Using Your Talents
Special Note: The college group will be taking a mission trip to USC very soon. See Pastor TJ for a chance to win a free trip!
It isn’t that often that I actually would post something on the website, but I figured the staff would oblige me this once. I was digging through some old files on my computer and found this “hindsight journal entry” from a mission trip down to the Urban Scholastic Center (USC) in Kansas City in the summer of 2006. I hope it encourages you to seek out opportunities to use your talents for God - to accomplish His purpose in your life and the lives of others…
Before KC, didn’t know what was coming – but I anticipated God showing me many things.
I had to set myself in the right mindset, prepare for the unexpected – inner city, drugs, crime.
I didn’t find out until the last day that the apartment complex we had been working at had a shooting happen there not too long ago. I did a quick study the first morning we were there and I read about doing service in Matthew and Jesus said simply, “It’s better to give than to receive.”
The first thing I found out when we were having a group discussion is that all of the picnic tables we had set up last year were taken, the aluminum was ripped out, and sold for scrap.
My first reaction was, “Well, why the heck are we putting up new ones?!?!” Then that thought came back to me – it’s better to give than to receive. So I said to God, “Ok, you show me why we’re doing this then and what this is all about – because I want to know.”
As I learned over the weekend, we weren’t there just to some jobs. Some jobs…you know it’s interesting that we had such a talented crew around with us. You should have seen the basketball poll they put up. That thing must have weighed at least 100-200 lbs, if not more. You know how level that was? Exactly level! I was amazed at how gifted some of our team was in construction.
Since I’m not very talented in construction, there were other things I could thankfully do. There had been some problems with the computers that we had donated in 2004 – someone locked out the computers with passwords so no one could use them. Again, I had to reflect back to the give rather than receive. So another guy and I got to work and over two days, fixed the passwords and set them up so they could get on the internet – so people could find jobs.
We were called there by God because He needed the talents he gifted us with. We answered the call because we know in our hearts that when God needs our talents, we need to respond.
It finally hit me of why we were doing this on the second day and a man was playing basketball and asked us where we were from. Dave said that we had driven down from South Dakota. He asked why we did that to which Dave replied, “Well, we just wanted to do all this for you.” The man paused for a second and kind of shook his head in disbelief but then in acceptance and said, “Man that’s a real blessin’.”
Hardly anyone came to the cookout – I was a bit frustrated. The next day, Chuck said that during the cookout, he needed a spatula and went to one of the apartments to get one. As he neared, he saw three small faces pressed against the glass. Chuck didn’t have to say any more – I knew. They were watching. Chuck continued with an analogy about light and darkness that filled my head with an amazing picture. A pillar of God’s light and love shown down that weekend on that basketball court surrounded by an apartment complex. The darkness ran and hid to the only places it could, those apartments. But three little faces and surely more saw the goodness of God that weekend.
Blessings,
Ed
