I’ve been on the race now for three months. Now I’m getting ready to leave Albania and move to the Philippines. I had huge expectations of what ministry would be like on the race. I thought my ministry would be what you see in pictures; playing with orphans, feeding the homeless, planning VBS, being involved in a church, and the list could go on. Although all these opportunities are possible on the race I spent the past three months not doing any of them. I was secluded on a farm doing manual labor six hours a day five days a week. I was mad when I realized that would be my life for three months and that the two people I saw daily spoke hardly any English. I felt bad for myself. I came on the race to help people, to tell them who Jesus is, to serve, and to love on people the way God has loved me. I didn’t realize it at first but I was able to do those things exactly where I was. I was able to love and serve Dushe and Frrok. Even though there was a language barrier somehow we were still able to have conversations with them daily. Dushe would come to our table during meals and pray with us even if she couldn’t understand what we were saying. We were able to make Dushe and Frrok laugh and have fun with us in the littlest of ways. We might not see it and they might not be able to tell us the impact we’ve had on their lives, but God has shown me a new side of ministry in that way.
Ministry is so much deeper than pictures you see on Intsagram and ministry isn’t always easy.
I also had expectations of how I would change on the race and how my life would be aside from doing ministry. I thought life would be easier, I would start to figure my life out, and that my struggles would disappear with ease. I got angry when these things didn’t start happening. Then God spoke to me. Life is still life on the race and that hit me hard. The race wasn’t a way for me to escape my life back home or to leave America and get away from all my problems and struggles. God has simply reminded me why He sent me on the race. He sent me on the race to serve and to love people, to serve my ministry hosts, the community, and even my teammates. He has taught me to love and serve in a whole new way and in the tough situations.
The race shows you a different way of life. It shows you how to live in community, to be vulnerable with people and how to simply do life with them. It shows you a new way of appreciating life in the smallest of ways. It taught me to appreciate hot showers that might only last 5 minutes, having three meals a day, having a bed to sleep on, having a home to go to everyday. Back home I forgot how important those things are even though they were so accessible to me. I learned that I was selfish and took those things for granted. I left self image override and let materialistic things satisfy me. That satisfaction is only temporary. The only thing that will fully and completely satisfy you is Jesus Christ. Instagram likes, what brand of clothes you buy, how you dress and look will only satisfy you for a moment, but then, at the end of the day, it’ll leave you feeling empty again.
Christ doesn’t only satisfy. He loves, He comforts, He forgives, and He redeems.
Remembering that can be hard, sometimes especially when we get caught up with everyday life. God has reminded me of this and it gives me something to hold on to in the times when life gets hard.
“For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.” Psalm 107:9
