Month Three: South Africa
We were in a town ship called Massi Phumelela where very few Americans ventured. Our first couple weeks in Massi were cautious ones, since every person we came in contact with asked the same question, “Why are you here? Aren’t you scared? To which we replied, “No”, and they answered, “You should be.” The reality of where we were staying sunk in, but it was exciting to us. God had opened up doors for us to enter a community where people of our color were afraid to go. We saw it as an opportunity and we felt honored to have been put in such a place.
Ministry consisted of us waking up every morning and walking to the preschool a couple blocks from where we were staying. We struggled in this atmosphere because we were not doing ministry the way we thought it would look, teaching Bible stories to the kids and singing songs, maybe even some crafts? No, we went every day to feed babied for hours. We were handed three or so children and given large containers of food that they were expected to finished. Five bites in, the children started storing their food in their cheeks like squirrels preparing for winter, and the task from there on became a battle with ever bite.
We asked ourselves what good were we doing here feeding these children day after day? How are we helping the Kingdom? Matthew 10:42 was brought to my attention, in this verse Jesus tell us that whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of water in His name will not lose his reward. For me, the reward is to see His Kingdom come. My team and I felt like we were missing the mark, that our ministry was quite honestly a waste of time. But the lord so clearly spoke to me and told me that I was complicating His love. All He calls us to do is love, and serve, and this is how His kingdom comes. Through simple acts of service, that is where seeds are sown and lives are changed. He has given me new eyes to see that every interaction is an opportunity to love and show the lost that they can be found.
Many of you back home elevate the work we are doing on the field, but it is no different than what you are called to do at home. The Lord has called me to the Nations for however long that may be, but you are called to the same life I live. To live everyday looking for opportunities to love those right in front of you. To live radically for the Kingdom, and realizing that radically living for the gospel may not look as glamorous as you think it should, but humbling yourself and loving the least of these that may be living right next door or in the room next to yours.
