Today our team went into San Salvador to speak to a group of
Youth who are leaders in a program called Sueno Urbano. They are a group that specializes
in reaching youth affected by violence and drugs in San Salvador and
introducing them to Christ. We were asked to share with them our own
testimonies, and what it has been like for us to do ministry in the past. With
such a diverse team, they were able to hear stories and advice in ministry from
all walks of life.
When it was my turn, I still wasn’t exactly sure what I was
going to share. So I started off by telling them about who I was at their age.
A pretty sheltered girl, who grew up in the church. Even entering high school,
drugs and sex and gangs were such a foreign concept to me that I didn’t
understand how dangerous it could be to surround myself with people who were
doing those things. You slowly start to think more and more is “acceptable”
just because it is more common. But it’s not.
While I was speaking, I got the image in my head of a flight
attendant giving you safety instructions on an airplane. Always put your own
air mask on, first. Then help others. It seems like such a foreign concept, because
I think you should always help others before yourself. But if you die, you can’t
help others.
It is the same way with ministry. If you are dead in your
heart, separated from Christ, not right with yourself, then there is no way you
can help others. So as easy as it is to get caught up in helping others, and
let yourself fall in the meantime- we can’t let that happen. We can’t blur our
lines of right and wrong, even if we think it will help us connect better. We can’t
lose sight of our own relationships while we are trying to teach others to
pursue theirs.
Put on your own mask, and then help others.
I guess this was a pretty good visual, because they couldn’t
stop talking about it when I was finished speaking. I hope that it sticks with
them as they head out onto the streets. I hope that the things that seem
unfathomable to them, will stay that way in their minds so that they don’t blur
their lines of what is right, and what is wrong. And most of all, I hope that
they don’t ever lose sight of God while they are ministering to others.
