Reconciliation

Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:18,19

In my Bible Study today, God just hit me with some truth, and it was truth I needed to hear. 2 Corinthians 5 has some good stuff in it. But what hit me above all was that "Christ gave us the ministry of reconciliation."

rec·on·cile   

1.to cause (a person) to accept or be resigned to somethingnot desired: He was reconciled to his fate.
2.to win over to friendliness; cause to become amicable: toreconcile hostile persons.
3.to compose or settle (a quarrel, dispute, etc.).
4.to bring into agreement or harmony; make compatible orconsistent: to reconcile differing statements; to reconcile accounts.

God not only desires us to be reconciled with himself, but we are called to share that with others. And since it is a ministry of reconciliation, it's on going. It's relational. Building relationships with people, one step at a time, showing them the truth through word and action. The end of Chapter 5 says, " For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. " That we MIGHT become righteous. When doing ministry, there are a lot of mights. This might work, this might make a difference, this might build relationships. "Mights" are not encouraging in the mission field often, because its a lot of energy to put into something, only for it to might work.

But through my scripture reading today, God was saying... Jesus died on the cross for you, that you MIGHT achieve the righteousness of God. When Jesus took on the sins of the world, he knew many and then some, would reject him, and reject his offering of reconciliation. But he did it anyways.

As followers of Christ we are called to be his Ambassadors. An Ambassador represents the head Representative of a country or state. It is a serious job, and the Ambassador is a direct reflection of the one who sent him. We are a reflection of what is on the inside of us, Jesus. If Jesus is in us, then we have a ministry set before us. A ministry that does not happen in just one moment, but for the whole time we have here on earth, and that is to not only share the good new of Jesus, but to bring healing and understanding and reconcile people back to the cross. People may or may not be receptive, but if they might be, then we have an obligation as Ambassadors to be the light of Christ.

So all this to say... My heart is for reconciliation. For people to find all the healing they need in Christ, and not in other places. 

Be encouraged and challenged through this post. If you are a follower of Christ, you are called to ministry. You are called to be an Ambassador no matter where you are in the world. If you live full time in missions, be encouraged, even if a ministry idea "might" work, it is worth it, because reconciliation is a process that happens over time, so your "maybes" could be a stepping stone in someone's life, where they see the reflection of Christ from you!



Speaking of maybe's that turned out to work.. .English Club! woot woot! Last week we had two girls from the church come, and we had a great time, but to have done all this work to prepare, and then have two people, I was a little worried for the second meeting. But last night, we had a full house. Not only did we have lots of Americans (hey world race team:) but we also had lots of Ukrainians. I'm thinking total, there were about 30 ish people. We talked about southern culture (ya'll anyone?) and did a little line dancing. I think everyone had a good time, and my desire is for all the club to come to church. SO please be in prayer for each soul that comes, that they will see Christ in me, and in the other missionaries, and that reconciliation will take place, or at least for our club to be a stepping stone in their reconciliation. 

And Next week I will try to remember to put the memory card actually in my camera, so I can have pictures to share:)


As far as apartment hunting goes... finally got to see pics of an apartment with a real bathroom! Yay! But I haven't seen it in person yet, but I am hoping it works out. But again, my prayer is to be lead to the place God wants me too (with an my prayers having a big plead for a clean bathroom with a real toilet;). Be in prayer for me, and this journey, I want to be found faithful and wise in all the choices I make, and above all that God get's the glory!


Also, its Midterm week for me...basically I just get to read a lot, research a lot, and write a lot... get's to be boring and tedious. So pray for me and me making it through my studies with my brain still intact:)




*It's Spring Break for all the schools here. So I haven't been to the little ones this week. Please, Please, be praying for their protection, as many of them are at home with the very families that put them in the government boarding school. Many of these kids face violence and abuse when they go home, so please keep each of them in your prayers!

Okay, well those are my thoughts and updates for this week!


Special thank you to those of you who made donations this week! God's timing is perfect. Every time the bank account gets low, God supplies for my needs in the perfect time. So thank you for allowing God to use you to bless me! May you be blessed 10 fold (and more) in return! 

And if you want to be a part of the ministry going on in Ukraine, financial blessings are a great blessing, and without them nothing could be done here. So if you would like to make a donation, there is a donate tab above with all the information!


<3 and peace,

Chelsey

#MiNisTRyofReConCiliaTion.