God is all about relationship. He wants us to have relationship with Him and for us to have relationship with each other. This can take us way out of our comfort zone.
I have seen it more than once; the mission team stays huddled as a group, practically ignoring the people they are there to help. Why? They don’t know how to relate to the people, and this makes them afraid. Sadly, their fear may be misinterpreted as snobbery.
Most of the trips I have taken have been for the purpose of building and evangelizing. The work happens in the morning, and the afternoon is reserved for Vacation Bible School with the children and adults of the town we are working in. While in Mexico a few years ago, I heard one man say, “I came here to build a house, not to do VBS. But had I not been made to do the VBS, I would have missed the most important part of the trip.” He would have missed relationship with the children and one homeless man who took a liking to him. The next day that man worked shoulder to shoulder with us, and we had the opportunity to really show him what Christ is about. Every year we return to that community in Mexico and work in partnership with the pastors and people there. We have a relationship of cooperation and love for the purpose of advancing God’s kingdom by serving and evangelizing.
Language barriers can be a hindrance to forming relationships, but are possible to overcome. I try to make a point to learn at least a few words of the language and always have my dictionary handy. I have found that people are pretty forgiving of my fumbling and are actually very appreciative that I am at least making an effort to communicate with them.
I actually once had an enlightening “conversation” with my Romanian hostess (Maria) as she demonstrated the art of the sponge bath. She spoke absolutely no English, and I knew only a handful of Romanian words, but we got along really well. Sometimes we both got a little frustrated and tired with trying to make a point, and we would both throw up our hands as if to say “Never mind, it’s not that important.” Even though we had trouble communicating verbally, we still had a wonderful relationship. Everyone understands a hug.
What about here at home? People in nursing homes and other housebound situations welcome conversation. People in homeless shelters may feel despised and unaccepted. They may even be suspicious of our motives until they see that we are acting because we truly care for them. Can reaching out to form relationships be costly? Yes, it can. It costs time and energy, and it can expose us to situations we would not choose for ourselves. But we can be living, breathing examples of Christ and show people how valuable they are to Him because we called them friend.
Laughter photo by Jesse Michael Nix
Cameroon balancing photo by Elin B
Man with Malawi friends photo by khym54
Lady playing with kids photo by khym54
