Serving

Click on this image and  you can see our Jamaica Mission Team in action. This past Sunday the team that went from our church to Jamaica shared their experience of what God did in us and through us. When you go on a trip like this your intentions are to go and bless others who don’t have as much as you. What always happens (you have to go on a trip to understand the statement that follows) you are the one who leaves blessed. It is more than feeling good about yourself for doing what we should be doing anyway, it is an experience that changes the way  you think about God, yourself, and serving others. I am going to share some of the highlights from what some our mission team shared from Sunday. From their responses,  you will get a glimpse of the impact this experience had on them.

Dana, Lyndsay, and Kaleigh shared how the impacted their life. The highlight of their sharing was God is faithful. Our Father gave us a safe flight, took care of all our fears, and provided everything we needed. A specific highlight from the testimonies was Kaleigh sharing about how she wishes she had a second chance at going to the infirmary. The infirmary was an overwhelming experience. All of the outcast are put here and forgotten about by their families. If you have a mental illness, you go here. If you have deformity, you go here. If you have a missing limb, you go here. If you can’t take care of yourself,  you go here. Some people would call this infirmary a nursing home. It definitely was not a nursing home. One room had at least 40 beds in it. There were some rooms that were like locked cages. These cages were where the dangerous patients stayed. They put them in there so they wouldn’t  hurt anybody. As Kaleigh shared (and the rest agreed with her), she realized she missed an opportunity to love another human being. The experience was a growing experience for all of us. We all realized after we left that place that everyone deserves to be loved. Everyone deserves to be called by their name. Everyone deserves to be prayed for.

The first question that was asked was:

What did you learn about, the people, the church, and Christian community in which you served?

Us, “whities” (pronounced “why – tees”), were received well. The church loved on us. The community welcomed us. We were the minority. We were not treated like a minority. Other than “whities”, we were called missionaries. Missionaries (at least us) are treated well in Jamaica. We learned that God is at work through the church in Jamaica. The church we were apart of is very similar to our church here in Marion, IN. We have a few more “niceties” than they do but they have better scenery. Our worship was similar. The big difference was the amount of time we spent in worship. We were at church for 2.5 hours. Our desires are similar. We both want to impact people for Christ.

The second question asked was:

What did you learn or experience that will change the way you live and represent Jesus in our own community?

Lyndsay shared an impactful story. When she got back from Jamaica she went back to work at a job she hates. She shared that she was treating the customers poorly. Her boss, who is in ministry, pulled her into his office. What he shared with her impacted her attitude. Her boss reminded her, “‘we are serving the least of these’ here in America. You need to have the same attitude with these people as you had with the people in Jamaica. You need to treat them with respect. You need to love them. You need to accept them where they are and serve them here in your job.”  First of all, WHAT A BOSS! That doesn’t happen very often. Lyndsay learned we need to have the same attitude here with “the least of these” as we do with the people in Jamaica (or any country). We need to serve others at our jobs with and in the attitude of Christ. It doesn’t make a difference what country they live in – serve them.

The third question asked was:

What difference would it make if you lived each day with the same intensity and focus on Jesus and others as you did on your mission?

Everyone agreed it would change the world in which we lived.  Everyone agreed it would change us personally. Kelsi, who has also been to Africa to serve as a medical missionary, shared that anything you for “the least of these” will impact their life. What we take for granted, God uses to impact their life. We came to the conclusion that we live in a very selfish country. We take most of what we have with the attitude that we are entitled to it. If we lived each day with the same intensity and focused on Jesus and others we would be doing exactly what the gospel instructs us to do. Go and serve others.

The last question asked was:

What keeps us from living life at that level now?

I think Tim nailed it on the head, SELFISHNESS! Tim shared a story from when he was going through customs. As he was standing in line there was a guy from Tennessee who was constantly complaining how long the line was. He pulled out his cell phone to check his Facebook account only to be told to put it away (when you are going through customs you cannot have your cell phone out for any reason). He continued to complain about the inconvenience of the long lines and the inconvenience of not being able to use his cell phone in a loud and annoying fashion. Patrick (our group leader) look at Tim and said, “welcome back to America.”

We, as a church, are working at getting at “that level.” When we got back from Jamaica, our church hosted a block party for about 150 people around the 28th st. park.  We had 8 people knock on about 400 doors. We had 30 people show up and give their Saturday evening to serve 150 guest. WOW! I wept. We did exactly what we did in Jamaica. We got out of our comfort zone. Introduced ourselves to the community. Hopefully we will be able to connect some of them to Christ.

We have been to Jamaica. We have hosted a block party. We need to do this on a personal level.

Look a Matthew 9

⁹ As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.

¹⁰ Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. ¹¹ But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”

¹² When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” ¹³ Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

Do you see what Matthew did? He invited Jesus, his new disciple friends to come as his dinner guest at HIS HOME along with many tax collectors and disreputable sinners. Do you see it yet? He invited sinners AND his disciple friends to eat together!!! He wanted his friends (who were sinners) to meet his new friends (who were disciples of Jesus). All he did was invite them to dinner. Nowhere in scripture does it tell what happened during the dinner. I have an idea. Whenever  you meet Jesus, personally, you are changed. You either reject him or accept him.

We can do the exact same thing. We all know people who don’t know Jesus. Our job is to introduce them to Him. All we have to do is invite them over for dinner and play a few games. Then, let the discussion flow. They will either reject Him or accept Him.

Connect with Others

Connect them to Christ

(so that) He can transform their life.