04.28.09
Finding my mission field
I’m naturally a very detail-orientated, administratively-minded gal. I get all googly over magazine folders, storage tubs, colored file tabs, and all other organizational paraphernalia. While these character traits really come in handy in my line of work and even in my community involvement, they can also blind me to the bigger picture.This past weekend I was given a taste of that big picture and it encouraged me profoundly.
I’m involved in a young non-profit called Second Stories. I’m super passionate about it! Through this I became involved with Compassion Connect and am now helping at a health clinic in SE Portland. Last weekend, I went to tour the first Compassion Clinic of 2009 and it was deeply moving. I witnessed several dental procedures taking place, spoke with some of the patients and many of the volunteers. What I saw there last weekend was a picture of what I imagine the mission field in Africa or another third world country might look like. Only, it was right here in my own neighborhood. Doctors and nurses were gathered around patients in plastic chaise lounges in the middle of an elementary school classroom. This is not your typical antiseptic hospital environment.
Administrative details are important and ultimately they are needed to help ensure the success of events like the Compassion Clinics but they are not worth being mired in so deep that the overwhelming sovereignty of Christ gets lost. My God is miraculous and HE is here in SE Portland. This past Saturday was a powerful reminder from Him that this is not my work alone…and that He controls the outcomes. I may not have been a “patient” at the clinic on Saturday in the traditional sense of the word but in all other respects I was one, and I left there having been offered hope and healing.
It’s given me a lot of food for thought on what mission and being missional mean.
