Ministry in the DR

Our first week of ministry has just ended.  It has not been what I would have expected.  Many of my mission trips have been very scheduled and I was usually doing something specific like acting, dancing, building, cleaning, etc.  On the surface I probably did not appear to be very productive, but productivity is not our focus or God’s focus.  God’s focus is always love and that has become our focus.  I was feeling pretty useless at the beginning of the week.  Other teams have been preaching in churches, cleaning, painting, farming, having prayer meetings; and our team has been playing with kids and senior citizens.  I was viewing what the other teams were doing has more Godly or having more opportunity to be used by God, but I was not looking at it through God’s eyes.  What the other teams are doing are wonderful and God is doing amazing things through it, but God also has a plan for our ministry. 

Two afternoons I have spent playing soccer, volleyball, and Frisbee with kids.  I have given piggyback rides, taken pictures, and allowed the kids to take photos with my camera.  I have taught kids to count in English and to learn their colors in English.  I have spent two hours playing dominos with and elderly man in a nursing home.  I have given of my time, my energy, and my love.  God has shown me that the time I spend with these kids and elderly people is showing love.  Love is God’s greatest message.  It wonderfully expressed in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son so that whom ever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  God did it because he loves us and my team has been called to share that love with the kids and elderly here in San Juan.  The best way to show love is to give time and build relationships. 

It is amazing to see the kids smiles and excitement when they see us come to their neighborhood.  The nursing home we are at is for those who really have no family, so they do not receive much love and psychical touch. 
We will begin to share the gospel with the kids through crafts and bible stories we read and act out.  But, I know what will speak the loudest in their lives is our actions of spending time with them for the next few weeks.  We will do some cleaning in the nursing home, but spending two hours playing dominos each time I am there will speak louder to Moroan, the elderly man I played with. 

God is trying to break me so that He can put me back together in the identity in Christ I am suppose to have.  It is hard for me to allow myself to show weakness and vulnerability.  I have been strong for so long I do not know how to let God be my strength and I can only truly change and grow when I allow His strength to prevail. 

Please pray that Team Bling will speaking loudly through our love.  Pray that Jesus will be glorified through our time in the neighborhood and in the nursing home.  Pray that my heart will be broken and emptied of myself and filled with God’s Spirit.  Pray for those on my squad who have been sick with stomach issues.