“Christian” was originally a derogatory term for a small Jewish sect that followed the teaching of Jesus Christ. The church adopted this term and classifies all people who profess their belief in Christ as members. But being Jesus doesn’t always appear the way we imagine it should.
My first lesson in this came at the end of my time in Colombia. Our team had been asked to portray the creation story in a drama for a children’s vacation bible school. Unknowingly, I had been volunteered by my team to play the part of Jesus. I happily adopted the role and enjoyed sharing with children the story of God creating the earth, skies, plants, animals, and finally Adam and Eve. We concluded the drama on Friday to prepare for our 20-hour bus ride on Saturday night. Unexpectedly, they told us Friday that they would like to share the drama with another group of children in the park on Saturday. We’d been given Saturday off so that we could rest and prepare for our long journey that evening.
I knew that they would honor their agreement to let us rest on Saturday, but I could not imagine making them recast the drama at the last minute. I volunteered to pack my bags Friday night and rest while on the bus. It occurred to me then that being Jesus doesn’t have a time clock and doesn’t end when our ministry schedule says we are finished. Sharing the creation and gospel story with the children in the park was one of my most memorable experiences in Medellin.
The lesson was driven home through a most joyful experience during my first few weeks here in Ecuador. We have spent the first week of this month building a house for an impoverished family. The first few days we were there, we interacted with the family very little. Both we and the family simply followed the instructions of the foreman, putting the house together from the foundation piece by piece.
As we continued to work with them while the foreman was called to head other jobs, however, something changed. We began to work less and speak more. They began to work more and to speak more. Missy discovered that the husband we are building for, Nelson, and myself share a mutual hobby: watching professional wrestling. We shared many discussions about who is past their prime in the sport and which rookies will have skills for years to come. They began to cook for us each day we came. We would all sit down to lunch while Nelson shared videos of recent wrestling events that I hadn’t been able to watch because I’d been on the mission field. He said this was the first time any team coming to help them had come inside their home to watch videos or to eat with them.
I told them I carried wrestling masks with me and they asked each day for me to bring them to the work site. Last Thursday, I did just that. They all had a field day of taking pictures with the masks on them, their children, pretending to battle each other with them! I could see the incredible amount of joy it brought into their lives. At the end of the day, I gifted the masks to Nelson and his younger brother. With tears streaming down his face, Nelson said that many people had helped them with gifts in the past, but this was very special. He received them graciously and insisted we are part of his family. Four other brothers spoke of the encouragement they were glad to see their brother receive in a way they had never seen before. As they wiped a few tears from their eyes, they thanked us and blessed our continued journey.
By the end of the project, we’ve spent days talking about wrestling, a half of a workday dancing, many afternoons eating. Nelson and his brothers have taken more ownership and pride in their work each day we shared with them. In the last few days, they worked with smiles on their faces while asking us for conversation only.
We came to build a house of cinder blocks and concrete. But God used our unexpected common interests to build a foundation of His Spirit… a spirit of love, excitement, compassion and understanding that will live in the hearts of His children long after the cinder has returned to dust.
