Ministry Focus: Service Projects
By Elizabeth Barnard
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Wise words from Winston Churchill. Our society is often focused more on getting than on giving, and that’s a rut we’d do well to break out of.
I love Churchill’s mentality, and this giving of self is especially welcome on mission trips. When we are on a mission trip, it’s not about us but about what God wants to do in and through us while we are serving others. Serving opens up avenues of communication, creating trust and encouragement.
Service projects grant us a wonderful (indeed serendipitous) entrance into the lives of strangers. Those we serve question why groups are motivated to give, and this opens great conversations about the gospel and Christ giving of Himself to us.
Service projects may be done on the church itself, or to help clean up the village, or maybe bless a family in the village. The service projects are different depending on the location and time of year. Some of the service projects may seem small, but they all make a huge impact in the village, in the church, and they serve as a valuable lesson (or reminder) for those on the team.
Types of Service Projects
Some of the most common service projects are:
- Painting (inside, outside, concrete, wood)
- Cleaning up trash
- Washing walls of a home
- Sweeping
- Pulling weeds around the church or a house.
- Cutting grass with a machete
I deeply enjoy painting in Belize. To Belizeans it is not just a color that you are painting on the wall of their house—it is an identity that they have wanted and can now have. Paint transforms homes and the lives within. As you paint a home, members of the family often join you in this project. Typically, they will keep to the sidelines painting small jobs or filling up paint buckets while still watching in awe as their house is converted to something of their dreams.
Hope Restored
In other people, painting restores hope. While painting the home of a grandmother and granddaughter in January the granddaughter took off a day of school to stay with the group. She joined in painting the house, provided juice and small sandwiches for the group as a token of appreciation, and exuded joy when the job was complete. It was more than just a service project: it was a life changed, a spirit lifted, and a soul inspired.
Later that evening we saw the grandmother. She hugged each of us as she cried tears of joy and thankfulness as she took in the beauty of her home. She took pride now in where she lived and she walked with a head lifted higher than before.
Clean Streets
Picking up trash is one of my favorite service projects. It requires two things: a bag and a willing heart. The difference between a clean street versus one littered with chip bags and gum wrappers is huge. I love the ease of this service project because many times while I was picking up trash a Belizean child who I had bonded with that week would grab the other side of my trash bag and walk with me, picking up trash without me even asking.
We were then able to show others how to take care of their area as well as have a deeper one-on-one conversations about the week, God, and matters of the heart. We serve others because He first served and loved us. By serving, we show love; by loving, we serve and depict Christ; and by depicting Christ, God is glorified.
Ready to Serve
Service projects make a great ministry option because is there is always something to do. And though we plan some service projects ahead of time, teams often have the chance to do more than what was planned. Check with your trip leader for many of these options while you are serving.
“No act of kindness, no matter how small is ever wasted.” –Aesop
Elizabeth Barnard is a missions consultant and trip leader at Thirst Missions.
