It is incredible how drastically distorted our perception can be altered with a little glimpse into reality.
The time we spent on the island of Lesvos was extremely eye-opening. I thought I knew the situation. I had read the articles, heard about it on the news, listened to people talk about it and give their “unbiased” opinions. Let me tell you. It is incredibly easy to judge this situation from the outside, but let me give you an inside glimpse.
Over a million refugees fleeing their countries, fearing for their life and the lives of their families, are “camping” in the mountains of Turkey, waiting for the opportunity to cross the sea into Europe (I put camping in quotation because most of these people have only a small bag of clothes and are sleeping on the ground huddled together in an attempt to stay warm with no food or water). The people coming across are not the poor, looking for an opportunity to take advantage of living in Europe. No, they are the wealthy citizens. Most of them are doctors, lawyers, and engineers who have been saving money for months, sometimes years, for an opportunity to get to safety. They had to pay thousands of Euro for a spot on a twenty-passenger raft, that is often stuffed to capacity with fifty plus people on board. Some were beaten and experienced extreme cruelty from the Turkish smugglers, who are profiting big time from this situation. When the weather is bad, it is less likely that they will make it across the Aegean sea alive. Smugglers take this as an opportunity to drop the prices a bit so more people are tempted to cross.
When the weather is good, the smugglers often jack up the prices to unreasonable amounts, knowing that people will pay for the safety of traveling on the calm seas. When they finally make it across the sea, they are able to take their first steps on European soil, full of hope and joy, but sadly, their journey has only just begun. The site we worked at was the first stop they would make in a journey that will take many, many months.
Experiencing all of this is life changing. Still, I fear that those back at home have a false perception of what ministry is, let alone, crisis ministry. There were many moments working in the camp that I was able to share my faith and those were incredible and rare opportunities. However, the majority of the ministry we did there was more along the lines of picking up trash, folding and sorting clothes to make them more easily accessible, handing out food and blankets to refugees, and leading them to a small tent where they can receive medical attention from a chain-smoking doctor. We were doing ministry, not by handing out tracts and sharing our testimonies, but by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and healing the sick.
After all, wasn’t that Jesus’ instruction to the twelve:
“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.
Freely you received, freely give.”
Matt 10:8 (NASB)
In the world today, where social media is so powerful, our first impulse on a trip like this may be to take a picture of the pain and suffering, or the ministry we are doing so we can post it to our Instagram or Facebook. In fact, many of us received requests from back home for more pictures of what we are doing and experiencing. To be completely frank, that sort of insensitivity is not acceptable in crisis ministry. Our team was there for a month and a half and we saw many reporters come through the site wanting pictures and film of the refugees, most of whom would cover their faces, not wanting their pain and heartbreak to be captured on camera for the world to see. The majority of these people have just gone through one of the most traumatic experiences of their lives, from the eighty-year-old man who can barely walk, to the two-month-old cradled in her mother’s arms. Put yourselves in their shoes. Would you want someone documenting your pain and trauma in order to have a good picture for the church slideshow back at home? No.
We are not overseas doing mission work so we can feel better about ourselves, or to take pictures that show every part of the incredible ministry we are doing. There is a time and a place for that sort of thing, but our main objective is to show Christ’s love to a people who may never have another opportunity to experience it.
Often, when people think missionary, a certain differentiation is made from other ministries. Some may call this providing them with a “Savior’s Complex.”
Paul addresses this to the church in Corinth in First Corinthians 12:23 (ESV),
“And on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow the greater honor.”
Some may think, “Well, they are traveling the world, risking and giving up so much in attempts to carry the Gospel to the unreached.” Do not misunderstand this simple calling. The ministry being done over here is important, but just as equally important is the ministry opportunities you have in your everyday life.
“For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body”
I Corinthians 12:14-20 (ESV)
If you are a Christian, you have been called to a life of ministry. From an office-worker to a missionary, we have all been called. None is more important than the other, nor is any more necessary than the other. We must not get caught up in the glamour of another’s ministry, so much so that we miss out on the beauty in our own ministry. Those of us overseas have been blessed so much by the support and prayers of so many, and we very much wanting to provide you all with information about the experiences we are having, but it should not hinder your everyday ministry when there is a lack of documentation on our side. Our experiences are meant to be an encouragement to you about all of the incredible things God is doing and can do through you, not to give you a ministry to live vicariously through our experience.
As the body of Christ we are called to build each other up through the word of our testimony. Let’s not devalue the every day miracles in exchange for the glory of the mission’s story.
How can you step into a deeper understanding of cultivating your role in the ministry that the Lord has called you to?
Shoutout to my awesome Squad Leader and cowriter of this blog: Benita Townsend
