Hey, guys!
For the first month of the Race, United T.O.T.S is officially the “Serve Team”. This means we are in charge of shopping, planning, providing, and cleaning up breakfast for our Squad of 41 people every morning. Sounds easy, right? Not exactly. There’s a lot more that goes into serving breakfast than just setting out several boxes of cereal and saying, “have at it, folks!”.
Coming to Thailand, I expected to serve the Thai people, not my own Squamates; and to tell you the truth, it’s been a humbling and somewhat disappointing ministry experience thus far. I know it’s selfish of me to covet the ministries of my Squamates instead of making the most of the ministry set before me, but it’s hard when you’re stuck doing something you never anticipated doing.
When my team and I were discussing our disappointment the other night, my teammate Hannah voiced an analogy worth sharing. She said that even though it might not feel like we’re making a dent in the Kingdom of God by serving breakfast to our own squamates, we are because we’re doing what God would have us do. She said we’re currently like Mary in the Bible: sitting at Jesus’ feet, versus Martha doing the “hard” work (i.g. manual labor). In other words, He has us right here, right now, for a very specific purpose in His grand scheme of things, even though it might not be the ministry we envisioned.
PLUS! Our blessings are plentiful: running water, a large kitchen, money for food, driven and dedicated teammates, an awesome team leader (yay Christie!), utensils, paper towels, and much more.
Anyhow, our first day went shockingly well! We made a fresh fruit salad, overnight oatmeal (the BEST), and offered several sides for the oatmeal (cholate sauce, peanut butter, raisins, yogurt, jam, honey, etc). The second morning we served good ‘ol Ramen with freshly boiled eggs to keep things simple. The third morning we served toast, ripe bananas, and hotdogs (aka mystery meat….in these uncomfortable situations, you just have to close your eyes and repeat the words, “this IS pig, beef, or chicken, and I am blessed to have food” to provide some consolation for the mind and stomach…:). Many hours of planning went into these meals, but they were worth it. It really helps to have a detail-oriented team who cares about the quality of food (minus the hotdogs, haha), the presentation, and everything else that goes in-between. Thanks for your awesomeness, United T.O.T.S!
Although it might seem like we’re making a dent in the kingdom, we’re doing what the Lord has placed in front of us for a reason. Luke 16:10 says, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.” Gotta master the mysteries of the chef before moving onto the arduous tasks, right? ;P Also, every member of the Squad is essential: the laborers, table sanders, bookstore organizers, gardeners, and….well, my team who fuels all of them before a hard day’s work.
The sooner we change our perspectives on the things around us, the brighter/easier our dark/hard situations become. Our Squad mentor Hailey (the one and only Hailey Crump) gave a talk on “Higher Perspectives” and becoming “Rooftop Dwellers” for teaching last Friday and it really got me thinking. She said that we need to be a people who, instead of dwelling on our current circumstances, look at the world through the Lord’s lenses (e.g. looking at the bigger picture). Once you begin to do this, everything changes. It really is amazing what changing your perspective can do and I’d highly recommend giving it a shot if you haven’t already….
Anyhow, we’re only the “Serve Team” for one out of nine months and this month will be gone just as soon as it came. And honestly, I’m starting to like it more and more as the days progress……
There’s nothing to complain about.
Gotta go shopping for more food supplies now!
-Samantha
