The Sacredness of International Church Ministry
International Church Ministry. So many thoughts surround these 3 words. But if asked to communicate in a nutshell the essence of how one survives in the midst of the shifting sands called international church ministry, my response would be to keep your hands uplifted and open, allowing the love of God to wash over you and those you serve.
In this entire process of serving a moving international community – seeking to meet their spiritual needs as they transverse living on foreign soil, a sacredness emerges that is hard to explain. But in the following paragraphs, I will try to put into words my thoughts …
There are days in life when you just have to stop and watch what the Lord is doing in the lives of the people around you. A few years back I experienced just such a day.
It was a day where God was moving among the nations & I was allowed to watch.
There was to be no grasping to keep the people close,
or fantastic photos to express God’s movement.
I sat, I watched, and I cheered
knowing that today, I needed to keep both my hands & eyes uplifted and open.
The sacredness of International Ministries
As a church, we were celebrating the baptism of two individuals and the Lord’s work of salvation in their lives. I stood in the crowd, with camera in hand, taking in all the activity that was surrounding me. The question plaguing me was “How can I illustrate through photography the movement of the Lord in the lives of people?”
Grasping at the Ever-Changing Moments
Ministering in an international context, how do I intentionally grasp each moment to plant seeds for God’s Kingdom in an environment which is in a constant state of movement
So often in international church work, it’s easy to come to the table with strategies and projected projects that will blow the socks off your people or woo individuals from the various neighborhoods into your services. However, may I offer another thought into the mix to be considered as one tackles the topic of international church work?
Learning to be a spectator as you watch God work among the people.
Soaking in the Sacred
The Discipline of Being a Spectator
There was a point during the baptism where I just needed to stop. Our church members stood at the water’s edge watching the event take place and I realized I needed to choose to soak in the moving of God.
This was a sacred moment. A moment amongst hundreds of thousands of moments where John and I have been seeking to serve here in southern France. Yet, learning the discipline of:
stopping,
watching and
being,
rather than “doing” does not come easy for some. Training yourself to be a spectator as you watch God work among the nations is not easy. And then intentionally keeping your hands uplifted and open is an important element in the training process.
Learning to Watch
Don’t you find that sometimes in our fast-paced society you just want to grasp and hold onto people and experiences for as long as you can? Do you find yourself wanting to slow down time in order to soak in the enjoyable experience of just being together with people you love?
I think that possibly that is one of the better reasons for our world’s over-the-top obsession with photography! We desire to capture our special moments in an image in order to linger over them for years to come. To be able to document, as well as, to treasure those memorable times is something I love to do, too!
I absolutely love to be able to obtain that communicative photo for Instagram.
I don’t enjoy the art of photography to impress in any way.
No, for me it’s a way to be able to linger, remember, and possibly in an abstract way, to hold people in my heart for when they move out of my life.
Yet, here I was on our baptismal day at the Mediterranean Sea. I looked out over the people that were surrounding me – people from South Sudan to England and from Indonesia to Vancouver, Canada. People who are just passing through my life for a season.
Still here we were on the same beach, witnessing the same wonderful event of newly surrendered lives in Christ, and praising the same God for whom together we will all bow before one day.
So I stopped. I stopped looking for that great photo shot to express the day. I stopped fussing with the food table to make sure it was replenished.
And I just took in that sacred moment.
A Joyful Spectator
This was God at work and I was given the opportunity to witness it.
As John and I continue to try to live & serve intentionally here in France, we lift our hands up praising the God who is alive today and is still moving in the hearts of people.
Yet, we also want to keep those hands open. Open – so as to allow God to move people in and out of our lives as He sees fit … so that His Kingdom can be advanced around the world.
Uplifted and Open Hands.
To be honest, as the day progressed I did continue to look for that photo to express the day and I did continue to fuss with the food table. (No big surprise!)
But now I had a renewed sense of God’s presence, being reminded that He is building His Kingdom and we have the privilege of watching Him do it!
This is the sacredness of international church ministry.
