Do you know who is in your church? (You may be surprised.)

I received an email message from Lucas the other day with a link to this post. Lucas knows this 22-year-old kid attending his church. He’s a smart guy–so smart that he’s almost wrapped up his PhD. Among other things, the guy runs sound for the church, and he’s in a small group.

Turns out, though, that when he’s not serving at the church, he’s a software developer. This week one of the projects he’s been working on went public. He’s helping with the development of the new Garmin nuvifone.

It’s a good reminder to all of us in ministry leadership that God has brought people with unique gifts, experiences and passions to our churches. Many times they’re just waiting on someone to ask for them to step up and serve. Of course, it may take an innovative ministry to fully tap the unique gifts that people are prepared to use. There aren’t too many churches, as an example, that are ready to use a software developer to impact the Kingdom. Honestly, I wish there were more.

Lucas, if you’re reading, let your friend know I’m more than willing to test out his work on the nuvifone. Thanks for sharing his story.