Ministry here looks different everyday. We teach four days out of the week. When we aren’t teaching we are farming, or cleaning the church. This does not include our off days, which we get every Monday.
Over the past month teaching has definitely had its ups and downs. I am trying to learn what God is teaching me by placing me in different situations. One day I feel qualified and the next I’m far from it. Feeling unqualified to the point where I can hear Satan rejoicing because he knows he is winning. Then I talked to one of my teammates about it.
Our overall conversation sounded a little like this:
Yes, teaching is hard and may suck at times. When she found out she was coming on this mission trip she was most intrigued by the Leper Colony that we were told we would be working with. Coming here, we found out we would only being seeing them every Sunday at church. We weren’t really sure how ministry would like with them. Then we became teachers. We get paid to teach and our money goes to Mom and Papa. They use the money to take care of a lot of the lepers. Without us teaching, Mom and Papa would become short on money and not be able to help the lepers as much as they are able to. Yes, we aren’t aloud to necessarily share Jesus in school with the kids, but maybe they aren’t our ministry. Looking at it differently, maybe Mom and Papa are our ministry. They are the ones in need of money. Through them, we are able to show Christ; even if it isn’t face to face and it’s just through conversation that mom has about us. We may touch the kids at school, but because of the huge language barrier we may never know how much we do. The only thing we can really do is show them love, pray for them, and put our trust in the Lord to do the rest. By helping provide Mom and Papa with money, they are able to provide more food for the people in the leper colony and possibly get air conditioning for their church.
Leaving the conversation I had the realization that we are doing silent ministry. It makes perfect sense. When I say silent ministry I mean our team is doing work, but not being the ones to pick up the paycheck earned. Picture a mom raising her children. She cooks and cleans all day long making the best life possible for her kids, but do they ever notice any of the “behind the scenes” work? No. Of course not. She is performing silent ministry. Not because she has to, but because she wants to. She loves them.
You don’t always get to be hands on in ministry. Some people might think I am because I am teaching, but I wouldn’t say that teaching is my ministry. Teaching is very hands on, but not in the ministry aspect. For some people it is, but not me. My ministry is Mom and papa. Through us, they are getting extra money to help raise up their church and provide for the leper colony. I am learning to work for God in doing silent ministry.
It is definitely a change of pace, but so cool when really thinking about it. It may not be the “most popular” type of ministry, but why should that matter? God does silent ministry daily going unnoticed by so many. We take for granted so many of the little things He provides us with. Already a month in and I feel like God has provided me with so many life lessons. Today I am soaking up the silence and realizing that going unnoticed isn’t always a bad thing.
Other updates on life:
– Still have my dread
– I think the lice might be gone, knock on wood.
– Silent dance parties are my new favorite thing.
– It’s monsoon season!
– Working on the rice field is a new hobby of mine.
– Learning that fire ants are of the devil and terrify me.
– Lastly, food in Thailand is great and I never want to leave it #thaibread #newspiritanimal?
Lots of love,
han
