Seeing Service as a Powerful Tool for Drawing People to Christ
I grew up in a Christian family. My father was the pastor of a church in La Vega, and it was normal to see people go to serve. My church served in our community, in prisons, and to the brethren of the church. I never wanted to go, even though inside I was afraid that I wasn’t doing the right thing. I stayed in fear for a long time because I did not know why serving was important, and no one had taught me how to serve others. That changed when I entered Manna and met Tara Miller.
Tara Miller taught me the true meaning of service. I learned that it is not only about bringing the word of God to people but also helping them in what they need. Jesus gave food to the crowd that followed Him and healed those in need of healing. That teaches me that He not only cares about their spiritual need but also their physical need and that is what service is about.
One person who has impacted the way I look at service is a woman named Lili, whom I met through Tara. The girls and I have been visiting, but over time we have not only gone to her house, but she also accompanies us to church and goes to our house -we try to do life with her. I say that she impacted my way of seeing service because she once said, “No one who had brought the word of God had ever decided to come and visit me constantly. They usually came once and showed no interest in my feelings.” I felt good that for the glory of God we decided to follow up with Lili.
I know that spiritual food is what we need most – without Christ we cannot do anything. He taught people about His Kingdom, but He also cared about people’s physical needs. With Lili I learned that we cannot go and throw a Bible at people and pretend that they should learn what to do without any direction. We also need to be friends who confront and are willing to walk together with those who want to start living for Christ.
I have learned that there are times that people will reject you when it comes to preaching to them and that not everyone is willing to hear the word of God. Not everyone wants to learn or be taught, but we must continue to strive to reach more people for the Kingdom.
From my personal experience, I believe that we need someone to teach us to serve. The real meaning of service.
Written by Raquel.
