Fixing it for Christ

Currently in our sixth year, my church's mission project took a bold move this year and partnered with 5 other churches to teach our model and encourage others to carry out the mission and ministry with the poor that has impacted us so much. We have churches and civic groups coming to work side-by-side with us. What work do we do? ALMOST ANYTHING! We go to people whose homes are in need of repair who could not otherwise get them fixed, and we do whatever they need. Sometimes we do complete home makeovers, replacing furniture, windows, roofs, and flooring. Sometimes we replace plumbing and electrical systems. This year it seems the biggest need is for air conditioning units and stoves, as well as furniture and other household items. We never know what God will send us as projects and we never know what miracles God will work through the people we meet and the resources provided. Normally we tackle 5 to 6 houses. This year we have 14 on the docket. We’ve seen lives changed, both those of the homeowners and the volunteers. We’ve seen miracles daily. We’ve laughed, cried, and worked – HARD. We’ve eaten our weight in good home-cooked meals. And we can’t wait until the next year to do it all again.
It always leaves me remembering why I went into the ministry. I wanted to make the world a better place. One of my early mentors told me to close my eyes in prayer each day and ask God how my world looked through the eyes of the Creator, and then to ask what part I was to play in making the Kingdom of God come on earth. Somewhere along life's journey, I stopped doing that. I think I felt over whelmed. There's just too much. What can one person do?
Watching over 280 volunteers from every walk of life come together for 4 days to work in the heat and humidity for and with people they just met and may never see again just because they wanted to make a difference in someone's life restored my hope in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Young people, old people, professionals and novices, religious and skeptical, all united in their passion to see their fellow humanity have the basics - clean, safe housing, electricity and running water and, perhaps the most important gift of all, hope.
My hope is in Christ Jesus. But my faith in his army of servants here on earth is restored through the sweat, laughter, and love shared across all earthly boundaries over 4 ordinary days in June.