A Ministry of Nothing (Until it Depends on God)

by Galen Hong - GUM Newsletter, Summer 2009

 

   For a long time, the portrait of ministry in my mind included people who have a passionate desire to make a difference amid the world’s brokenness, who are gifted with initiative and abilities to engage and serve others, who dedicate their lives to God’s work on earth, and whose work show visible signs of God’s kingdom breaking in. That’s not a bad picture. However, I don’t see myself in that picture. I want to serve the Lord, but my passion is questionable. I’m socially challenged, my life is divided in many ways, and the signs of the kingdom breaking in are inseparable from signs to the contrary. What of any significance could I contribute to the Church’s ministry?

   This perception has been, and often still is, an obstacle to my participation in the Church’s service or outreach. Yet, I am grateful for the Lord’s kindness and grace in gradually revealing to me a new picture of ministry. This new picture includes abandoning our strengths and resources and bringing ourselves fully – with all our weakness and failings – to see what Christ would do with us. My journey with Grace Learning Partners/Kaleo, a ministry coordinated through GUM at Grace Fellowship Community Church, has been particularly helpful in revealing this new picture.

   Grace Learning Partners (GLP) began in the late ‘90s and was a ministry for adults and parents to find, as the name implies, partners to help learn new skills and be better able to adapt to life in the city. Initially, we offered assistance with English, computers, and citizenship, and occasionally other individual support. This seemed like something we were quite able to do. I knew a thing or two about computers, and I was comfortable sharing this knowledge. Over time, I developed a series of training presentations introducing computers, became more confident teaching the subject matter, and even received some nice compliments along the way. I believed at that point I had something to contribute to the Church’s ministry.

   GLP’s attendance, however, began to decline over times. While some were able to come consistently, others frequently faced conflicting work and family schedules. Some felt guilty about not coming regularly, forgetting what was previously taught, or falling behind in the training. GLP in some ways had become a place of burden rather than a place of welcome.

   To underscore Christ’s invitation and welcome, GLP was reshaped to form Kaleo (pronounced kal-eh’-o), taken from the Greek word meaning to call, or invite, or to call by name. While Kaleo still offered education and training assistance, it had become a ministry of hospitality. Informality and “hanging out” replaced careful plans and structures, sharing a meal and relationships became more important than sharing expertise or solving any problems, and participants were welcomed more as the people they were than the needs they represented.

   These were good changes, but they produced challenges for us. We could no longer plan and prepare the ways we were comfortable, we were dependent on whom and what God would bring on the days we met, and we were dependent on Him to provide what we needed to join our participants where they were. It was also more difficult to explain what we did in Kaleo. Some of us even joked that it was “a ministry about nothing”, since we couldn’t necessarily plan or explain what God would have us do from one gathering to the next.

   The changes were also very challenging for me personally. I generally don’t do well in informal social settings. I’m not much of a conversationalist, and, when you throw in the differences of language and culture we often have in Kaleo, my end of the conversation often comes to a halt. My confidence was replaced with unnerving vulnerability, and what I thought I could contribute to the ministry I could no longer bring. Nevertheless, I have come week after week with a mix of fear and curiosity to see what God would do with us and with me. And what I’ve seen is that God does not despise our weakness, but is gracious to include us in His plans. More people have come, and I believe they have felt welcomed, but more importantly, many have continued to come for reasons that can only be explained by something God is doing.

   I have seen people and families being known and cared for and extended dignity in a way the world cannot. I have seen participants find a safe place where they can relax and receive help, whether it’s with a particular life need or simply with childcare so they can find a moment of rest. They have found companionship beyond the gathered times. I have seen people come to Kaleo with sometimes overwhelming need and burden and somehow met in a profound way by God through His people.

   I have seen fellow Kaleo staff find their hearts broken for those they care for, feel and know their own inadequacy, call out to God for help, and find company and God’s provision in their midst. God knows us and our failings and yet calls us to serve with whatever we have. He does not disqualify us. We’ve been humbled to know we can’t solve anything, but we’ve been given His grace and reminded of His faithfulness. Our part in God’s plans needs other parts, and it need’s God to use them as He will to bring about what He will. Our conversion is wrapped up with each other, both staff and participants. This is the new picture of ministry unfolding for me. I am able to see and know God working in our weakness – this is grace. This is the Lord’s doing. Thanks be to God.

Galen Hong is an elder of Grace Fellowship Community Church in San Francisco’s Mission District. Learn more about Kaleo