“When people look at the church, they should see the very embodiment of Jesus! When people look at the church, they should see the One who declared – in word and in deed to the leper, the lame, and the poor – that His kingdom is bringing healing to every speck of the universe.” -When Helping Hurts
63 people from three different churches in three different states just finished spending the week with us and experiencing life on mission in the city of Madison. There is always a deep joy within me when students arrive, because I know the week is going to be full of growth in so many ways.
For some students, this was their first mission trip ever. Many students and leaders, I knew from last summer in South Carolina. But the common denominator for them all was this: this was everyone’s first relational ministry-focused mission trip.
So, what is relational ministry? Looking back on the week, I feel like this was a major question on everyone’s mind as we sent them out into the city of Madison on day one of sites. The typical expectation going into a mission trip is that there will be big projects, hard physical labor, and a finished product at the end of the week — but here in Madison, we have the awesome opportunity to do things a little differently.
In working out how to explain relational ministry to the students and leaders this week, something that God has pressed into my heart to share is that we get to be noticers. Just like Jesus did, we get to walk into the everyday lives of people in this community and intentionally give them respect, selflessly serve them, and seek out those who may typically fall the the wayside. Countless times in Jesus’ earthly ministry, He noticed people.
Something I have come to learn is that communities – anywhere and everywhere – can become so familiar with their daily lives that they don’t even realize anymore that there are people who are going unnoticed. But something that I love about Jesus is that time after time, He stepped into communities and changed the rhythm of life by noticing those people who typically would have gone unnoticed.
This is, in essence, what relational ministry is. We have the opportunity to humbly enter communities, in all respect, and seek out and serve people who may go unnoticed or unacclaimed in the typical rhythm of the world.
As we all – staff included – got to process through this new experience of ministering to the community through relationships and acts of service, I feel like we have all walked away from this week having learned a lot about humility. It’s not about what we bring into the community, or even what we leave behind after all is said and done. Just like how Jesus did His ministry, the focus here truly is all about the relationships. And as we get to serve this community by Christ, through Christ, for Christ, we get to see the beauty of how His righteous, steady hand is holding all things together.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.”
Colossians 1:15-20
august laperche 