Mother/Daughter Team June 17

SERVICE
How does one competently explain this word? Do you talk about the actions or emotions behind a job? Is it even a job? Or is the meaning behind the word really ingrained in the first part… serve? This question lingered because we were here to serve but, do we truly know what it means to serve?
As our team began the trip to the center in San Juan, one of our leaders, Tracey, shared a devotional on what service meanS. She explained the truth of the real joy that comes from service to our mighty God. It brought back the reality of how quickly we become caught up in our own life and forget that we follow a God that became a servant to the world in order to represent His incredible love for us. We become self-centered. Rushed. Rude. Our lives become strictly about what we want and what we desire. I thought it was extremely appropriate for Tracey to start out the trip by discussing the meaning service. She showed us that 1) Jesus has equipped each one of us to serve… but in and with our own special gifts and talents. {How cool of God to create us each uniquely?} 2) It is our duty to serve as we are followers of Jesus Christ. 3) Jesus will give us everything we need in order to serve him and to make His name great.
This was such a fantastic reminder and encouragement as we prepared to enter the Center, and it was clear that everyone loved hearing what Tracey had to say. It was even cooler when she began: “Sometimes we feel guilty because we are so blessed in the U.S….” I immediately nodded to myself. It can be hard to go back to America and be overwhelmed with entering my neighborhood of “haves” after leaving a city full of “have-nots”. Then Tracey continued saying that the Lord has blessed us in order to go out and proclaim His name to all nations. We have so much so that we easily can go out and share the gospel with people all around the world. Again, the perfect thing for everyone’s ears- how blessed we were to hear the thoughts that God had given Tracey to share particularly with us that very morning. {We serve such a purposeful God!}
Then we drove up that beautiful hill that most of us knew would lead up to the Malnutrition Center. We walked in the doors and after a tour we ran to the babies. For some it was unbelievable. For others it was unexpected. Compared to last year, I was blown away by the new organization and supplies that were brought to the Center, and I was blown away by the health of most of the children. They looked fantastic! All except for one little boy… Jose could only lie in his bed and look at the ceiling. Everything about him looked miserable. He didn’t want to be held, didn’t want to be touched, didn’t even want to be talked to. As one of our nurses that came along with us tried to give him an IV, it was clear that he wasn’t rounding the corner that he so desperately needed to be rounding. So, the Doc came and took him to the hospital and we are all praying that health returns to little Jose very soon. Please join us in praying the same…
Many emotions came over us as we had to part with the babies, but we all know that we will be returning tomorrow to love on those little children once more. We all ask for your prayers as we continue to serve, imperfect as it may be, in order to bring our mighty Jesus all the glory.