“It was just as important to know the person’s name and their background as it was that they got a cup of coffee or they got something to eat.” – Kaleo Participant in Portland, OR

This statement was made by one of our Kaleo team members reflecting on their week of ministry in Portland.  His team had been involved in several ministries throughout the week, providing very tangible needs to the people of the city.  However, this guy learned throughout the week that ministry is not simply about us coming to the city, doing a few good things for people and then leaving, feeling good about ourselves for what we did. While doing all that we can to bless people and meet their needs is important, ministry is ultimately about relationships and the power of the Holy Spirit using relationships to transform lives.  It is about loving people showing them that you genuinely care for them.  Not that you just care about completing some act of service for them, but that you care about them as a person and that you love them genuinely.  When we understand ministry from this perspective, our focus changes.  While we do whatever we can to meet the physical needs of people, that isn’t all there is to ministry.  We are called to love people and that involves authentically caring for the whole person.

When we look at the Gospels, this is what we see in the life of Christ.  He not only preached to people or healed people, but he wanted to know people.  He spent time with them.  Matthew 9 is a perfect example.  In verse 9 the Gospel records the story of Christ’s calling of Matthew, a tax collector, to follow him.  That’s amazing in and of itself, that Christ would call a tax collector, someone society would have considered worthless.  But he didn’t just call him to follow him and move on.  In verse 10, we see Christ at Matthew’s house eating with “many tax collectors and sinners.” Christ’s love for people was intimate.  He did not just save them and leave them.  He loved them.  He genuinely cared for them.  He wanted to spend time with them.

As followers of Christ this is our mission as well.  God has blessed us and given us the ability to be able to serve others out of the abundance that He has given us.  However, we are not about just giving somebody something and then walking away feeling good about ourselves and what we have done.  No, ministry is about loving people, knowing who they are and where they come from.  It is about caring for someone’s needs and listening intently to their stories.  It is about caring for people authentically.

One of our prayers for every person who comes on a Kaleo mission trip is that they will leave with a greater love for people.  Not that we will love what we do for people, but that we will truly love people and that what we do for them will flow out of our genuine love.