I was with a team, Beloved Daughters, for a little over a week a few days ago here in Sunyani and our main type of ministry here is street evangelism. That looks very closely to getting dropped off from our taxis into a neighborhood and just Ask The Lord where He would have us to go.
Before my original race I kinda despised people that went knocking door-to-door to share the word of God. Mainly because they were usually very pushy and kinda mean. So I had a sour taste in my mouth but my views changed on my race and are still evolving. Now evangelism, when done well, is my favorite form of Ministry. There is a certain way that I like to go about it and this doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily the best way ever or anything it’s just what I’m good at and the best way I can connect with people.
It’s simply to just enter into their space by meeting them where they are and loving them exactly where they’re at.
So that’s what opportunity was presented the other day. Our team of 6 was dropped off, one of the team mates had to stay back for another type of ministry, and we did some listening prayer and decided to split up.
So Lindsay and I headed to a few peoples shops and homes to just check in with them and see how they were doing and then we went to check on a lady I had met the other day. Her name is Joyce and she is SUCH A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN. She has a smile that impacts your heart and a welcoming spirit that reels you in and the day before she asked for prayer to be more Christ-like and to live a life closer to Him.
I just knew that I wanted to spend more time with her so we were talking and she was cooking because that’s how she makes a living. She starts at about 9 am and she isn’t finished until around 6 pm. So I asked her if we could just sit with her for the day and learn about the ways that she cooks things and she said yes! So that’s what we did. We just sat with her, we entered into her courtyard and we asked questions and just loved on her. We attempted to cut up vegetables and mash them and we were told that if we attempted to do that all day we would be very sore and exhausted. She looked at my hands and assumed I didn’t work (I wasn’t offended) and she laughed with us and sometimes at us. She joked around with her brother and friends and the neighbors thought it was very weird that her new friends just wanted to sit with her.
These women are expected to provide for their families daily. They never ever get to take holiday or a day off. They usually get Sunday mornings off for church but they begin cooking immediately after it’s over.
In your minds your probably thinking, that’s no biggie women do it everyday. Well my fellow Americans, there’s no oven here and usually no refrigerators so they go and harvest the vegetables or have to go to a market that takes hours to get through, they have to haul wood to prepare the fire to cook lunch/dinner over and they have to do all of this usually bent over or crouching. Their hands and arms are full of strength that I can put my own to shame. Their hearts are obligated to their families and their feet seemingly cry out for relief. Yet they do all of this with a smile, a few commands and a baby tied to their backs.
What Joyce probably doesn’t realize is that I gained a newfound appreciation for wives across the world and more importantly women as a whole through sitting with her that day. She made me more aware of the many opportunities I have back home and the many ways I can come alongside those who do things differently and instead of judging them for how much easier things could be done I will choose to appreciate the hands that do the hard work without complaint and know it simply needs to be done.
There was a simple beauty in the way things flowed that day and is definitely a memory I won’t soon forget and I pray she doesn’t either.
