My month in Albania was a wonderful country to start the race. Although our ministry didn’t involve feeding the poor or caring for widows, we still managed to build beautiful relationships with the Albanian people. Yes, we had a task to find 11 “unsung heroes,” but it was our choice to make our month of ministry more meaningful than that. While I didn’t see the lame walk or the sick healed, I know that I had an impact on the relationships that I made.
It took some time for me to realize that even though I didn’t witness anyone accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, I still planted seeds…seeds that God will continue to water without me. It took a train ride in Romania to fully comprehend it all. I sat next to my squad mate Ralph on the train and he asked me about my month in Albania. I told him that I didn’t feel like I’d made an impact spiritually because all I did was paint some girls’ nails, take them to an amusement park, and let them touch my braids. I didn’t preach the Gospel to them or convince them to become Christians. I was just candid about who God was to me and told them of the things He’d already done in my life. Ralph explained that though I didn’t preach the Gospel in the literal sense, I’d exemplified the Gospel.
I showed the Gospel, I didn’t tell the Gospel
Not everyone needs to have the Gospel preached to them from a soapbox; some people just need to see the Gospel clearly demonstrated to them. Some people are desperate for Christians to just be like Christ and live in a way that is holy and pleasing to Him. We, as friends of Jesus, should be transparent about who Jesus is and the impact that He’s had on our lives. We need to serve others before ourselves and love people the way He loves people. Sometimes that means letting little girls touch your braids or having a conversation via Google Translate.
I received further affirmation while in Romania that my month one was impactful when I received a Facebook message from a guy I met in Tirana. Patrick (mentioned in prior blog as “Irish/Canadian writing a fascinating magazine”) and I had maybe four conversations about who I was, what I was doing, etc. He informed me about his work, his magazine, his views on Christianity / missionaries, and the things he thought we were doing wrong. I listened and even agreed with some of his views. The team left Tirana and I figured I’d never hear from him again.
While in Romania, he messaged me to say that he would be writing a pretty critical article about missionary work and that he hoped I wouldn’t be too offended, but wanted to give me a chance to offer a defense. I told him that was cool with me and I was excited to read it. He then sent me the article for my feedback and I was shocked. His first paragraph was about me! It mentioned his assumptions of how I, the missionary, would respond to his offensive article. He thought I’d “launch some Christ-like insults,” but instead I responded with a laughing emoticon and he no longer felt like he could write “something nasty.”
The rest of the article argues some valid points about missionaries and their faults. Faults that I tend to agree with, including imposing religious beliefs on a culture without knowing its customs first; the desire to go to third world countries when there are first world countries that need Jesus too; and missionaries whose actions don’t align with their words. The Bible obviously emphasizes the importance of caring for the poor and the sick, so I’m not negating that, but Patrick’s article taught me a different lesson. It reminded me of:
1 John 3:18, “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”
My simple conversations with Patrick about WHOSE I am were more impactful than convincing him to turn to Christianity. Loving Patrick with my actions and not condemning him for his view of missionaries softened his impressions towards our real mission: living and loving like Christ. Sometimes, we have to show the Gospel, instead of just telling the Gospel.
