Stirring Porridge, Dancing, and Loving Jesus

“The
important thing is not how much we accomplish, but how much love we
put into our deeds every day”  Mother Teresa

 

  Last weekend we helped out at a Pastor’s conference where Pastors from several bush churches gathered.  Although we were instructed to encourage the pastors and Pastor Moses (who is the main pastor that we are working with), I found myself walking in a different direction.  As many of you know, in Africa black people serve white people and white people have authority over black people.  I know that I can’t completely change this, but still it doesn’t sit right with me and I am on a mission to do what I can to change that.  John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son so that those who believe in Him will not parish but will have eternal life”.  God so loved the WORLD, not white people in the world; we are all equal in His eyes.  1 Corinthians 12 talks about us all being part of Christ’s body.  We are all a part of His body and we all are of equal importance; we all have a specific and important purpose in this world.  EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US!!!  So I decided to take what God has been showing me about servant hood into action.  After all I live by 1 John 3:18 which says “Our love should not be just words and talk, but true love which shows itself in action.  I went into the kitchen and began to work side by side with my fellow sisters.  I cooked Casava (bread dough that they don’t cook) over a stove, I cut tomatoes, I served the plates to the pastors and I even carried water from the well on top of my head (not to say that only about half of the water made it to the final destination).When we were not cooking we danced and sang; they taught me some of their dances and sang some of their songs and visa versa.   During my break, as I was sitting inside one of the houses on sight, one of the teenage girls named Auma Justine sat beside me and we read the Bible together, and later on in the day we sat and she told me her story.  It was unbelievable to see that by working side by side with her, she grew to trust me and to open up to not only me but to other girls on my team.   We were watching the “Jesus Film” later that night and a few of the girls that I had been working with sat beside me and we shared laughter and stories.  The best aprt of it was that at the end of the day, they addressed me as their sister, as one of them.

But it doesn’t matter what I did or how much I helped them; what matters is that God used those small tasks and those beautiful moments of fellowship to show His love for these amazing women! If I get nothing out of this trip, if I accomlish nothing I can only hope that I can leave here knowing that they understand Jesus’ love for them and how beautiful they are.  If in ten years they don’t remember my name, I can only hope that they remember that Jesus loves them and that we are all servants of eachother because we are all equals.  God loves us all the same no matter the color of our skin or the number in our bank accounts and it is our responsibilty to show that same servant’s heart that Jesus showed us to others no matter what the cost is.  The beauty of this is that it doesn’t have to be any radical, world shattering deed; it can be as simple as stirring a pot of porridge.