The Mission is Here and There

Yesterday the coordinator for disaster relief who has organized much of the ministry for the United Methodist Church following the Floods of 2008 in Cedar Rapids spoke to our congregation. She shared many wonderful stories of how God has worked to help people, not only get back into their homes, but to move their lives in a positive direction. I felt it was very encouraging that God is still working in disaster areas.
She encouraged us as we plan to go for a day of work in March to help with flood recovery. There will be plenty of ministry work to be done and I know we have many gifted people that will be able to go and offer their service, whether that is making cookies, decorating cards, or putting up drywall.
She also reminded us that the ministry of service can be done to touch lives right here at home. We can go to Cedar Rapids to serve, but there is plenty to do here as well. We can serve an elderly person that needs some muscle to fix something. We can serve a parent of a teenager by listening to their frustrations. We can serve someone new to the community by inviting them to coffee. We can serve people right here in our midst.
So, I too encourage you to serve. The mission of service will take you great places, but it is also always around you waiting here at home. I encourage my congregation to get ready to serve as we move into Lent. As a part of our 24 Hours that Changed the World series where we will focus on the last 24 hours of Jesus' life, we will also be challenged to offer 2,400 (twenty-four hundred) hours of service. This service can be here or there, it can be anywhere, as long as you are offering your time and energy to serve others as you serve the Lord.
If you are looking forward to this and want to share ideas of where to serve please post a comment to this blog. You might be doing some unique service that others may want to join. Or you may have an idea of how to get someone else involved in service that is not currently doing something. We all have something to offer and we just need to find the right place to offer our gifts.
Go and serve the Lord, here and there.