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We sat in a large, drafty, hanger in the middle of winter.
God had done so much in our lives and we were at our very first Arab World Conference, gathered with like-minded to people to encourage and inspire.
It seemed like a fulfilment of so many dreams…except that I was nursing a four-month-old baby, somewhat unplanned, and my husband and I were spending the week briefly crossing paths, playing tag team with children and naptimes and trying to get everyone to their programmes in time. It wasn’t a picture of idyllic tranquility.
Listening to Maggie, leading the retreat, share a devotion about Jacob, I wondered how God could ever use our ramshackle family to bear witness to anyone, let alone advance his kingdom (not for one moment pausing to recognise that Jacob’s family were hardly saints!) Then Maggie called us to an activity that gave me hope. She gave us each a tealight to add to a stepladder representing the stairway to heaven that Jacob saw. It was suddenly such a clear picture for me.
Community is a core Interserve value
The job of lighting up the way to heaven wasn’t mine alone, it was something to do in community. My tealight by itself was fairly useless but when it combined with the light of others, when it was part of something bigger, then it had a contribution to make.
Fast forward five years and I am now heading up our team. I am thankful to be leading in a team, drawing on one another’s skills, perspectives and experiences. I am relieved not to be doing this task alone. Community is a core Interserve value and it is a privilege to see that being lived out on the ground.
In our team, we are all very different people engaged in very different roles, but in community, we love one another, pray for and encourage one another. And ultimately, point the way to heaven…in community.
‘Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.’ 1 Cor 12:27
Written by a Partner serving in the Arab World
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