As I mentioned last week, our entire squad spent the first week serving with Pan de Vida. Last Sunday, we had the opportunity to serve at one of Pan de Vida’s food programs. It was really cool to see all of the behind-the-scenes work with which we had been helping come to fruition that afternoon. In addition to serving food to over 300 people, 5 people gave their lives to Christ during the service. That was such a cool reminder that even when we aren’t directly evangelizing to people, all of the work we are doing is for the sake of the gospel. Pray that our team would keep that in mind, even when we are doing seemingly menial tasks.
After the first week at Pan de Vida, half of our team moved to a ministry called Camp Hope. After praying a lot about where God wanted me to serve for the remainder of our time here at Casablanca, I decided move to Camp Hope. Camp Hope is a therapy center for people of all ages with special needs. I have never worked with people with special needs before, so I was really nervous going in. I did not know how to act or what to say or not say. I felt extremely blind and unprepared walking in on our first day. Now, after 3 days of volunteering, I still feel blind and unprepared; however, I can already see God working in my heart. My prayer is that He would teach and grow me through this experience while using me to make a difference in the lives of these children and adults.
One of my biggest fears going into this ministry is that I would not be able to connect with the students at Camp Hope. In addition to the language barrier that I am still working to overcome, many of them have disabilities that I do not understand and have not experienced before. I have been praying that even though I feel timid and unequipped, God would carve out a special place in my heart for the people with whom I am working. On Friday, I really felt Him starting to do that for the first time. Towards the end of the day, Tia Marta, the teacher in my classroom, asked me to wash the feet one of the students named Adriana. Adriana is about my age, is nonverbal, and apparently loves to have her feet washed. Although she can not communicate with words, she does effectively communicate her joy through her smile and an occasional squeal of joy. I had heard this manifestation of her joy a few times before, but never as frequently as when I was washing her feet.
Jesus washing the disciples’ feet in John 13 is one of the most frequently-used examples of Jesus’ servant heart, and it is hard to wash feet without thinking about all the ways Jesus serves us. As I washed Adriana’s feet, I couldn’t ignore the way it paralleled to how Jesus has served me. I was doing for Adriana something that she couldn’t do for herself in order to bring her joy and comfort.
We are never more like Jesus than when we are serving, and it has been such a blessing the past two weeks to serve not out of requirement or to put it on a resume, but solely to attempt to mirror Jesus’ ministry on earth. I not only want to joyfully wash feet like Jesus, but I also want to find the same joy that Adriana found in this simple moment in my relationship with Christ and all of the things that He does for me that I cannot do for myself.
There is a song called Mercy by Hillsong that says, “May I never lose the wonder, oh, the wonder of your mercy. May I sing your hallelujah. Hallelujah, amen.” You can check out the lyric video by clicking the link I added below. These lyrics are my prayer this week as I continue to seek God in my day-to-day activities and experience His love and mercy in new ways.
