Working for the Kingdom

I am sitting in the truck driving back from Jonesville Va with 2 of my singing buddies. This weekend a team of 20 folks from NRUMC left for a weekend of service work in Appalachia. The Appalachian Service Project (ASP) has been around since the '60s. Founded by a Methodist minister moved by the plight of extreme poverty in what I like to refer to as "the third world right here in America", ASP focuses on making dilapidated housing warm, safe, and dry. This is my 4th ASP trip, and each one has been memorable. The interesting thing to me about such trips and service work in general has been the evolution of my own attitude toward such things. I took my first mission trip to Mexico many years ago when the boys were little. At that time I wanted to go because as an American I felt that we are such a wealthy nation and as such we have an obligation to help those less fortunate. It made me feel good to be a part of such a trip. I was going forth and doing good works. Hooray for me!

That was then, this is now. What a difference a decade plus makes! I am older, wiser, and now know that I had it all backwards. Weekends such as the one I just spent aren't about making me feel good. They are about making God feel good. They are about pointing to Him. They are about His glory. Generally speaking, I will end up feeling good too, but that is a
side effect, not the main reason for going forth and being engaged in service work. The big picture take away from a mission trip weekend is the building of God's Kingdom here on earth.

This weekend God's Kingdom was advanced along the backroads, and hollows, and mountain ridges of Jonesville, Virginia. Families were served in practical ways that will make their lives
easier and safer. From our team, an elderly woman received a second exit from her home making it safer in the event of a fire. The deck on the back of her house built by a previous team now has a staircase and landing leading down into near yard. The two doors on the back of her house now open onto a deck for the first time since it was built by her husband in the '40s. More importantly, hearts, and stories, and fellowship were shared. Miss Loraine now has some new friends from Raleigh North Carolina. And we have received the gift of being able to share in God's work here on earth. As one of my friends likes to say, God doesn't need our help to do anything. He can do it all on His own. But, because He loves us, He graciously allows us to share in His work. In Emmaus we have a saying "Christ has no hands and feet on earth but ours". So true. Thus weekend, 20 people from my church got to be these hands and feet. It is an amazing privilege. Give it a whirl sometime. Whether on a weekend away with a group, or right in your own back yard maybe feeding the homeless or volunteering at a women's shelter- it matters not how you choose to serve. What matters is that you do it! Shalom!