rugged individualism" that has marked the American spirit in the past. It is interesting to note that in the New Testament both Jesus and Paul chose to minister in a context of relationships. These experiences provide the benefits of both fellowship, mutual dependence, and accountability as well as a natural context for on the job training and discipleship.

One important warning: we are all sinners, even in our communities. One of the miracles of the Gospel is that Jesus builds his Church upon that most unreliable foundation: Humans. Community witness is powerful, but you must be connected to Christians outside your group in an accountability-based relationship. Without such a connection, communities often become either self-serving and lose their vision for the lost, or adopt a self-righteous attitude to Christians outside their community. Many of the Puritans in England considered the New England Pilgrims the "weaker brothers" for their need to fly when the flames got hot, and for their idea that one could build a shining "city on a hill" with bricks from this present darkness. Community witness is best when it is simultaneously humbly idealistic and aware of human shortcomings

Many mission agencies are incorporating the pattern of team ministry. One that I am specifically aware of is Frontiers (info@us.frontiers.org) an entity that focuses its ministry in Islamic countries. At Urbana you would have the opportunity to talk to many mission representatives and ask them how they would respond to your concern.

May the Lord guide you in your desire to serve Him.