Longing

District Diaries October 2025 Edition
by Marvin Penner

I hadn’t thought about my grade school friends or the locations we hung out at for years. Driving through the town where I grew up brought those memories all back in a flood. The one that surprised me the most was the sudden awakening of an intense longing for the local mom and pop burger and shake drive in. The memories of connection with friends and family that revolve around that place have an important place in my formation.

I’m thinking about longings because I was reading about the longing that the apostle Paul felt for the believers in Thessalonica.  “Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated from you for a little while (though our hearts never left you), we tried very hard to come back because of our intense longing to see you again. We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us.” (1Thes 2:17-18)

Have I ever “tried again and again” to meet with Christians in another place from another church? Have you? It is clear that Paul placed a high value on face-to-face contact. It was much more difficult and expensive to travel in those days than it is now, yet he made every effort to visit the Christian brothers and sisters he knew and loved.
I am the last person to dismiss the value of information tech that helps us all communicate. The value of tech is an augment, rather than a replacement, for real in person relationship. My experience traveling from church to church around the district tells me that you have fully embraced the value of meeting in person in your church buildings, homes, and communities. But I’m talking about something that goes beyond this. The longing to know our fellow believers in other places is something that the apostle Paul expressed in many of his letters. 
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I remember a time when I would attend five APD and EFCC gatherings every year (District Conference, National Conference, Pastor’s and wives retreat, National Ministerial meetings, and APD men’s retreat). All of these gatherings were well attended, and I got to know many people across the EFCC within just a few years. I don’t know what happened to us all between then and now but I feel an intense longing for those gatherings. It would be nice to go back in time and have a milkshake with my family but that is not possible. It would also be nice to gather with everyone from across the APD and EFCC several times a year. I wonder if this would be possible. Do you long to be together with your brothers and sisters as well? Do we long for this with enough intensity to try again and again to make it happen?