Last week I wrote an article here about Ministry Outside the Stained Glass Fish Bowl.  In that article I talked about getting out of the church and into the community to minister to people.

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans a few years ago, I sat and watched everything that was happening there on television.  It was hard to absorb what I was watching and I just wanted to do something to help.  I sent a donation to the Red Cross, but I wanted to do more than send money.  That was much too easy.

When the Atlanta floods started this year, I couldn’t watch it on TV or on the Internet because all of our services, including our phone service, were out.  We live very close to an area that was hard hit by the floods and I was having a heck of a time trying to find out what was going on.  My only communication with the outside world was via my cell phone.  Since I follow 11 Alive News and DJ, Rob Stadler on Twitter, they became my conduit to up-to-date flood information.  Still, I wanted to do something.

Bad Timing

As much as I wanted to do something, the timing was bad.  I was scheduled to go on vacation that same week. Everything was already paid for and non-refundable. So once again I sent a donation to HopeATL and then headed for the Bahamas.  I continued to keep up with what was going on with flood victims via Twitter.

It’s Time To Get Dirty

While I was on vacation, I signed up to work with HopeATL.  Sending a monetary donation just wasn’t enough for me.  It was time to get dirty.  I actually wanted to touch someone’s life by helping to move debris, getting rid of mold and delivering care packages.  It was something I had never done before and had no idea what I was getting into.

Once signed up to work, HopeATL sent daily updates.  So I knew to wear long sleeves, long pants, rubber gloves, work gloves and a mask.  Three days after getting home from vacation I was off to Ewing Baptist Church to get my assignment.

Faith at Work

When I arrived at the church there were Christian groups from Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa and Florida – all volunteering to help work on the homes of flood victims.  Some came with funds from their Missions budget, others just came.  They all came by faith – didn’t know where they would sleep or what adverse conditions they might encounter.  They braved Atlanta’s traffic, which is in itself a leap of faith, and spent several days working in mold saturated homes.

The home we were assigned to on Tuesday belonged to a handicapped woman.  The house had been closed up for two weeks and was full of mold. After about five hours the home had been cleared of debris and gutted.  Here’s a picture of my Tuesday work group taken before we actually got to work.  I guest they take the pictures before we get all dirty and exhausted.  Several other people joined us later in the day.

It was a wonderful experience.  Dirty and bone tired, I went home, took off my filthy sneakers and left them in the garage.  My work clothes went straight into the washer and I went straight into the shower.

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We were required to read a book that I don’t remember the name of.  What I do remember is that it talks about getting out of our “stained glass fish bowl.”  Basically it speaks about doing our ministry and evangelism outside the four walls of the church.  It admonishes us to stop fishing in our own tank.  It’s great to minister to each other but it’s even greater to go outside of our own church community and minister to people at large.  Some of them will be Christians, some will not.

Not the Greatest Timing

Right now I’m sitting in my timeshare in the Bahamas.  This is my week and I need a vacation to get some relief from the responsibilities of being a caregiver for my 82 year old god-sister.  The only thing that bothers me about leaving for my vacation is that I want to do something for the people in the Atlanta area who are devastated by the floods.  Not the greatest time to take a vacation, but before I left I sent a donation through PayPal to HopeATL.  However, I still want to serve in a more personal manner.  I want to minister outside of my stained glass fishbowl.

My Epiphany

That’s when I had an epiphany!  God gave each of us at least one spiritual gift.  Some people, like Shaun King, have several gifts.  From what I have seen, he appears to have the gifts of evangelism, teaching and administration.  Even though I don’t have the gift of evangelism, I have gifts.   I don’t have to go to the highways and byways and find people to minister to them that’s why God gave us different gifts.  God knew that I would be an introvert and He knew that I would not go out looking for people to evangelize.  So He gave me other gifts to compensate.

Ministry is about serving people.  Ministry is about helping people.  If I demonstrate my love for God by helping others, they can see Him through me and that’s a form of evangelism.  It is definitely ministry.  I know how to plan and organize and I know how to be hospitable.

My Commitment/Your Challenge

Before writing this post, I contacted HopeATL and gave them my information so they can find a place for me to volunteer.  I  also gave them times that I am available to help.  I know there are lots of you out there who can do something:  hand out water, pull up carpet, be a runner for supplies.  I challenge you to contact HopeATL and offer your gifts and talents to help people who have been devastated by the floods.  They don’t have to be people from your church (although that’s a good place to start) just go out and help the flood victims – remember “faith without works is dead.”

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