I can’t believe my first month of the race is over! I have learned so much from this little community in Korhogo, Ivory Coast. From how to find the best mangos to painting ceilings of a boxcar. (More about that in another post) It’s finally feeling like home now, but that all changes tomorrow as I leave for Ghana.
This realization of this hits me hard. It makes me wonder if I have been living as intentionally here as I should have. Should I have gone and greeted my new neighbors the second day I was here, not the second week? I have have been trying to make the most of my remaining time here by finishing the ministry projects we started.
Ministry: How in the world can you define it?
Is it digging wells for villages?
Is it sharing the gospel with the homeless?
Is it painting painting a boxcar? Is it setting up a pool? Wait there is a story about this one!
We set up this above ground pool the first week we came. I saw it in a box all dusty in a storage shed, and thought it would be a great thing to set up! At first it was for slightly selfish reasons because it was HOT, but turned out to be a blessing for the family. I sat outside for hours trying to figure out how to put the filter together and thanks to YouTube, I did! While I thought this was a huge accomplishment, I quickly realized that the other projects were much more important, so I put the pool on the back burner.
Yesterday was our teams last “adventure day” and I woke up knowing God wanted me to use this day to stay behind and finish the project I had started weeks prior. I went out to speculate the half put up pool, the layer of dust that already accumulated from that was disheartening. I didn’t want to redo cleaning it, especially if I’m not even going to be here to reap the reward of cleaning it and filling it up! But you know what? I want to finish this month strong, even if that means sitting in the bottom of this pool and cleaning the dust that was in it again. This will be my adventure day.
As I sat on the bottom of this pool getting scorched by the African sun, (dramatic, I know) the two girls we lived with came out. They were covered in dust, but saw what I was doing and wanted to help. So I hosed them off, and showed them what to do. It ended up being one of my best days here. Spending it with two Ivorian girls who were so eager to help my daunting task. Finally, it was time to turn the water on and start filling it. The girls were estatic about the water and place to get some relief from the sun and daily chores. We played and splashed in the water for about an hour. I intentionally decided to finish this unimportant looking project, now these girls and this family will have many days of fun and relaxaction. This makes my heart happy. I almost left this project undone, thinking it didn’t matter!
These little things matter! This is ministry! We can’t all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.
This year is not about me. It’s not about the adventures I want to have in my down time, it’s not about the wells we dig or huge tasks we conquer. It’s about the people I get to serve And love! These small “pools” of things are really what life looks like most of the time. I think we get so caught up with the “oceans” we forget how the small things also change lives.
I encourage all of you to embrace the “pools” of life… Hold more babies, wash more dishes, clean more pools…and build more relationships, Intentionally!
