Get To Work!

The idea of serving on a mission team can be summed up in 1 Corinthians 12:12 - "The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body.  So it is with the body of Christ."  While in Swaziland on a mission trip I served with the body of Christ.

There were different personalities and occupations that came together for a common cause.  When we stepped onto the mission field we many hands but one heart, one mission.  With our different skill sets we got to work to serve, to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to show His heart.  The team dug holes for a chain link fence, hauled cement blocks for a retaining wall, scraped, and painted the entire Children's Cup Care Point.  But even bigger than the physical to-do list was the work done in our hearts. 

It felt good to get our hands dirty for a common cause.  On international soil, there were a few obstacles like digging holes by hand in the middle of a garbage pit, the continual littering problem, working with the cheapest tools.  That makes for a challenging equation.  Even though we did the work without all the modern conveniences of the western world we were a part of something bigger than ourselves.  Team efforts helped make the children safe from falling down a steep incline and having dangerous encounters with the neighboring dog.  Our Nehemiah skills helped fortify a weak walled property barrier.  The new coat of paint transformed the small building into a beacon of light in the middle of a dark community.  Those are the bigger things that God did there through the team.  But the biggest message was one that we cared to travel half-way around the world to serve them.  God made a mission statement that will last for a long time.  

When on mission, God takes our little and makes much through the many hands and feet combined with His heart to serve.  I love being a part of His bigger!