Rachel’s Reflection
As we are nearing the end of the summer, I am finding myself redefining the word mission. Often times when we think of mission trips, the idea of building habitat houses, of long days of strenuous work with the end produce easily visible, all these images come to mind. Now all of these things are definitely important parts of mission work, but what I have seen through my work with Asheville Youth Mission this summer is that often times its not about the end result, as one of our interns Eva Hall always says “sometimes it’s the process not the product that is the most important”.
We have talked on various occasions this summer about presence. What does it mean to really be present with another person? To sit with another person for a moment in time and listen to them, to look them in the eyes, and really hear what they are saying. I am beginning to believe that in order to do mission you must start with a ministry of presence. We must open our eyes to the people whom we are serving and those whom we serve with, and see them, really see them in order to even begin fulfilling this ministry of mission. When you take the time to sit under the Haywood tree and ask someone about their life, or to sit at a lunch table at the VRQ hearing stories of struggle and survival, to nestle into the sandbox at the Irene Wortham Center and hear a child tell you about how she just learned to tie her shoes, all of these things make mission, and ministry possible.
Throughout the work this summer, we have completed some pretty incredible projects, but we have also learned names, heard stories, and took a moment to stop moving so fast in our busy complicated world and realized the beauty of the person sitting beside us, the child holding our hand, the person who has been passed by. Isn’t that what Jesus did? Saw people for who they were, and chose to share bread, to share the road, to share time? Asheville Youth Mission has taught me this summer that in order to begin this daunting task of changing the world, we just have to reach out our hands and open up our eyes to the beautiful children of God directly in front of us.
