So then, our vision statement, Cultivating An Atmosphere For Face to Face Encounters With God, is derived from the lessons we are learning from this scripture passage. We want our lives to be transformed more and more into the image of Jesus, and this is best done when we create an environment where we can encounter God face to face, as opposed to a purely cerebral understanding of the truth. This is our goal, for ourselves, and for those to whom we minister.

The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel,saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” ... (ESV)