What does ministry look like?

At 10 a.m. on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays, I climb to the third floor staff room of the “new building” at PIASS and have tea with the support staff – the secretaries, accountants, librarians, and IT techs – the ones who keep the campus functioning. We sit around the table, drink tea and chat about their families, their jobs, the projects they are working on, anything that comes up in the course of conversation. We laugh and tell stories. This is part of my ministry here. This is an English conversation opportunity. It is not an official class, certainly not as is understood in this highly academic atmosphere, but it is a class none the less for the staff. On these days their “break” is extended to half an hour, with the blessing of the top administration. In fact, it was the top administrator’s suggestion. He has a number of innovative programs of staff development. This is another one of them.

If you were to walk in on this gathering, you would not think that it looks like work and certainly would not think it looks like ministry, but it is both. It is one way of my teaching English at PIASS, what I have been called here to do, and it is ministry in the sense of building Christian relationships. As we talk, we share about our joys and concerns and build a sense of community, Christian community. In the process, those who participate are learning vocabulary, and working on grammar and pronunciation. It is just in an informal setting.

While I am teaching, I am also learn – learning about my new friends, learning Kinyarwanda vocabulary as we search for the right words to express their thoughts, learning about the culture as they explain customs and practices that they take as second nature but are new and enlightening for me. I am learning as much as they are and maybe learning more. It is a good exchange for all of us.

What constitutes ministry? I’m certain that every pastor has asked him or herself that question at one time or another.. The obvious answer is preaching or evangelizing, but what does that really look like. For me these days, it looks much different than it did in Malawi, which was different from the way it looked in Pittsburgh. Here, it looks like having tea with new friends. I like this way of ministry.