Jan. 24th
Today was an interesting day of ministry. I wasn't feeling too well about doing ministry. We don't really have a set schedule every day and that is really hard for me. I find myself having a difficult time trying to stay present in ministry spontaneously. This morning we thought we were going to go to a medical clinic and preschool as we did yesterday. 8:00 rolls around and we were told that we were going to go and help with a widow's food distribution here on the base. We went over there and started bagging up beans, salt and soap for these beautiful women.
As I was bagging salt, I just realized that I was pretty numb to what was going on around me. I was bored. As I started talking to another squad mate, I realized that I was not thinking of this as ministry. My heart was not in what I was doing.
God is really teaching me about this lately. What is ministry? What does it look like? I always thought it meant you had to be busy 100% of your day helping other people outside of the people you are with.
Just in these past weeks, God is giving me new perspectives. My ministry could be talking to a teammate for two hours or having 3 hours of quiet time with God. My ministry could be bagging salt for widows or going to a preschool. My ministry could be cooking lunch or cleaning up mangos. All of these things can just be acts of service if I wanted, but they also can be ministry. What changes between an act of service and ministry? The difference is where your attitude about the task comes from.
When Jesus is the focus of my heart, I can do any task with a joyful spirit. This is an hourly decision and prayer that God is walking me through.
