They came, they saw they conquered.
We had a group of 12 amazing people visiting us from Holland to serve our community. This was part of their tour of the South East of England where they visited churches and through the church would meet people on estates and kids in schools and youth groups. They served in old people homes and met in a Cathedral - an impressive tour.
The last day and a half they spend with us here in Eastbourne. I had some big jobs lined up for them, thinking this would look good for them and for us as a community church, to DO stuff for those who are struggling to do things themselves (or at least get things done faster as there are 12 of them). I was focused on works, on having a result at the end of the day - be it a stripped room, a cleared garden, a school visited or several trips to the dump with our trailer. Nothing wrong with that - or so I thought.
What I had not planned or even given any thought to was the fact that these young people touched lives, beyond the work they did. Now that they have left us people are no longer talking about the jobs they did, they are talking about how lovely they are, how servant hearted, how fun, how easy going. These are all about character. they gave others hope, because of who they ARE. They served out of their character, they mingled, they left a legacy, because of who they ARE, not so much because of what they DID. (although the families that had the pleasure of them helping them are ever grateful)
The lesson I learned? Work on your character, what you do will be ok - but your character, who you are, is far more important. As the Bible tells me, Character produces HOPE and HOPE does not put us to shame ... go forth and build, grow and show character.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bridge2England/380750071978236
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg5febR7-7o
