Before coming on the world race when I heard the word ministry I had a very specific idea of what that meant. However over the past five months God has been completely transforming my idea of ministry.
This past month in Uganda my team has been ATL (which means ask the Lord). For the past month we have been on our own seeking out our own ministry opportunities. At first I was pretty terrified because I had no idea where we would go or what we would do. However the Lord is good and faithful and even in my doubt he has showed up in more ways than I could have imagined.
The Lord lead us to a woman named Anne who eventually became our main “ministry” in Uganda. Anne’s house was listed on Airbnb in Jinja, Uganda and my team booked her house last minute for just three nights before deciding where we wanted to spend the rest of our month in Uganda. However after just one night with Anne it became pretty evident through her generosity and hospitality that she was someone we wanted to build a relationship with. We asked her how she felt about us staying for the entire month and she said yes without hesitation.
Through our connection with Anne my team has gotten to attend life group meetings on Tuesday nights, go to an English speaking church on Sundays, attend a dentist office Christmas party, and even travel with her to spend Christmas with her family as well as tag along on their family vacation to a beautiful lake in southern Uganda.
From an outside perspective it might look like my team is just having a fun time and having a month long vacation in Uganda. But our past few weeks here have been so much more than that. The day after we arrived at Anne’s house she told my team that the week before we came she had prayed for joy and laughter to fill her house and that when we showed up she knew we were an answer to her prayer. Over the past few weeks my team has poured into Anne, her coworkers, and her family. We got to meet her mom Mary and stay at her house for Christmas. Yesterday my teammate and I were talking with Anne and she told us that we made her mother so happy on Christmas because a few years ago Anne’s brother passed away and ever since Christmas has been extremely difficult for Mary. Anne said she doesn’t even put up a tree or decorations because she just cries, but the day we got to her house we blasted Christmas music and set up a Christmas tree and sweet Mary was smiling and laughing the whole day.
At the beginning of this month I was having a difficult time seeing what exactly we were doing for “ministry” in Uganda, but over the past couple of days it clicked. Ministry doesn’t have to look a certain way. It doesn’t have to be waking up every day and knowing exactly what you are doing. I have learned that ministry is simply embracing who the Lord places in your path. Ministry is loving the people God has surrounded you with. Ministry is just asking the Lord, “who can I show your love and your light to today?” Ministry is decorating a Christmas tree in the house of a woman you just met and bringing a smile to her face. Ministry is traveling twelve hours across Uganda to spend time with a family you barely know because they are God’s children and he calls you to love them. Ministry is getting to experience beauty in God’s creation with your teammates and marvel at this amazing life that he has so graciously given you. Life is ministry. Ministry is life.
