Everyday moments
Today I studied some Creole, we had a missionary meeting, I exercised, watched the choir practice for our feast on October 22nd, gave our friend Joe a little snack, and collected names and phone numbers for a course Sister Flo wants to give to girls about cooking, sewing, etc.
It was a pretty laid back day, but still a good one. Lately I am remembering that evangelization has to happen in small, everyday moments. Like when a teen today asked me to write an apology for her. I told her no, that an apology is a serious thing . . . someone else can't write it for you. Sure, by itself, that doesn't sound like evangelization, but accompanied by a Gospel-centered witness and an ongoing relationship, it certainly is part of it.
These little moments are so important - not just in mission but also in my community, with my family and in friendships. These little things are the hardest things - remembering to make a phone call, not being grumpy with someone that I see every day, loving and BEING a witness when one person is present as opposed to GIVING a witness when fifty people are present. Which one of those last two is really harder? Even for this shy, timid girl, being a witness in every moment is usually much harder than getting up in front of people to tell them my witness.
It is tiring sometimes when I see my community every day at every meal and in between. I also see the people we minister to probably every day, and often see the same small group almost daily. It gets hard to do that well when i want my own space or time to breathe, but I know there is so much grace because Haitians are often much more available than American teens would be. What a gift that we are able to spend time with them, sit with them, dance with them, take them to the doctor, read the Bible and just be together, almost every day. The challenge is that people are often easier to love when you only have to do it once, not over and over and over.
Pray with me for grace to be vigilant in loving.
"Above all, let your love for one another be intense, for love covers a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8
It was a pretty laid back day, but still a good one. Lately I am remembering that evangelization has to happen in small, everyday moments. Like when a teen today asked me to write an apology for her. I told her no, that an apology is a serious thing . . . someone else can't write it for you. Sure, by itself, that doesn't sound like evangelization, but accompanied by a Gospel-centered witness and an ongoing relationship, it certainly is part of it.
These little moments are so important - not just in mission but also in my community, with my family and in friendships. These little things are the hardest things - remembering to make a phone call, not being grumpy with someone that I see every day, loving and BEING a witness when one person is present as opposed to GIVING a witness when fifty people are present. Which one of those last two is really harder? Even for this shy, timid girl, being a witness in every moment is usually much harder than getting up in front of people to tell them my witness.
It is tiring sometimes when I see my community every day at every meal and in between. I also see the people we minister to probably every day, and often see the same small group almost daily. It gets hard to do that well when i want my own space or time to breathe, but I know there is so much grace because Haitians are often much more available than American teens would be. What a gift that we are able to spend time with them, sit with them, dance with them, take them to the doctor, read the Bible and just be together, almost every day. The challenge is that people are often easier to love when you only have to do it once, not over and over and over.
Pray with me for grace to be vigilant in loving.
"Above all, let your love for one another be intense, for love covers a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8
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