Last month an {em} team spent a weekend serving with our ministry partners in San Francisco by preparing meals for the homeless, visiting shut-ins in the Tenderloin, and sharing hot chocolate and prayer with men and women on the street. As we served, we processed Jesus' command to serve the least of these (Matthew 25), and invited God to break our hearts for the things that break His.
Each and every time an {em} team visits San Francisco, God does some pretty amazing things. For the team that served in the Tenderloin in February, God showed us the value of simple acts of kindness. When we offered a cup of hot chocolate or a kind word or a simple smile or heartfelt prayer, we did so in an effort to communicate something about God. Our desire was to communicate God's love and value to people who are lost and broken. We also hoped our simple acts of kindness would speak without words the fact that God loves without an agenda.
As we served and processed all we saw and heard, we realized that God is so much better at unconditional love than we are. We learned that we're not all that good at loving without an agenda or loving without judgment. We learned humility and grace.
Overall, the weekend deconstructed a lot of our thoughts on what is means to live in a broken world. And in our attempt to bring hope and healing through simple acts of kindness, God did something in us. He grew a spirit of compassion and love where there had once been indifference and apathy.
It's our hope that, as our team returns to their "everyday lives," we will carry a heart for the broken and a spirit of compassion back into our homes, our churches, and our communities. We also hope we will continue to offer simple acts of kindness to people who are lost and broken as we continue to process what it means to love without an agenda.
Come with us next time as we serve, stretch, and grow!