Dear Friends,
Michael+ and our boys recently served in Black Mountain at a “Hurricane Helene Relief” work camp hosted by the Anglican Relief & Development Fund (ARDF). People of all ages, and from around the country, came to help paint walls, pull weeds, remove debris, and do other unglamorous work in support of those impacted by Helene.
It’s surprising to some that these kinds of trips are still needed two years after the flood. Those of us who are up close to the damage understand that the recovery work is in many ways just getting started. Healing and renewal take time.
I’ve been reflecting on how this is true not only in the physical world, but in the spiritual world as well. Our lives, impacted by sin, brokenness, trauma, and loss, don’t get cleaned up overnight.
God’s renewing work in us is the work of a lifetime. And, God delights in partnering with many different types of people to do that work in our lives.
The ministry of friends, parents, pastors, neighbors, and teachers all come together–like a group of volunteers on a work trip–to do something bigger together than any one of them could do on their own.
In the end, no single person gets to take credit for God’s sanctifying and healing work in another’s life. But many will have been workers in that harvest. Many will see the brushstrokes they made in partnership with the Holy Spirit.
This past Sunday, July 5, we had our second monthly Prayer Ministry Sunday, where a team of volunteers are available to pray for you during Communion. This is not a “one and done” kind of ministry, in which we expect all your problems to be resolved. But it is an opportunity to open yourself to God’s renewing work, to receive more of his “relief and development” in your life through the ministry of others who love Him.
It may seem like just a brushstroke. But I invite you to come forward during these times each month in expectation that it’s part of a big and beautiful project that one day you’ll behold with awe.
For you,
Hannah+
