Sometimes you can't
tell what happened in a place with a list of tasks that were accomplished. Sometimes the numbers don't accurately
reflect what was happening. This is the case
in Allendale. It would seem that if we
came with a report that says we hauled ten truckloads of debris from the
neighborhood and a hundred people accepted Christ that our mission was
valid. As we get further from the trip,
I'm tempted to be more skeptical that what we did mattered at all. People want reports of what happened in
Allendale. I don't really know how to
answer them. I can list all the things
we did, but that doesn't move much of anyone.
I understand just a bit of the
struggle that a support raising missionary might have to validate what they are
doing in the eyes of supporters.
I knew when we went
that God would do things in Allendale and I knew that He would do things in
us. I somehow knew God would do things
in me and in us, but I didn't want that to be the focus. We did see God make connections in Allendale
with the church and pastor there and I know we will go back. I don't know what we will do. I feel certain somehow that God has plans for
that community and it is bigger than any group that goes. We are not supposed to be recognized or stand
out; we are just supposed to join hands.
When we join hands and we work together, God works in us as well.
To me, the most outstanding experiences in Allendale
had more to do with our team than with the connection in that place even though
I was in awe of that. The thing that touched my heart most deeply
were that I had the privilege to serve with this particular group of people
from Riverbend. We saw all the food we
would possibly need and more donated to our trip from the church. Most of the people who came with us I didn't
really know much before we went. I
watched as God specifically answered the prayer that He would bring just the right people to
the team. I watched as a parent
experienced the wonder of working with our amazing students and learned that he
could connect. I watched a group of
people work hard day in and day out for a week and I never really heard
complaints. Many of these were teens who
are stereo-typically complainers about work; these students are not stereotypical! We worked together,
worshiped together, ate together and played together. More than once, tears came to my eyes as I
saw the work of the Holy Spirit among us.
This was another taste of Heaven.
To make it more
personal, God showed me how He could use simple administrative skills to do His
work. I don't like to talk to strangers
and sometimes this makes me feel like I'm not good enough, but I do want to see
His kingdom come and what I added to the team was good and valid and needed. I was also able to lead worship one evening;
it was the first time in many years. I
felt His Spirit with me and helping me and moving through me like He did years
ago. We were challenged to find
something about Christ's character that we wanted God to work in us during the
week and what I prayed is that I would not be so busy that I'm unavailable and
that I would not be so afraid of rejection that I didn't engage fully with the
people around me. God was working these
things in me in Allendale and He gave me strength and desire to engage
people.
The work God did in Allendale was significantly more than the sum of the tasks accomplished. This is only part
of my version of the story about Allendale.
There are many other stories I could tell, and there are many others
that could tell stories. It's kind of
like when John says that if everything Jesus did was written down in detail,
the world couldn't contain the books.
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