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Saturday, March 17, 2012

Changing Paradigms

3/14/12

BUCARAMANGA, COLOMBIA — I have always been afraid of getting too comfortable in life. Ellen White wrote that the descendants of Cain were distinguished by their material progress and looked for comfortable lives, but the descendants of Seth lived as strangers in the land seeking for a heavenly country (Patriarchs and Prophets, 81.1). Since I am a God-fearing Christian, I’d like to consider myself a spiritual descendant of Seth, an ambassador for God in a foreign land. But my experience this past summer showed that I was far too comfortable to be an effective ambassador.

A month before the 2010-2011 school year ended, I was offered a spot on a mission trip to preach an evangelistic series in Colombia. After accepting, things miraculously fell into place, and soon I was on an airplane to Bucaramanga, Colombia.

I found that I loved preaching because it was wonderful to see people accept Jesus into their lives. And then I noticed other remarkable occurrences. For example, a vast majority of the church members were attending every night. What made this so amazing was that most members worked from 7am to 7pm and then literally ran from their jobs to the meeting.

I quickly realized that my congregation had a much better understanding of what it meant to be a spiritual ambassador than I did. A 10-year old boy named Michael would push his invalid father in his wheelchair up and down steep hills until they got to church. Jessica, a girl with a disease that caused her skin to peel off and required her to be fully bandaged, attended the meetings whenever she could, despite how painful it was for her to get into her wheelchair. Youth from the church would get Jessica from her house and push her up the hills to take her to the meeting. My congregation’s passion for service made me acutely aware of my lack of passion.

Although I am an active Christian, my congregation’s faith bore evident fruits, and I could not say the same for myself. Why was there such a difference between my congregation’s spiritual flame and mine? Joel 2:23 tells us of a latter rain, and when Ellen White describes those who will receive this rain she says, “Daily they are improving the opportunities for service that lie within their reach” (AA 55.3). She then contrasts these individuals with those who neglect such opportunities and merely, “look forward to a time when, without effort on their part, they will be made the recipients of special blessings…” (AA 54.1).

Why was there a difference in our flames? Because my congregation was grasping for every opportunity for service, and I was sifting through them. God was saying to me, “Carpe Diem! Seize the day! Give it your all!” God is calling each one of us to make use of all the opportunities He gives us, not just some of them. He is calling us to allow the Comforter to lead us out of our comfort zone and into the field that we may be descendants of Seth. He is calling us to let it rain.

Daniela Alé-Salvo {story} :: Photos contributed


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