This month we are working in different small towns in the desert of Peru outside of Arequipa. We are working with church planters, a woman from the states and her Peruvian husband who is a retired police officer and now a pastor. This whole week we traveled to one of their churches 30 mins from where we’re staying each day.
There we painted the outside front of the church and the entire inside. Meanwhile doing this they were having a young adults conference in the same room where we were painting. We were hoping we weren’t being a distraction but it’s hard not to when there’s only one room in the church. We were talking amongst ourselves one day back home after a day of ministry and someone made the comment “I don’t feel like we’re doing anything ministry wise…we’re just painting a church…we’re not even interacting with the youth there” This reminded me of what one of the boys said at the church.
One day they were on break and a few of them were studying the wall very closely and we or at least I was nervous about their thoughts and if they thought it looked bad. We ended up talking and they were telling me how it looks beautiful and called us professionals…ha (it’s really not that hard painting a concrete wall..). Anyway, I told them how we were worried about what they were talking about. They responded again that it looked beautiful and even more so were amazed we were getting dirty and lying on the floor to trim the bottom of the wall and how we were getting paint all over our bodies and it not bothering us so much. I told them we’re here to serve them no matter what that means and their response was “Gloria a Dios” (praise God)
Sometimes do you feel like what you’re doing is worthless? Remember even the smallest acts of service can make a difference and God can use it to touch the world with His love. There’s not just one right way to serve the Lord as long as you’re doing it wholeheartedly and for His glory whether that’s teaching English, playing soccer with local Children, and yes even painting a church.
