Serving?

“Lets be family even though we see life differently” These are the words echoed from the guest speaker in church this past Sunday morning. As I sat listening to many different translators reveal their own native tongue around me; I realized one thing. I sat in the midst of people from Albania, Poland, Czech, Canada, and Slovakia- we are all one family in the Lord. We all took communion together. For me, it was a familiar act of worship that I had done many times before. For some others there, they had never seen communion in quite that same way, yet- we were able to put aside our differences and come together to worship one God.
Lately, I have been wondering a lot about what our mission is here in Slovakia. Is it to try and put time and energy into my teaching so that kids can see something different? Is it trying to connect with students outside of class? Is it verbally sharing Christ with kids or is it simply serving with actions? What does it mean to truly serve?
It boils down to one thing- Love. It means to love like I have never loved before. It means to love- love the Lord with ALL my heart, with ALL my soul, with All my might. It means talking with Him on my way to the bus, or while I’m carrying groceries through the streets. It means to love my students by preparing lessons that are interesting for them. It means disciplining them and guiding them. It means loving my neighbor, especially when they seem unlovable. Love reveals acceptance and too many people are starving for that today.
I still wrestle with the concept of what ministry/serving looks like. But if we are all truly one family with the same Father, then Love ought to look the same no matter where we are in the world. It must have the same effect as well.
I was surprised when love ended up in my very own living room! Relax, I’m not IN LOVE- I just feel loved! It is really exciting to see how God uses each other to challenge and to sharpen us as brothers and sisters. As many of you know through a series of divine appointments, God formed a small bible study in Bratislava. I was really moved when the leaders of our small group committed to traveling each week anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours just to meet for Monday night studies. Well, last week was our first meeting. After a long journey, one leader humbly shared, “We are here to serve you.” Anyone who travels 2 hours, on a Monday night, after a busy day, and on a Missionary budget, and politely says, “I’m here to serve you” is either incredibly crazy, or totally in Love with God. God is only capable of doing these things! He is the one able to love in ways that are unimaginable to us. The love that we show each other should be an overflow of the incredible love that He has for us- and that we have for our Father. So next time I think, “What am I doing here? Where do I start?” Simply begin by loving. That is the ultimate task; to love Him and love each other.