Bisons for Christ (aka Blisters for Christ)
"Hi, my name is Ashli and I am a student at Harding University." I started the phone call with a friendly, cheeful voice. "I have a group of girls who would love to come over to your house and do some yard work for you as a part of our day of service called Bisons for Christ."
"Oh yes, Bisons for Christ, I know about that." She paused. "Did you say girls?"
"Yes, ma'am. Girls."
"Well, I thought I requested boys because I have a lot of yard work, and a ditch to be dug, and raking, and windows to be washed..."
I smiled to myself. "I think we have a group of hard-working girls that would be happy to give it a try and do as much as we can," I responded politiely. But inside I was remembering the two summers I spent in Nicaragua, where I became a ditch-digging pro. Give me a shovel. Bring it on!
That afternoon, about ten of us arrived at the woman's house with work clothes, shovels, rakes, and hands ready to serve. Two and a half hours later, we had raked all the leaves, cleaned all the windows, and dug that ditch! We also did some similar yard work for the lady next door.
Before we left, we circled up in the front yard with our team of yard-conquering girls and the two women we had helped. They thanked us, and we explained that we were serving in the name of Jesus Christ. "Before we go, would you mind if we prayed with you?" They happily agreed and even shared with us their specific requests, so we went around the circle and took turns praying for one another: us for them and them for us.
Before we got in our cars, the lady, our new-found friend and sister in Christ, stopped us. "You girls are welcome to come back anytime. I have a great backyard for a cook out, and my house is always a quiet place to study." We all happily chimed in to accept the invitation, and we are going to see her again on Thursday for a picnic in her backyard.
We loaded up the shovels and rakes, dusted off our pants, and jumped in our cars. My friend examined her hands and stated with joyful humor, "I am renaming this event Blisters for Christ!" I was so proud of our women for doing the work that was supposed to be assigned to boys, and we have the blisters to prove it!
I still have a nice round blister in between the middle fingers of my right hand. It prevents me from typing as fast as I normally do, even as I write this post. Feeling that blister reminds me of Jesus when He said, "Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant...for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:43, 45)
This is what it's all about: serving others in the name of Jesus because of the abundance of His grace and love that has been poured out on us. We in turn pour out on others.
This is what it's all about - getting ditches dug and hands dirtied, and then circling up to pray. It's about putting down the rakes to look people in the eye and speak the name of Jesus. And it's not just a one-day event, but a daily sacrifice of laying down self for the sake of lifting up Christ. I'd take a blister this big every day for the sake of finding this intense joy that comes from loving others and doing what Christ has called us to do.
"Oh yes, Bisons for Christ, I know about that." She paused. "Did you say girls?"
"Yes, ma'am. Girls."
"Well, I thought I requested boys because I have a lot of yard work, and a ditch to be dug, and raking, and windows to be washed..."
I smiled to myself. "I think we have a group of hard-working girls that would be happy to give it a try and do as much as we can," I responded politiely. But inside I was remembering the two summers I spent in Nicaragua, where I became a ditch-digging pro. Give me a shovel. Bring it on!
That afternoon, about ten of us arrived at the woman's house with work clothes, shovels, rakes, and hands ready to serve. Two and a half hours later, we had raked all the leaves, cleaned all the windows, and dug that ditch! We also did some similar yard work for the lady next door.
Before we left, we circled up in the front yard with our team of yard-conquering girls and the two women we had helped. They thanked us, and we explained that we were serving in the name of Jesus Christ. "Before we go, would you mind if we prayed with you?" They happily agreed and even shared with us their specific requests, so we went around the circle and took turns praying for one another: us for them and them for us.
Before we got in our cars, the lady, our new-found friend and sister in Christ, stopped us. "You girls are welcome to come back anytime. I have a great backyard for a cook out, and my house is always a quiet place to study." We all happily chimed in to accept the invitation, and we are going to see her again on Thursday for a picnic in her backyard.
We loaded up the shovels and rakes, dusted off our pants, and jumped in our cars. My friend examined her hands and stated with joyful humor, "I am renaming this event Blisters for Christ!" I was so proud of our women for doing the work that was supposed to be assigned to boys, and we have the blisters to prove it!
I still have a nice round blister in between the middle fingers of my right hand. It prevents me from typing as fast as I normally do, even as I write this post. Feeling that blister reminds me of Jesus when He said, "Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant...for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:43, 45)
This is what it's all about: serving others in the name of Jesus because of the abundance of His grace and love that has been poured out on us. We in turn pour out on others.
This is what it's all about - getting ditches dug and hands dirtied, and then circling up to pray. It's about putting down the rakes to look people in the eye and speak the name of Jesus. And it's not just a one-day event, but a daily sacrifice of laying down self for the sake of lifting up Christ. I'd take a blister this big every day for the sake of finding this intense joy that comes from loving others and doing what Christ has called us to do.
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