It’s a phrase you hear quite often on the World Race: “Ministry is life; Life is ministry.” Given that our “job” on the Race is being a missionary and doing “ministry,” there is a huge push to see every aspect of life as ministry and not just the time we spend working with a church or host or any other mission organization. They don’t want us to compartmentalize our lives into “ministry time” and “normal life” time.
This month, we have an especially good opportunity to really put that into action and think about what that means. I mentioned in my last blog that we were originally supposed to go to Chiang Mai, Thailand this month, but the dangerously high air pollution levels in Chiang Mai kept us from going there and left us in Bangkok instead….which meant we no longer had a ministry for the month…or lodging. The lodging situation was a quick fix, and we are staying at a hostel that has been a HUGE blessing to us all since we have AC and amazing Wi-Fi (thank God for those things right now if you’ve forgotten how great they are….or heat for those of you still experiencing winter. HA, it is SOOOOO hot here….) ANYWAY!
Our ministry this month looks a little different than we were all expecting. This month actually turned into an “ATL” ministry month. ATL stands for “Ask the Lord” and doing ATL ministry means that we come together as a team, pray and ask God to show us a place to go or a person to talk to, and then we do what He tells us. Simple in theory but maybe not so simple in practice. Yet it’s such an interesting way of doing ministry and a cool way to think about what everyday life should look like.
Sometimes we come together as a team, and none of us feels led any certain direction. God didn’t speak to any of us in the moments we were praying, but then we form a plan and just go about our day with open hands, willing to move where God wants us to move. So for example, if none of us gets anything specific, we may go play games in a local park and just see if there are people God seems to be highlighting to us to talk to. We are in prayer throughout the day asking God to show us where to go and who to talk to. Sometimes we don’t get clear answers. Sometimes we do. Sometimes we make a plan, but we hold it loosely, knowing God might ask us to change our plans.
I know this all sounds so vague. ATL can just be a LOT of different things. For ATL, you can research and contact ministries you are interested in working with and partner with them. You can do prayer walks around the city and have that be your ministry. You can talk to random people on the street, hang out with someone you just met and be their friend, go to the same coffee shop every day and do Bible studies, or anything else. The options are endless, but the goal is the same. You are in constant communication with the Lord throughout the day and following His lead. You can make plans because sometimes that’s how He moves, but you also have to hold any plans loosely because God likes to change our plans.
ATL has been so good for me even in the week or so we have been doing it because I have found how easily I tend to compartmentalize things. It’s crazy, but I think I’ve almost started to do it MORE since being on the Race simply because ministry is now my job. So it’s become much easier for me to do ministry and be in communication with the Lord during that time but then to go home and turn off that communication because I’m no longer “doing ministry.” But uh, Jessica, ministry isn’t just a job. Yes, yes I know. But I feel like we often separate ministry and put it into its own little box. We open the box on Sunday mornings at church, Wednesday nights at Bible study, and maybe a few other choice times during the week, but then we close the box when we are going out to do “fun” things.
It’s not even a conscious decision for me, but I’ve found that when I’m doing scheduled ministry, I am so much more aware of how my actions are affecting others and more aware of the things I say to people. I tend to smile more and just be more “on top of my game” while doing ministry. What a crazy attitude to have! It’s not as though the second I’m done with my scheduled ministry for the day that I suddenly don’t have to care anymore. Why do I allow myself to act one way during ministry and a different way while I do everything else?
Ministry is life. Life is ministry. The two are meshed together if you follow Jesus. If you claim His name, every aspect of your life should be ministry. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says we are ambassadors for Christ and God makes his appeal through us to others. People can know Jesus because of the way we live our life, and not just the part of our life where we go to church on Sundays and talk about Him on Tuesday mornings. We are His ambassadors every second of every day. We don’t clock out for the day and clock back in the next according to a schedule.
But it’s also not a burden to be His ambassador; it’s a privilege. We get to carry the name of Christ everywhere we go, and we get to live every second bringing the glory to His name He deserves. God is so incredibly good, and the more we invite Him into every part of our lives, the more we get to know Him and love Him and want more of Him. I for one do not want to have scheduled times of prayer and ministry and have that be it. I want to talk to God throughout my day and invite Him with me everywhere I go, whether that be touring Bangkok, going to the movies, sitting in church, or working a desk job.
I still have so much more to learn about asking the Lord and de-compartmentalizing my life, but I love how ATL has started that process in me. ATL allows us to practice listening to God’s voice and learn how He speaks to us. It also forces us to learn how to invite God into the normal parts of our day. After the World Race, I may not be doing scheduled ministry as my job like I am now. So how will I still be asking the Lord what I should do when I am just going about my normal day? That is what I feel like ATL is helping us prepare for – when we are just hanging out in the park playing games with our friends, do we still see it as ministry?
This month, you may see a lot of pictures on social media of us touring Thailand, and maybe you’re wondering what we’re actually “accomplishing” while we’re here. But there’s nothing to accomplish other than loving God and loving His people because that is our ultimate call as Christians. Maybe I won’t be able to give you awesome statistics about all the great things God is doing here, and maybe I will never see the fruit of what we are doing here in this lifetime, but God has a plan even in the small details of our everyday lives. I encourage you to ATL on your own and see the cool things God can do when you invite Him with you EVERYWHERE you go. There is no schedule or no “off” time. Ministry is life. Life is ministry.
