What do we do? Was a question that we asked one another when we walked into Month 5 and 6.
Ministry for Nepal and Cambodia looked a bit different. It wasn’t your cookie cutter mission work. We were hostless for Nepal and didn’t receive any clear direction of what to do in Cambodia. We didn’t have someone directing us. But that doesn’t mean God couldn’t continue his work where we were or allow us to be effective in a deeper capacity despite our roadblocks.
In Nepal we spent every morning as a team singing worship music and spending time in prayer. We didn’t have direction so we paused to ask God for guidance. Our month was spent building relationships with backpackers in coffee shops, prayer walks in the Red Light District and being the practical hands and feet of God. Our month didn’t become useless just because we werent completing a certain task. Honestly, the most important thing is that we partnered with the God of the universe to be apart of what he was already doing in Nepal.
In Cambodia we were placed with a pastor and his church. My team was told something along the lines of, “These are my 10 kids that I have taken in from bad situations”. They were children that have came off the street, abused by family members or even abandoned. Our pastor was traveling for most of the month so we took what we had and made something of it. My team and I were able to love these children and spend quality time with them everyday. They would come home from school around 4 and we would play sports with them, teach them songs, take them to the park, watch movies and simply get to know them. It may not seem like “ministry”, but I can imagine it must be hard to love and care for 10 children when you are pastoring a church and traveling for your job. Each child is different but deserves all the love and individual attention they can get.
I have learned that missionary work does not have to be labeled under building churches, feeding orphans or healing the sick. “Missionary work” is bringing God’s Kingdom to earth. It is allowing the Lord to mess up your plans and to invite him into every moment of your life. Ministry is not an on and off switch either. We don’t go to ministry from 9 to 5. Our ministry is every day and in every moment. Pausing our plans and asking the Lord where he wants us and how he wants to use us.
Being a missionary is simply living out the Gospel and sharing it with those around you. Whether I’m in a foreign country or going to school in America. I will always have an opportunity to turn everything I do into ministry. Because no matter where I go or what I do, God is always there. So next time I find myself in a place of asking God, “Well what do I do now Lord?!” I’ll instead say, “Okay God, what are you doing and how can I be apart of it”. Because it’s not in my own strength or human effort to get things done but in His.
