Viola

My church, RiverTree Christian, is not having services this weekend. We are in the middle of a sermon series called iServe and this weekend, instead of hearing a message about serving in the community, we are supposed to go out and do it.

So today my family went to a home, along with some others from RiverTree, to hang drywall. We were partnering with an incredible ministry called Hammer & Nails (http://www.hammerandnails.org/). And as I always seem to forget, serving is way more about people than accomplishing a task. We met Viola and her son Alex. By the end of the day we learned about Viola and her family, about the passing of her husband last December, about how frightened she is without locks on her doors, and she shared her faith with us and invited us to church Sunday night.

So we got Viola's phone number and will return to install locks later this week.

Again and again, whether it's right here in my community or somewhere in South America, the lesson of ministering to people rings loud and true. I think the task is just a way to open the door to being truly involved in people's lives. To not view them as someone you've done something for, but as a friend and fellow traveller.

Oh yeah, and we hung some drywall. And Viola smiled.