Ministry is often portrayed as being glamorous but in reality it’s scrubbing the toilets no one else wants to scrub, bleaching the floors that no one wants to bleach, walking into town because you can’t afford to take an uber, going without any form of communication with the outside world for a week, and cleaning up dishes that 15 people have used.
Ministry isn’t always holding babies and taking cute team pictures, it’s digging out roots of flower beds for hours, eating a little less than normal, and lots of tears.
These past few days our Costa Rica team has been hiding out in the mountains deep cleaning a Christian retreat center (la casa de oracion) and working at a greenhouse. It’s not glamorous but we’ve had lots of time to spend with each other. When I have my quiet time I keep hearing the Holy Spirit say “wait…. just wait.” God has given me a spirit of preparation which makes here and now so much sweeter. I know my team needed to scrub toilets, carry dirt, clear out cobwebs, make a drain… for a reason. God has given my team a spirit of unity and we have come to love each other very quickly. I don’t think I’ve had so much joy and been overwhelmed with laughter like this for at least three years.
Before we left training camp, we talked a lot about the Kingdom and what serving the kingdom looks like. It looks like being intentional… being happy serving doing anything, anytime, anywhere.. and that choosing the Kingdom isn’t always easy, but that it’s a necessity.
Choosing the Kingdom can be uncomfortable… when we are tired, irritated, frustrated, and apart from our families but it’s part of ministry every day. Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy and in our highest moments all he wants to do is tear us down. He loves putting a wedge between us and God’s ministry by creating conflict and disunity among a group of believers who are serving. There’s so many verses that come to mind that talk about loving others, but 1 John 4:21 stands out, “and He has given us this command: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” It’s not a suggestion, it’s a command. Keeping unity within the body of Christ is vital for missions. We are all parts of the body of Christ and if one of us is missing, it doesn’t work as well or successfully.
Although we haven’t interacted with many people this past week, evangelized, or gone out into the community a lot… we have been serving the Lord and no matter how little the tasks.. they have meaning to Someone else. We are learning to delight in the work of the Lord, no matter what that looks like.
As we head into the city this week, to the jungle, and then to the North of the country, we come with eager hearts and preparedness. Satan cannot divide this body… in the name of Jesus. We are ready. We have learned to be servants in scrubbing toilets and we are ready to be servants in whatever we are asked to do. I take pride in joy in knowing that my team is literally down for anything. They have made me so proud with their attitudes and their heart postures. We are so excited for what God has in store and I know we are going to change lives.
Left to right: Shelby (her talents include: barking like a dog, bringing people to tears in prayer, and loving people well), Emma (her infectious joy turns even the worst frown upside down), myself (we’ll talk about me not now, but later), Lexi (she always has something good to say about everyone, she is so genuine, and absolutely never stops. She’s a warrior).
