Kim and Kim Cole love cell ministry. One of the main reasons is because their lives have been transformed in the process of reaching out and developing relationships with non-Christians. When I visited their cell group in York, PA, I noticed a vibrant cell group with many new converts. Kim and Kim have multiplied their cell many times. They are “friends of sinners” who have also been transformed in the process of outreach.
Kim Cole, the wife, told me that her church’s relational emphasis (York Alliance Church) not only transformed her own life but also the life of her cell group and church family. Kim was born and raised in York Alliance Church in York, PA and accepted Jesus when she was 14 years old. She had some very good pastors, but she also saw how the church could so easily be entrenched in a building with programs. When York Alliance started emphasizing cell ministry in 2001, she and her husband (also Kim) realized that God was challenging them to take the gospel outside the four walls of the local church.
She, along with the other members of her Life group, were challenged to develop relationships with neighbors. She began her relational journey by opening her life up to those in her neighborhood. Kim told me, “It’s very scary to live life in the open. I wasn’t accustomed to being real.” On one occasion she make home-made ice-cream in the front yard and invited people to join them. This was the beginning of letting the neighbors see their lives. She discovered that the best way to reach out was through being vulnerable. She went to her neighbor, Crystal, and asked to borrow a pot. This is how her relationship with Crystal started. As Kim developed a relationship with Crystal, she eventually invited her and her husband to the Life group. They accepted the invitation and began attending the cell.
Crystal knew that Kim had something she didn’t have and kept on coming back, wanting to experience that same life. Crystal began to ask hard questions and Kim grew as much as Crystal in the process of searching for answers. Crystal eventually received Jesus, got involved in the cell group, and made her way through the equipping process. Crystal and her husband eventually became Life group leaders and even today continue the process of relational outreach.
Relational evangelism not only liberates those who don’t know Jesus, but it also helps believers to become more like Jesus.
