messy

Jess and I were at a house church on Friday night and got the chance to minister to a woman named Magda. House church happens once a week where about 10 leaders from the church hold small conversations and teachings over coffee and dessert (or bean sandwiches as we have grown to love) in their homes. House church is for church members as well as an outreach to neighbors and family that may not come to church but are willing to come for coffee and fellowship. Magda was a new face at house church this week but I had noticed her at church before holding her beautiful baby Lilly. Marvin, the leader, began to tell Jess and me a little bit of Magda’s story recently of trouble with her husband who had gone back to drugs and drinking after walking away from that lifestyle for awhile. As Jess and I knelt on the floor beside Magda to pray strength and perseverance over the tears fell hard and I wished from the bottom of my heart that I had more to give her. She mentioned not having enough food because her husband was using all the money for himself and so as Magda held baby Lilly and ate a bean sandwich, Alijandra, Marvin’s wife grabbed a plastic bag and began stealthily moving around the kitchen gathering up food while still keeping an eye on Magda as she talked and cooed to the baby. Marvin was attentive to Magda and at the end of the evening insisted on walking her home and making sure the house was safe before he agreed to let her stay there. 

One thing that has been greatly apparent to me this year is that when you are really bringing kingdom to people’s lives in a personal way things get messy quickly because you have to deal with people and all of their flesh and problems. Often this is what I’m most paralyzed by and what has kept me from being really effective. I think, “What can I possibly do in this? What influence do I have?” But we are called to boldly walk into the murky waters of life with people. When you invite someone like Magda to house church you are responsible for being a part of her story. You’ve agreed to step inside her life and bring God’s light and salt. And the “right way” to be salt and light is not always very apparent. As Jess and I walked home that night in the quiet darkness we kept a spirit of prayer for Magda and also asked what more could we do? As short termers we don’t have the ability to sustain much on our own but we concluded that God put us there to minister to those who are getting their hands dirty like Marvin and Alijandra and to bless them with our time and efforts.

Please pray for Magda and for Marvin and Alijandra as they stand with her in this time. Pastor Benjamin’s church Mi Reto (My Challenge) is walking out life together in Panajachel, Guatemala. Want to learn more? Visit: http://www.mi-reto.comze.com/