Urgency

I’m still wondering, trying to figure out exactly why I’m here.  I can’t teach Bible study, I can’t give a sermon, the men won’t let me carry stuff, the cooks have all the meals covered.  Yesterday Alexis came over to talk to us, and as if he knew what I had been thinking about, he told us this:

You may not think you are doing much by being here or you aren’t sure what your purpose is here, but it means a lot.  It has greater ramifications than you’ll ever be aware of.  These kids experience so much at camp, they learn so much about God in this one week that they would otherwise never experience.

If we waited until we had better conditions with more bathrooms or less mosquitoes, this camp would never happen.  We don’t know the next time the parents will let the kids come, or the government will allow it, or we’ll have the resources to pull it off.  We have to grab the opportunity whenever it comes.

That struck me.  This sense of urgency.  Taking risks, being resourceful, doing what you have to, even if the conditions aren’t ideal.  For me, I don’t want to do something unless I know I can do it perfectly.  I need to have all the right resources and the perfect circumstances.  I’m so afraid of failure that sometimes I never manage to attempt anything to begin with.  I don’t realize that it’s not necessarily the outcome that matters; that somewhere along the way, in the attempt, God can teach and use me more than I ever imagined. 

I’m realizing all that I take for granted.  Not just a bounty of food, 24 hours a day of running water or a car that can take me wherever I want, but also opportunities that appear right in front of me - opportunities to share about God, to love and to serve.  Even if the conditions aren’t ideal, even if the end result isn’t what I imagined, God wants me to grab the opportunity, take a risk and see what amazing things He can do.

-Christina