Interruptible... an essential ministry quality

It just so happened... I've never been an official "missionary" before, but I am enjoying learning how it works. One thing I've learned above all else is to be ready for the interruption. Three times in the last week, I've been interrupted.

1. Last Sunday, during dinner at One Voice Fellowship, I planned to join a friend at their table for some casual conversation. But then I noticed a new American couple and their African friend and an empty seat beside them. I interrupted my plan and joined the guests. Turns out the gentleman was visiting from Uganda, where he is a pastor and also runs a school and orphanage. The pastor was heading to Oklahoma for a conference and was also hoping to learn how to set up a non-profit in the US to help support his ministry. My morning church (Cornerstone) "just happens" to also have a children's home in Uganda with a state-side non-profit entity to assist with fundraising. Out of all the people at One Voice Fellowship that night, I was the one person with the connection that could help him in what he is trying to do. If I hadn't been interruptible, we never would have met.

2. Tuesday was long and tiring, and I just wanted to go home, but we needed groceries, so I stopped at Trader Joe's down the street from our ministry area. This is in the center of one of the most diverse zip codes in the US. I am always a minority when I shop here - both in appearance and in language. During checkout, I usually enjoy conversing with the clerks (it is Trader Joe's after all). But today, I was thankful to get the clerk at the far, quiet end of the line. I put my hands in my face and rested while he rang up my total. I didn't want to talk, I just wanted to go to sleep. "Long day for you?" Yes, I replied, "I'm a teacher and some days are very long." He asked what I taught and shared that I teach both high school math and also teach English to adult immigrants and refugees. The clerk at the next station turned to me... "Really! How much are the classes? My mother and my family want to learn English, but we don't know where to go!" It "just so happened" that the clerk next to mine had been researching English programs with no luck. My energy revived by his enthusiasm, I dashed out to my car and grabbed business cards providing instructions on how to sign up for classes. If I had only been focused on getting home as fast as possible, if I hadn't been interruptible, I might have missed this chance to meet Muhammed and possibly his family.

3. This morning, I sat in the quiet room at church just off from the front doors. I had snuck in so no one could see me or say hello, and I hid behind the privacy screen in the mother's nursing chair. I needed some good time journaling and hoped to complete all my thoughts before the main service began in 30 minutes. Halfway through my journaling, right when I was talking with God about purpose and having him direct my steps, a foreign voice was at the door of the church. "Is this a church, and may I come in?" I didn't want to be interrupted. I had hid in this corner so I wouldn't be interrupted. My sentence wasn't finished, and my journal thoughts were incomplete. Other people were greeting her; did I really need to be interrupted? But I stepped out into the foyer and made a new friend. Melvis is from Cameroon, living with a friend just a few blocks away. She "just happened" to be looking for a church since, in her recent move to the US, she hasn't been able to go to church. I "just happened" to be in the quiet room. Normally I go to Sunday School or sit in other places. Melvis and I enjoyed talking about so many things before the service. We are both teachers, we both love Jesus, we both are trying to live life on tight teacher income, and we both have spouses far away. If I hadn't been interruptible - - even if it means letting my time with God be interrupted -- I would have missed this new friendship and new connection.

Please pray for Pastor John of Uganda as he spends another ten days in the US raising support for his church and ministry.

Pray for Muhammed that he will reach out to me or to FTN to learn about English classes for his family.

Pray for Melvis that we will have the opportunity to meet this week. Pray I can encourage her as she seeks to connect with God and find her way in this new country.