nehemiah part one

we have been reading out of nehemiah for team Bible study, and we have been learning some really cool things about ministry, that are really applicable to what we have been doing here in el salvador.. God has been so faithful to show us a lot of truth and wisdom from nehemiah and his experience, so i thought i would share some with you..

just a little bit of a summary for anyone whos not too familiar with the story: nehemiah is a jewish exile in persia, and the cupbearer to the persian king artaxerxes, when a messenger from israel comes and informs nehemiah that the walls of jerusalem were broken down and the gates destroyed.. he is heartbroken for the state of his people and their city, and asks the king for permission to go help rebuild the wall.. the king allows him to, so nehemiah returns to jerusalem and leads his people in the effort to restore honor to the God and His people.. so here are some sweet things weve seen:

- nehemiahs ministry is borne out of need; he sees a need, and it is through that need that he feels the Lord call him.. most of our team felt the Lord call us here to el salvador because we were confronted with a great need.. and when the greatest cause in the world meets a great need.. its something to really consider..

- nehemiah was so heartbroken for his people, for the injustices being done to them at the hands of their enemies, for their helplessness and hopelessness.. it was just really challenging to me to really think through how broken i am for those who dont know Christ, and for people who suffer every day..

- nehemiah was the cupbearer to the king.. this pretty much meant that he stood by the kings side, testing all his food and drink to make sure it was not poisoned! in some ways this really resonates with a team like ours pioneering a new ministry.. first of all, we get the very first taste.. every morsel of exotic, gourmet food that the king ever ate.. was first tried by nehemiah.. he got the first sweet taste of some of the best food in the world.. but he never, ever got the full portion of that meal.. and, he also risked his life with every bite and every sip he ever took; if it was poisoned, he would die.. yet he willingly took those bites and sips.. as a pioneering team, we get to have the sweet first tastes of what will be a thriving ministry, but we wont experience the full portion.. and we also get to be risky, try new things, fail, and pass that on to the future teams!

- today we talked about nehemiah 3, which is basically just a huge list of names.. brenna led our time, and she drew a map of the wall on a whiteboard, and as we read through we found all the places that are called out in the chapter that people worked on.. the content was really mostly just names, but we pulled out some really cool thruths..

1. often times its nehemiah who is credited with the rebuilding of the walls, but the fact that so many names are listed just shows Gods character in wanting to honor all the families who built right along side nehemiah..

2. most of the men and families who helped in the efforts worked on the section of the wall closest to their home.. this is really sweet, because they really took on what was in their own backyard, the thing closest to their hearts.. we all have unique roles on our team, and we all get to tackle things that the Lord has laid on each of our hearts.. and we are continuing to see clearer and clearer just how uited each persons role is for how the Lord has uniquely created them to be..

3. one really sweet thing we saw was that such and such a person rebuilt the gate and 'set its bolts and its bars...' this occurred over and over.. i think what this said to me was that these people often couldnt offer much; they couldnt build the whole wall by themselves, or maybe couldnt really build a wall at all.. but they did what they knew, they focused on one thing, and they absolutely poured their hearts into it..

4. they were unified, but dispersed.. they were all of one mind, but worked contentedly and faithfully on different parts of the wall.. they couldnt all work on the same part of the wall; that would be absurd.. but they spread out and worked until the wall came together, all with one unified purpose..

we are building a wall of sorts here in el salvador.. our 'wall' is a foundation for a movement that will last for years, decades, who knows.. pray with us: that we will be united; that we will be willing to take risks, for the sake of the movement; that we would be faithful to pursue what is closest to our heart, and do it to the best of our ability; that others back home would see the need and answer the Great Call to come here and be a part of God moving in this country!

more in nehemiah later..