by Chad Vinson, Fellowship Bible Church Mission Team Leader
I can remember like yesterday exactly where I was when I heard this sentence: “Ministry is about relationships.” Twenty-seven years later this sentence still has a profound influence on how I engage in ministry. I believe Maya Angelou was on to something when she wrote, "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." God has made us to be seen, to be heard, and to be loved.
This is the fourth summer our church from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, has sent a team to Catacamas, Honduras, to partner with Family Life Missions. This summer we had a team of 12 make the trip. What I have grown to appreciate about Family Life Missions is how they value relational ministry through the context of the local church.
Our mornings began by our team leading a devotional for the children who attend school on their property. Without fail after each devotional the children would linger around wanting to give us a hug or a high five. Our team did a phenomenal job making sure every child felt seen, felt heard and felt loved.
Most of our days were spent renovating two different houses in the same neighborhood and leading an afternoon Vacation Bible School for the children in the community. This summer we helped the Reyes Galeano Family and the Torrez Munoz Family with their house renovations. What you need to know about these families is that the local church selects which family receives the help. But that’s not the only encouraging news. Both of these families engage in a discipleship process in their local church. And if that was not enough, when we showed up to both houses to help, guess who was there to serve these families? Yep, their preacher and some members of the congregation. These family felt seen, they felt heard, and they felt loved!
What happened on this weeklong trip to Honduras is only something God could accomplish. About mid-week a shift happened. It was no longer us (the Americans) and them (the Hondurans). It was only us because they became our friends. From Rosy the cook, to Dana our translator, to Wilson our team lead, to Louis the construction worker, to Maria the grandmother of the mountain, to the high energy child William running around our construction site, it was a beautiful picture of the church.
The last day as we were packing up from the construction site, I noticed Louis who was sitting in the back of the truck bed. I learned throughout the week Louis speaks pretty good English. I walk over to Louis to tell him bye. He stands up and jumps out of the truck. He says these words to me, “Man, I am going to miss you. I love my friend!” Trying my best to hold back the tears, I responded, “I am going to miss you, too, and I love you, my friend.”
Two grown men from completely different cultures embrace each other in friendship. We both felt seen! We both felt heard! We both felt loved! As we were hugging, I whispered in his ear, “I will see you next summer, my friend!"
