By Ella* (name changed) (Klik disini untuk baca dalam Bahasa Indonesia)
During my two months here, I learned many things:
First of all, I am very grateful for the opportunity to interact with the neighborhood here, with the children, the mothers, and the fathers here. There are many stories that I could listen to from the community here, and many experiences from their lives that are unique and varied.
My eyes have been opened
Secondly, after my short time here, I feel like my eyes have been opened to new things that beforehand I had never thought about. I learned about the Lord’s heart for the people here, for people struggling with poverty. The Lord not only loves the poor but also that was one of the Jesus’ focuses in ministry– to the poor—and Jesus identified himself as poor.
Thirdly, I realized that I felt disappointed and angry that the church’s teachings and mission organizations’ teachings (that I have experienced prior to this) seem to not support service and ministry among the poor in this way. A question has formed in my heart for the Church, “Why have I never been taught about service to the poor before? Why in all of the Bible studies I have attended from church over the years, have we never discussed serving the poor?” When the church discusses “mission,” they normally are only talking about building new church buildings, whether it is overseas or within Indonesia. Why does the Church not commission and send mission workers to serve in areas near them, like in slum areas that literally are nearby church buildings??
Becoming a different voice
Fourthly, from this experience, I am motivated to have a heart that loves the poor, the marginalized, the sick, etc… In addition to that, I am motivated and encouraged to become a “voice” that is different among my friends, so that they too can begin to learn to have a heart to serve the poor. As I was serving here, I felt limited and worried that maybe my presence in this neighborhood would not have any positive impact. I realized I am very limited in serving here, but that the Lord had much to teach me during this time.
One evening as I was praying, the Lord spoke to me and encouraged me, saying that He wants to use me to become a different “voice” in my church community. From my experience, I know that my church normally pays attention to the rich, but barely pays attention to the poor. I do not yet know how, but I feel like the Lord wants to use me to help change the mindset of “what service is” in the church.
It was not a coincidence that brought me to serve here for two months. I believe God brought me here for a reason, to call me to service like this longer term. Even though I must return to Bible school for two more years before graduating, I believe my task starts now—to share about my experiences here and to share about God’s heart for service beyond the church walls.
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