Insecurities in Ministry

December provided another great trip to Uganda. Its beginning to sound repetitive but people's lives were changed through the experience without question. We've seen people meet Christ for the first time, have transitions in thought toward Christianity and missions, return to Charleston passionate about life and none of those take into account the impact we've had medically on the people of Masindi. I dont know that I've ever been a part of or seen an organization that is having this kind of intense impact in the lives of its volunteers. It's really got nothing to do with my role in it because I am simply here watching how God will lead and what He will continue to do. My biggest fear for the organization is that I will somehow get in His way and slow down what He is doing.

This is why I am baffled by my thoughts below...

It seems that over the past year, the one group of people I have had the hardest time getting to buy in to what we're doing is the church. Sure, they want us to provide opportunities for their people or they recognize that there is indeed some level of benefit to what we are doing but they are not really not that interested in what we are all about.

I see groups who will partner with us behind closed doors but dont want to recognize us in their church, any of their marketing and would really prefer that no one have any clue about who we are. I also see churches that will not support or condone their members joining us on a trip.

One such story came from a person who attended the December trip with us. This girl's life was radically changed by the experience as her entire concept of missions was transformed bringing her life, joy and excitement. She could have missed that entire experience if it were up to her place of worship. Did they really do their homework to find out what we're all about? One simple phone call or email? No. If it did not contain a faith billboard then they weren't signing off on it.

I would certainly never claim to be an expert or extremely knowledgeable about ministry in this country or globally. I have worked for or with churches and non-profits across the US but I still have a very limited understanding of all that is out there. I know that there are thousands of churches that are doing amazing things in the world including the one that I attend. But, there seems to be a mindset that I dont know if God ever intended to be present in most churches. That is, many churches believe that by their definition they are the standard of ministry to their community and the world. Regardless of what kind of ministry they are actually involved in locally and globally they believe that their work and mission strategy exceeds that which is taking place in other organizations.

During our last trip to Uganda the team was going through one of the last days of clinic. Everyone was exhausted as they had seen more than 1500 patients and had done an excellent job of treating people with compassion, prayer and meeting people's physical needs across the board. That evening, we were enjoying dinner and a time for people to share about their day, what they had seen and how it had impacted them. Just before we started sharing a man stood up who had visited the clinic with his wife. The man was an American and was looking at the area hoping to learn from some of the things we were doing and have a chance to replicate the work in Northern Uganda.

As he stood up, I anticipate some encouraging words for the group. After all, as an outsider he was coming into a group of people who had given sacrificially of their time and resources to bring healing to struggling people across the world. After a brief introduction of himself, came a phrase that I certainly wasnt expecting..."I have a little constructive criticism for your group". What? Excuse me? Who are you? Did he really just say that? Who let him in here? Can I get him out? Those thoughts and others were running through my head.

As he made his critique known to us it was clear that there was not a real problem of any kind that he was addressing but rather a push of his agenda. He noted (on more than one occasion) that we "really need to consider adding healing prayer" to our ministry. This, of couse, was out of a complete lack of knowledge about what we were doing in the clinic. The problem was though that he really didnt care what we were already doing, he wanted things to be done a certain way and no matter how many times our group or myself personally told him that we offer to pray with every person that comes in the door, it didnt matter because things needed to be done his way or they were worthless.

It's funny to me that this attitude is so common in the church. Everyone really believes that their way of ministering to a person is truly better than what someone else is doing. The scary thing is that it is such a strong feeling that it could cause you to stand up in front of 30 people you've never met and know nothing about and tell them how to do their ministry better when you yourself have done nothing and do not even have the training or ability to minister on the level that they are.

Im sure that there are a lot of people who would really prefer that we identify Palmetto Medical as a faith based organization. Im sure it would make a lot more people comfortable and willing to buy-in to what we're doing. The truth is that there are a lot of days that I would love to do just that - it would certainly be a lot easier. But, I have never had the conviction that we are doing anything other than what Christ has for us and He certainly has blessed what is going on in extreme ways that are shocking to me. It would be hard for me to believe that He would continue to open doors, change people's lives, bring in the resources and guide so clearly if He wasnt happy with the way things are going.

So, I guess we will just have to continue to justify ourselves to the church for now. Im always convinced that the stories of people coming to know Christ and pursue him with unbridled passion will bring down the wall but that wall is tall and wide and it will certainly take time for many fellow believers to understand the potential for ministry outside the box. When they do though they will realize that the way people meet Christ and experience his goodness often takes place outside of a church pew.