Ministry at home

For me personally, over the past month there has been a shift in focus from ministry overseas to ministry at home. It was not something that I planned, and it was not as though the needs overseas were any less pressing. This was just a season where the areas God wanted me to serve in were based more locally than abroad.

Cloud formation above my house one evening last week

One of the major ministry assignments involved helping to support Daddy in his recovery since his last hospitalization. While he has gotten stronger and is able to do more than the first week when he was at home, he still requires assistance to do basic things that we would normally take for granted. I never really considered this to be ministry until one morning I was having my devotions and this passage stood out to me in a light I had never considered before:

Matthew 25:37-40 - Then the righteous would answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison, and go to visit you?"
The King would reply, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me"

I realized that every time I put out a plate of food or poured a drink for Daddy, or helped him get dressed or 'visited' him when he wanted a back or foot rub, I was actually doing it for my King. This helped me to see what I was doing at home as service to God, even though it didn't look like what "ministry" typically looks like.

Keeping an eye on Daddy on one
of his afternoon "walks"

We continue to serve the children in the community through Homework Club and Bible Club. We had 8 students writing SEA this year, and they wanted to keep coming to Homework Club even after they had written the exam! We continue to help the younger ones who struggle with reading and mathematics. It never ceases to amaze me how the student who acts up so badly when he is among the other children calms all the way down and applies himself to his work when he is put to work one on one with one of the teachers.

Keeping an eye on Tracy while she does her homework

This term at Bible Club, we are encouraging the children to check their attitudes by studying the beatitudes from Matthew 5. Here they are learning that many times, the principles of the kingdom of God are contrary to the principles of the world. If we want to please God and experience His favor, we must be prepared to live by what the Bible teaches, even if this goes against societal norms. They are also learning that being "blessed" doesn't mean that only good things happen, but that you can see the hand of God even in the midst of difficult times.

Showing off his "Bee attitude" craft

At my home church, I am committed to teaching at Junior Church once there is a fifth Sunday in the month. Last month I had the responsibility of sharing on the theme "No longer a slave to sin". I shared with the children the reality of the war between fulfilling the desires of the flesh vs. the desires of the Spirit. It was heartening to hear their responses to my questions, which showed that they really understood the need to be free from the bondage of sin. There was an activity at the beginning where they had to write down sins which they struggled with, and we didn't have time to look at all of them to see what strategies they could use to help them deal with the temptations which led to those sins. After church was over one of them asked if I could read the sins she wrote and I was able to help her identify the root cause and solutions for how she can have the victory over those areas of weakness in her life. I thank God for the opportunity to minister in this way to the children from my church, because I don't get the chance to interact with them very often due to my schedule.

Girls engaged with a tug of war against the boys to show how
the desire to please self goes contrary to the desire to please God

On the first Saturday in May the community of Point Fortin celebrates Borough Day. Over the years it has become like Carnival in May, so we normally would plan a retreat to take the young people from my first home church out of that environment to allow them to have good, clean fun while being nourished spiritually. This year many of those youths are doing exams, so I decided to give in to the begging of the teens from Bible Club and allow them to have a sleepover at our house for Borough Day. During the week leading up I was a bit apprehensive, especially since I had no idea how many of them were coming, so I couldn't adequately organize the logistics of transportation for the Saturday. But as I prepared the materials for devotions, I felt the Holy Spirit telling me not to worry about the transport because God had that covered.

Friday night team building exercise

We started off with 10 youths ranging in age from 11 years old (who had recently written SEA) to 17 years old (who had CAPE exams starting the following week) By Saturday morning there were 14 of them, as well as one who was spending the weekend by our neighbour. After the team building activities which focused on being able to work together and communicate effectively in order to complete the assigned task, we had a discussion about the implications of the recent decision regarding the buggery law. There was open dialogue about how the changing of this law could affect the definition of families in the future, and what the biblical attitude towards persons practising homosexual lifestyles should be. There were questions and answers for all of them were found in the Bible.

Early morning devotions with the boys

The next morning, our devotions focused on 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 where we looked at what it meant for our body to be a temple of the Holy Spirit, and the implications in regard to their sexuality. I was very grateful to have my friend there who shared her testimony about keeping herself pure even though everyone in her neighbourhood seemed to be doing the opposite. This was followed by a session with Aunty Carol about the beauty of sexuality, looking at the evolution of sex from Genesis 1-3. It is our prayer that, by understanding the context in which sex was designed, they would be more committed to not allowing themselves to be controlled by their sexual desires, but rather to be controlled by the Holy Spirit.

I first heard this presentation as a teenager and it is still
relevant more than 20 years later

God showed His faithfulness in providing sufficient transportation for all 15 young people. It was only on Saturday morning that my friend found out that 2 meetings he had to attend were cancelled, so he was now available to help with transport. God also ensured that the person who helps with Daddy when both me and Mummy are not around was available when I called her that same morning to find out if she could stay with him. After the session with Aunty Carol, we were able to enjoy lunch and a brief tour of the Wild Fowl Trust, followed by a time of fun at the San Fernando Hill.

De whole crew

White peacock posing at the
Wild Fowl Trust

How many teenagers can you fit on a merry go round
without any of them falling off?

They actually put down their phones
long enough to climb a tree ;)

Someone recently asked me what do I do. My response was, whatever God wants me to do. It is my joy to do the Father's will, wherever that may be - whether in my Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, or the ends of the earth.