The Workers are Few

“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”

Jesus told us to go out into the world spreading the Good News.

But can people hear the News over the loud rumblings in their bellies?*

Can they drink in the Living Water when the water they have isn’t fit to drink?

~~~

We attempted to be the hands and feet of Jesus, even if just for a week, down in Mexico.

In Tijuana, there is a town that is built in what used to be the city dump. The dump closed down, leaving the residents with no means of income. They build their houses with what they can find.

What you and I see as trash, or an old billboard poster, becomes a roof and the sides of a dwelling.

Tires are foundational.

There were actually several tiendas in the dump town.

If they can’t get it here, like fresh drinking water, they must climb steps. Climb up with babies in your arms. Climb down with babies and gallons of water.

Some families can’t afford fresh water so they feed their babies bottles of soda. Soda is cheaper.

~~~

But God’s beauty still breaks through.

And for those who are willing, beauty and civility can be created even in the direst situation.

This family has potted plants:

This family has landscaping and a hedge:

~~~

We spent time serving. Literally serving breakfast to the residents. Also by helping to build a trench for a community center that a church, located in the dump, is building.

There are people who are devoting more than just a week out of their lives to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Locals and foreigners are working side by side to help meet needs so that the Gospel can be preached and heard.

What can we do? We are just a small family. Some hands and feet that don’t quite know yet how God wants to use us. But we can’t just sit around waiting for Him to drop a message from on high.

Why wait when there are things that need to be done now.

If God tells us, during the middle of serving, that He’d rather us be somewhere else, well, we can go do that something else then. In the meantime, we can do. . . things. Anything.

I ended the week wondering if I had really done enough down there. If the figurative seeds I had planted helping to serve amounted to even just a little. Was it really worth it? Yes. God can and will still use that for good.

And seeds are beginning to spring up inside me.

Live beyond yourself. Serve others.

  Not So SAHM

*It struck me as I was writing that sentence – can people here the News over the loud rumblings in their bellies – it struck me that it’s probably just as hard for people to understand and know Jesus when their bellies are so full that they lack nothing. Both extreme poverty and wealth (of varying degrees) can drown the calling of Jesus.

~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~