THE BODY OF CHRIST AT WORK

Today at church we had the privilege of hearing our teens share their experiences on a missions trip to West Virginia from which they recently returned.  Having been on three missions trips with many of them, I couldn’t wait to hear how the Lord had worked in and through them while they were away.  And I confess I was more than a little sorry that I had not gone.

Back in the late spring I was having a rough time.  I had two infections at once and was exhausted.  Then the medication I was given messed with another I was regularly taking making me feel really out of it and not up to some of the things I was doing.  One of those things was ministering with the senior high youth group. 

I love those kids (I’m not supposed to refer to them as “kids”, but they’ll always be kids to me!).  They are fun and energetic and passionate and laid back and just plain great to be around.  Working with them keeps me young in my thinking, helping me to see things from their perspective, which is invaluable in the body of Christ, and essential for those of us drawing close to the end of ministry while they are just beginning. So while I knew it was time to step away from a physically demanding missions trip, I had very mixed feelings about doing so.

Today they shared how the Lord used them, not only to build, and that they did, but also to encourage the physical and spiritual strength of the team already on the ground.  That team, young adults working with Next Step Ministries, had already been working for 7 weeks, welcoming youth teams from all over who came to build. 

They were responsible for the work sites and the training of many teens who had never done things like dry walling, or spackling, or putting a roof on a new building.  They bought the food to feed them all and were responsible to supervise its preparation. They were up before the kids and to bed much later. 

 

So when our team arrived, these young adults were tired and discouraged.  So not long after our kids got there, they saw that the Lord had something else in mind for  their mission, not “simply” working, but building encouragement into the lives of others.  I have no doubt that they were a huge blessing and it gave me such joy to hear how the Lord had used them. 

That would have been blessing enough for any worship service but this one ended in a way that added blessing upon blessing.  At the end of the service the young woman sitting next to me suggested getting together a group of women to pray with me and Jennifer, the woman to whom I will be donating a kidney this coming Wednesday, August. 14. 

So there we both sat, surrounded by the women of our church who laid their hands on each of us and prayed for us.  We felt so moved, so loved, and so abundantly blessed by these, our sisters in Christ. 

I have often written about how ministries like missions trips and Vacation Bible School bring the body of Christ together. I have commented about how that togetherness in ministry knits us together as people of faith as we serve the Lord.  And I saw that again today as our young people gave their testimonies about their trip. 

But working together isn’t the only way in which the Lord reminds us of our connectedness as the body of Christ.  Prayer also reminds us that we have a common Heavenly Father and a common Savior and that we are a family of believers and praying is what we do. 

On Wednesday Jennifer and I will each set off for the hospital where we will be surrounded by strangers who will perform surgery on us.  At the same time, the body of Christ, wherever they are, all who know about us – maybe even YOU reading this blog in some other nation in the world – will be united in prayer for us as well, and our God, who is Almighty and Loving, will hear and answer for Jesus' sake.

What a privilege to be part of the body of Christ!