“They obviously love my son very much”: The Search for Matt Hill of Capitol Hill Baptist Church

Updated (5/29/11): Matt Hill has been found and is okay.  Details to come.  Praise God.

Some out there have seen the notice about Matt Hill of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC.  He is a member of the church and the Campus Director of Campus Outreach ministry at George Washington University.  Matt has been missing for a few days now, which has stunned those who know him.  Please join people around the world in praying for Matt’s safe return.

Here’s the notice from one news outlet (HT: Challies):

On the morning of May 24, Matt Hill picked up GWU freshman Matthew DeGioia around 7 a.m. The two provided transportation for church member Shirley Luther who needed a transfusion at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland. After breakfast at IHOP, the pair left the area around 9:30 a.m. and arrived back in D.C. about an hour later, according to DeGioia, who was dropped off at the local Verizon Center around that time.

Matt Hill told DeGioia he needed to be at Capitol Hill Baptist by 11:30 a.m., but he never arrived.

CHBC, located right in the heart of Capitol Hill, has become command center for the effort to find Matt:

Capitol Hill Baptist Church has served as a makeshift command post for the search. Members of the church and community have been searching the streets and made fliers to distribute with pictures and contact information.

Those involved have also been collecting tips and relevant information, some of which precede information the police receives, Holger Hill said.

“It’s been nothing short of incredible,” Holger Hill said. “The people here, they obviously love my son very much. There’s been an overwhelming display of concern.”

In the midst of the search to find this young man, I found this quote from Matt’s father deeply touching.  The church has displayed such love for Matt that his father gives testimony to it in the article.  This is a profound instance of the church loving one of its own and displaying that love to the world.  The love we share for one another, when we have nothing in common but Jesus Christ, is evangelistic and doxological to a degree I don’t think we fully comprehend (Matthew 5:16).

Please keep praying for Matt, and remember the powerful impression Christian love makes on the world.