ministry: noun min·is·try ‘mi-n?-stre: the period of service or office of a minister or ministry.
What comes to mind when you hear the word ministry?
Often times we think of helping the poor, maybe working at a food pantry. If you consider a mission trip you probably imagine flying to some obscure country in Africa and serve at an orphanage. Maybe you picture yourself doing more physical labor like construction or a painting project for a church.
The World Race has redefined ministry for me completely.
After our first month of ministry in Mrcajevci, Serbia, our squad of 45 met in Tirana, Albania for our one-month debrief. We shared stories from our past month of what we did, how we grew, how we were challenged, and what God taught us during that time. We hugged, we cried, and we were served one another. That’s ministry.
We ate meals at the local Christian cafe, we played chess with our hostel mate Jamie, and we fed our spare food to the stray cat. That’s ministry.
We stayed up until 3:00 am talking to one another even when the thing we needed most was sleep. We had one-on-ones (or fun-on-ones as we came to call them) with each other, which often meant you having 4 or 5 coffees throughout your day. We woke up early to make the long walk to Cinnabon (#worthit), and we just spent time in one another’s presence. That is ministry.
When you choose to live a life on missions like my squad mates and I have done, everything you do is ministry. Everything.
Some of my squad mates were challenged in their first month because they weren’t doing things that they thought fell under the category of ministry. Our coach Matt spoke to us about getting rid of our expectations and be prepared to serve in whatever way God is asking.
“Whatever your ministry host asks you to do becomes ministry because it is service. It opens time for your host to do far more.”
This week we shoveled goat and sheep poop. We demolished pig stalls to make a large, open room for the 80 new goats coming the next day. We hosed pigs down and did our laundry in feeding troughs. All ministry. Because if we weren’t there, our host George would either be doing this himself or he would have to pay others to do so. By having the 45 of us there to serve him, he has so much more free time to do the things we aren’t skilled to do, and the things God is asking him to do.
So what does it look like to live a life of ministry? Serve without expectations. Serve as if it’s your last day to give yourself to the Lord. Hold the door open for that stranger, give that beggar your cup of water, shovel that sheep poop like you’ve never shoveled poop before (…not that I have).
Don’t expect to see the fruits of your labor. Some days it will feel like you had little to no impact at all. Every action can be considered a drop in the ocean in the grand scheme of things, but without that drop, the ocean would be lacking. Let God determine what the fruit of your labor is, and when and where it grows.
All my love,
Aubrey
