This month, bringing the kingdom meant working at El Rancho,
Waikanae Christian Holiday Park, near Wellington, New Zealand. We wore many
hats as we served as camp leaders (counselors), cleaners, dish washers, toilet
scrubbers, hospitality stewards, and joy bringers. This month, ministry felt
pretty comfortable and very familiar, after my summer as a camp counselor who
also worked in the kitchen. I trade Mount Hermon for El Rancho, California for
New Zealand, Redwood Camp for Redwood
Hall, and Americans for Kiwis, but It still felt very similar.
We were blessed beyond belief this month, as we were
welcomed into El Rancho as family, given housing, food, hot showers, and
ministry that was right up my alley. Rob and Rodney and the rest of the crew at
El Rancho were incredible, showering us with blessings as we worked to serve
God and the camp.
This month, bringing the kingdom meant holding homesick
campers as they cried, washing lots of dishes, and keeping a smile on my face.
This month, it looked like bringing hope to kids from broken homes by showering
them with the love of God. It looked like playing with Bowl Boy in the dining
hall as he tried to help us out by giving us his dirty bowls, spoons and more,
while shooting us with invisible laser beams. It looked like letting other
people love on us and fill us up so we would be ready for the months ahead. It
gave our team time to be the kingdom to each other before we were to go be the
kingdom elsewhere.
Like we explored in our video, the kingdom of heaven has
many facets, and this month, we explored some of them. Bringing the kingdom in
New Zealand looked less like the war I was expecting to fight, and more like
the love I needed to bring. I was prepared to do a haka, but what God wanted,
yet again, was a complete surrender to His purposes. This month, that looked
like love, and grace, and acceptance that for this moment, this is my life. It
is my life to be love, to be life, to be light, to be joy.
Not that this month was easy, and not that it did not have
growth. But it just looked a lot different than I had expected. I guess this
goes back to one of the top requirements of the World Race: NO
EXPECTATIONS-surrender them to God and trust He will do more than you could
ever have imagined.
Next month, we are headed to around Darwin. We don’t exactly
what ministry will look like, but I know what our team needs is to seek time
with God and with each other, so hopefully whatever else we do next month, we
will have time for that. Pray for
us-pray that a fire would burn so deeply within us to seek God’s presence
daily, to love each other, to have new insights into God and each other, to be
real with one another, and to let us support each other.
