Romania Mission Trip 2014 – Completed!

In this last week of ministry in Romania, we have been serving along side some of the most kind, loving and hospitable believers in the world. Not only did they take care of the team by making sure that we had enough food, clean laundry and somewhere comfortable to stay to make everything possible for us to best serve the Gospel each day, but they did so out of a genuine servant heart of love, firstly to God and secondly to their fellow believers in Christ serving in the mission fields of their own country. While we were able to minister to people in prisons and churches by preaching the Gospel, in turn our team felt ministered to by these local believers who loved us, fed us, and took care of us. What a wonderful joy it will be to spend eternity in heaven with such wonderful believers as these. Our message to each of them is simply “WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH, and we cannot wait to return to Romania to fellowship with you once again as we continue the Lord’s work of spreading the Gospel!”

Of course, there are lots of other people in the world that have a genuine heart to serve others in the most amazing of ways, but sadly this is not always the case with everyone. For some people, service is really self-serving as an extension of their own selfishness. In the Gospel of Mark we can learn a lot from the struggles amongst the disciples, and as we look at Scripture we can see that there is a strong mentality amongst them at one stage of their development that seeks to believe that following the Lord Jesus would make them great!

It is here that we see the Lord Jesus putting them straight on this issue when He calls them together and says to them “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” (Mark 10:42-44) What a profound truth – and so we can see here that our Lord Jesus was making it so clear that they were only ever training to become servants – and the same applies to each of us today. Regardless of how many amazing and dazzling leadership sermons, tapes, courses, conferences and summits we might listen to and attend, the fact remains that the only people that remain good leaders are those who are genuine servants that lead with humility and love. I want to follow the wonderful example of my Romanian brothers and sisters from my last mission trip, and above all the example of my Lord Jesus who “…did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28). Hallelujah, what a Saviour!!!

One of my ministry supporters, Laura Barnett posted this following image today on her Facebook, which inspired me to write this short reflection.