Ministry on the Race is different from ministry at home.
Insert “duh” here.
In all seriousness though, it is so different at time that it can be difficult to embrace. I know what you’re thinking- but no, actually, I’m not talking about cultural differences. That does come into play at time but that’s one thing I had expected from the beginning so it hasn’t really been terribly difficult to cope with (plus we’re still only in Europe so I haven’t experienced extreme culture shock yet…)
Some differences I am definitely already struggling with. For instance, always going into ministry opportunities empty-handed.
When I was a teenager I started teaching Sunday school and helping out with the church’s VBS in the summer. During college my summer job was teaching 5 Day Clubs with CEF. For years I was a leader in the EBC youth group. And my full time job for the past two years has been teaching in a Christian preschool. I have worked and even thrived in lots of ministries. But I never realized how much of my comfort and success hinged on the abundant resources I had available to me.
For this year I had to fit all of my earthly belongings into a backpack. When I was packing back in June I simply didn’t have space for ministry supplies. I couldn’t pack my ministry books and lesson plans and Christian resources. Even if I did have the physical space, I had no idea what I’d need since we don’t really know what our ministry is in each country until we get there. Even then, things get sprung on us last minute, confusion arises because words are misinterpreted, and we have to be ready to change plans at the drop of a hat. I feel powerless. It is so uncomfortable to know that the success of our ministry is mostly outside of my control.
I remember the first summer I taught 5 Day Clubs. A girl on my team asked for prayer because she was struggling with defaulting to doing things in her own strength. She wanted to teach and minister to the kids with God’s strength. Back then, I honestly didn’t really understand what she meant. I’d heard that expression before but I didn’t get it. We were the ones who studied and prepared, how else could we perform except in our own strength? What does it look like to do things in His strength?
I’ve been through lots of different trainings for the various ministries I was involved in back in the States. I can remember talking about how to balance preparation and recognizing that God is the one at work and in control. I was told to just do the best I could to be faithful in preparing myself for ministry, whether that means planning a lesson, practicing a performance, or purchasing supplies. Where my “best” ended was where God could pick it up and finish the job doing what only He can accomplish. But see the thing is, in the United States, the best I could do was… pretty darn good. I had so much available to me: funds, resources, connections, time, materials, whatever I needed.
“Do your best and let God do the rest” looked quite different there from how it does here.
I don’t have hula hoops and bubble wands and balloons for my children’s ministry. I can’t borrow costumes from the church for our skit about Paul’s missionary journeys. I don’t have a car that I can jump into and drive to the Walmart that doesn’t exist to purchase some supplies with budgeted money from the church that is not only broke but I’m not a member at anyway! No one voted on and purchased curriculum for us to implement. We aren’t even sure at times if we’re guaranteed a translator!
And those are only the struggles that came up in preparing for our once-a-week children’s ministry with the kids from our local church. Our host Mihail asked us to fill three hours each Saturday with the kids. He suggested playing with them and maybe giving a lesson. That was all the direction we got. So, empty-handed, we got to work.
Truth be told I didn’t like it. It’s hard enough working in a team, let alone a team you’re still getting used to, in a foreign country. Right away I was forced to ask myself pretty difficult questions… Why do I care so much? Do I really believe that God is in control? Does His success depend on my preparedness? Am I trying to perform? For God? For our ministry host? Who am I trying to impress, or prove myself to? Me?
It’s been challenging but I am so grateful for it. Back home I am a teacher in many settings, and I love it but I also hate it. I couldn’t always put my finger on why (I think it’s a pretty complicated issue) but this reflecting brought one thing to light for me: I’ve felt like I needed to perform in the classroom. Everything had to be perfect, but it never ever was, and so I suffered. Here in Moldova I did a little teaching, but it was different. I lowered my expectations for myself because I had no other choice. I did the best I could with what I had, and it wasn’t much. But what could I do? I had to trust God with the rest.
It was so freeing.
Shocker: it worked out! We had awkward moments but we laughed through them. We played the Moldovan versions of Duck Duck Goose and Red Rover. We bounced on the trampoline and flew down the zipline. Frisbees were tossed, soccer balls kicked, and flags captured. Each week after playing and building relationships for a while we would gather everyone together and put on a skit about the Apostle Paul’s missionary journeys. (Staring your’s truly as Paul!) Our narration was straight from the Biblical text and we played review games at the end to check for understanding. Each week the kids also got to hear the gospel presented with an opportunity to respond at the end.
Was it perfect? You know it wasn’t. We improved from the first week to the third and we still have ways we could do better. But does God need it do be flawless in order to use it? Thank Jesus the answer is no! It’s no mistake He brought me here with empty-hands. All the better to raise them in praising Him when miraculously my meager efforts are used to produce something glorious. No smoke, no lights, no bells or whistles. When lives are changed in those places you have to admit that God was working. How else could it come to pass? That’s why 2 Corinthians 12 says that His “power is made perfect in weakness.” Well, when you put it that way, I guess ministry on the World Race forces you to be kind of perfect.
