In May, during the King’s Kid School term break, I gathered a small crew from church to do some minor construction projects at the school campus. One of the teachers, named Godi, was hanging around just watching, so one day I asked him if he wanted to help. Since he lived on campus and had no other plans for the break, he joined the work crew.
He did not know much about mixing cement or laying bricks, but he seemed to enjoy learning with us. While we worked together, we had many meaningful conversations. He felt comfortable to ask questions, like: Is the Bible true? What is the Kingdom of God? What is tithing all about? What does God want me to wear to church? How do I respond to someone who does me wrong? Even though the conversations meant that the task at hand was taking longer, I answered
as best I could from Scripture and from my own experience, and he seemed encouraged.
One of the beautiful things that living in Africa for the last four years has taught me is the fulfilling joy and freedom found when we let go of our tasks for a moment, put down the shovel and just enjoy the people. It is also the best way to make disciples.
Did you know, another way of translating the Great Commission phrase “Go and make disciples” is “As you are going, make disciples”? In other words, it is as we go about our daily lives - at home, at school, at work, in our neighborhood, on our errands – that we partner with Jesus in making disciples wherever we are, whatever we are doing. For me, this has meant having Jesus-centered conversations with the people that I am working with.
A week or so after the work was finally completed, Godi mentioned to me how much that time together had meant to him, and that he was looking forward to the next project. Since then, he often seeks me out to have conversations about the Bible. It is a joy to see how much that small investment in relationship had meant to him.
Making disciples is worth the time and energy and inefficiency and decreased productivity and missed deadlines. It’s worth it all.
