We have had Chinese University Professors visiting with us at the church. They have toured around all the historical sites while staying with Christian families and listening to lectures on Religious freedom in America and Christianity. I worked through the details of the schedule, making sure they had a place to sleep. Sure there were some snafus like I forgot to order them boxed lunches to take with them for their departure to the next city. So I ran to Wawa and ordered turkey hoagies... I got to sit in on one of the lectures with the pastor - which was really just stories of his recent experiences in China. I emailed him after everyone had left:
“I gotta tell you I was so blessed listening to what you had to say to the Chinese. It’s easy to lose sight of the big picture when you focus so much on the details: Plane departures, confirmation #s, hours in a day etc. The thought occurred to me that someday I will get to heaven and I will see the fruit of all those collective labors. I helped make your schedule so you could get to the place God planned you to be so you could plant a seed. So someday I will see the results of all the seeds planted from your seeds. So I may not be planting seeds myself but I have been getting the farmer to the field. It was good to see that with fresh eyes. The body of Christ at work….”
His response to me:
“This is what Jesus was talking about when He said that not even a cup of water given in His name will lose its reward! All of our collective efforts make His ministry here on earth possible. Every task matters. As Francis Schaeffer used to say, “There are no little people.”
So maybe it wasn't so much the pride of working for a prestigious man but the honor of working for a humble servant of God and knowing that's not my part in the body of Christ anymore that has me feeling weepy (coupled with moving away from my friends). What I do have to look forward to is all the eternal glories of all the people rescued into family of God because I helped one man get to China, France, Africa, Spain, Phoenix, Florida. And his work multiplies as each person he plants a seed with goes forward with their own new seeds.
And so I will miss being apart of something so big and glorious.
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