What is ministry? What makes a missionary? Two questions that I probably would have answered completely differently only a few months prior to this trip.
Back home I had a pretty solid routine. I would go to work from 8am-5pm, Monday-Friday. My nights throughout the week would generally be filled with ministry; small group sessions, cleaning the church or volunteering somewhere. Every Sunday morning I would get up, get dressed and head for church. My evenings, again, would be filled with something relating to church/ volunteer work. I even took up a position at my job that labeled me Volunteer Coordinator. On top of my regular work I would also organize and plan events that allowed our employees to give back to the community!
So when I wasn’t volunteering, working, or attending church, I was doing laundry, cooking, cleaning, buying groceries and making time for friends and family. Usually by the time I was done with ministry, my daily life seemed exhausting.
I had separated my life into two categories, Ministry and life.
It’s easy to get plugged into a ministry organization such as a church or homeless shelter and feel that you are doing your part. It’s easy to go to your ministry for the day- check it off your list- and go home to fall into the mundane without thinking twice about it. We do our time and we check out. (I am speaking to a people similar to me, this is not always true—if you can do ministry all day and still view your grocery shopping as ministry, you are the kind of missionary I aspire to be)
I will now answer my first two questions with a heart that the Lord has changed radically. Ministry IS life! We don’t get to check out! There is no such thing as a part time missionary or part time ministry. If we are living according to the word, if we are truly living like Jesus, life and ministry are one in the same. They are not set apart.
I was standing in the kitchen, rolling silverware, at an event called the awakening when the Lord spoke to me. I was telling my friend Grace about my frustrations — why weren’t we building churches or working with the homeless– when out of my mouth came the words “that would be too easy”. I had this epiphany. It would be so easy for me to go on a traditional route because I could continue to live my life in two separate folders. I didn’t have to find ministry, it was already set before me. I could just show up, clock in, clock out and feel I had done my “Missions” work for the day.
While traditional routes are a beautiful thing and I believe, very needed! I, myself, would have been too comfortable. I want my hunger for ministry to go beyond what seems to be an easy out for me.
My route doesn’t have set ministry, we are constantly praying and asking the Lord who he has on his heart. Sometimes that means volunteering somewhere or sometimes it means inviting our taxi driver over for dinner. We don’t know! It causes us to constantly depend on the direction of the Lord; something I feel has been very frustrating at times but incredibly rewarding as well. We allow ourselves to be open to interruption- yes eating is important but I can put that off for a few minutes and take the time to acknowledge the person standing in front of me.
I have learned throughout this year to be mindful of every thing I do.
I get up -> God, this day is yours-use it for your glory
I brush my teeth -> God, my words are yours- use them for your glory
I shower -> God, I am yours – use me for your glory
I pack my bags -> God, my belongings are yours- use them for your glory
I ride the bus -> God, my seat is yours- use it for your glory
I develop a new relationship -> God, this is yours – use it for your glory
I walk to my lodging -> God, this city is yours – use it for your glory
I unpack my bag -> God, this place is yours – use it for your glory
I could honestly go on and on. You don’t have to be Christian to volunteer at an orphanage or to feed the homeless. However, you do have to know the Lord in order to effectively give a life changing kind of love to those around you.
While organized ministry is an incredible thing, I pray that I will no longer be consumed with the idea that those things are the only way I can effectively be a missionary or a minister. I pray that I would be doing ministry in every aspect of my life. When I have finished feeding the homeless, I will go to the grocery store and ask how the cashier is doing, not out of politeness but out of a desire to show her God’s love. I will speak encouragement at every turn, I will give to the fullness of my compacity, I will love those who seem difficult, I will allow space for the Lord in every single area of my life.
My life is no longer divided into two categories but it has become only one; Ministry.
My life, after all, was his to begin with.
