Servanthood

During the trip, Drew shared a book with me that talked about mission work and servanthood. One of the stories was about a church that was trying to figure out how to deal with the poor and homeless showing up on their doorstep begging for money. They spent hours coming up with policies and procedures and debating whether to give out money or vouchers or referrals. After a long afternoon of discussions, the minister was leaving for the day and ran into the church janitor taking out the trash. Next to the dumpster was a homeless man sleeping on the ground. With out anyone asking him, the janitor walked over to the man, took money out of his wallet and placed it in the mans pocket. The minster was intrigued and asked the janitor who was the lowest paid employee in the church why he gave his hard earned money so freely and wasn’t he worried that the man would waste it on alcohol or drugs. The janitor answered, this man has to answer to god about what he does with that money, but I have to answer to god about what I have done with my time here on earth. I think that this is very true. Our last work day, this was really proved to me.

A couple of teenagers invited Alex, Jocelyn and myself to go see their home. When we got there, we sat outside in the dirt under a tree. All of a sudden their mother comes out of the home with three huge plates of food. The three of us all looked at each other with the same thought of can we eat this and not get sick. If you have ever been to the county health department before going to a third world country you know all the warnings they give you about these sorts of things. When I was handed my plate of food, it became obvious that there was no way I could turn this down. The beans, rice and meat (still not sure what it was) was served in a ceramic bowl, probably their nicest and the portions were huge, probably most of their food for that day and maybe the next. So I ate out of respect and the love that I had grown for the Dominican people. I figured a couple days of an upset stomach would be better than turning down such a gracious gesture. Later that night I laid awake thinking about how before today, I thought I knew a little about servanthood and showing gods love. I think that’s when God laughed at me and said… Ill show you true servanthood. So I ended up receiving that day… more than a meal but a lesson… We all have the ability to serve no matter what are condition is. My favorite scripture is Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Over the last couple of years I have tried to live by this and I find that I am happiest and at my best when I am following this scripture. So I invite you to do the same. Get involved. Help someone. You don’t have to fly to a different country to do this, Trinity has many amazing opportunities for you to experience this right here in Gainesville and truly become the hands a feet of Christ. The projects I have been involved in have truly been the most rewarding work I have ever done. I hope that when I have to answer to God about what I have done with my time, my answer will be a good one.

I want to thank Andrew and Sarah, our leaders on the trip for an amazing experience. You two are truly great at your jobs and are amazing examples of how to be a true servant for Christ.

written by Josh Fuller
ps… the food didn’t make me sick and was one of the best meals I had in the DR.