Hello from Darwin, Australia!
My team and I have been serving at The Darwin Christian Outreach Centre for the last few weeks. We clean rooms at the ministry’s hostel, serve in the kitchen, fold laundry and dozens of other odd jobs. Here’s a snip-it from one of our nights of worship….
A feeble attempt at yelling “yeah” escaped my mouth as one of my teammates knocked on the bathroom door. I heard voices say “I guess no one is here.” promptly followed by the door slamming. The ominous sore throat, which is a precursor to the hated respiratory infections I have been getting for the last couple years was in full swing.
As I trudged through the darkness alone towards the open lawn where my team had set up camp for the night of worship, I quietly gave myself the “pull yourself together; you got this.” pep talk. Just wanting to sit down and have a little “me and Jesus” time, I wasn’t too thrilled to help move a table to the designated kids area, but my habitual “of course” came out of my mouth when asked to help.
As the guitar and voices began to fill the still air, I decided to play referee in the great crayon war that immediately started between three children at the table. Order was reinstated once I pulled the instigator on my lap and enforced the one crayon at a time rule. After madly scribbling on three pieces of paper and attempting to use the table top as a canvas for his next creation, the little guy was off to show his mom his masterpieces. Looking over, I caught a glimpse of him beginning to pull his mom’s hair while jumping on her.
The next thing I knew I was picking him up after getting the go-ahead nod from his weary mother. Not expecting his cooperation, I planted him on my hip and made a b-line for the lawn in hopes of finding something to entertain him. The moment we made it to the small group comprised of world racers and a few Aboriginal families, the little boy wrapped is tiny arms around my neck and snuggled his face into my shoulder. The potent sweat and urine oder became the farthest thing from my mind as I began to rock this precious child back and forth praying for his future and for him to experience peace.
Believing that enough time had pasted for him to be in a deep sleep, I sat down and tried to reposition him to my lap. To my surprise, he was fully awake and refused to let go of the death grip he created on my shirt. After many attempts, he finally released and became comfortable on my lap. He remained there with his eyes wide open and perfectly content as long as there was zero space between us.
My heart melted as the Lord reminded me that it’s not about always having the “good Christian” attitude or even desiring to serve, but it’s about so much more. He’s a gracious Father who uses us regardless of our short comings. There is no telling who’s lives we can touch or what can be accomplished through us when we show up. A teammate of mine nailed it by saying, “A weak yes is still a yes.”
