Courtney Ward’s Mission

Courtney Ward is a fairly new face at FaithPoint.  However that has not held her back from jumping in with both feet.  She has a particular call to missions.  The other day I asked Courtney Ward about her heart for missions.  Here is what she said:

I’m a doer, not a talker.

That’s pretty much how I’ve always lived my life. I’m terrible at public speaking, I’m awkwardly nerdy and introverted, and have a difficult time expressing my thoughts and feelings. And yet that same, simple phrase has been the core intention of why I do mission work. It’s not enough for me to tell someone about a community service or praise a fundraiser for an awesome cause. I have to actually get involved to feel like I’m truly supporting the ministry. And needless to say, that kind of participation has taken up most of my life so far.

Every job I have held since I was eighteen has been a 501©3 titled business – a nonprofit. The end of the 2015 year will mark ten years of volunteer work I have independently served in the church. From Sunday school teacher to Vacation Bible School leader, donating to the food pantry and even getting splashed by cars driving over puddles as I hold up a sign pointing towards the church bake sale, I’ve done just about every volunteer job that has probably ever existed in a church’s outreach ministry history. The very expression of Outreach ministry easily sums up my entire life thus far.

And I love every moment of it.

Outreach ministry. It’s a second job that doesn’t pay the bills. It can give you more anxiety and headaches than a final exam at the end of the semester worth over half the end grade. It dips out of your rainy day fund, makes a dent in your coffee budget, and takes away from your social life. It requires dedication and focus. It drains your energy, completely sucks up your free time, and forces you to see just how nit-picky and infuriating old Mrs. Johnson can be when she does what she wants to do, instead of what she volunteered to do.  And just when you thought the day you signed up to ladle beef stew at the soup kitchen couldn’t  come and go any sooner, you’re signing up for another slot on next week’s calendar.

But I’ll keep signing up, each event and each project, one after another. It’s all I know how to do. Because if I can’t tell someone how much they are loved, I’ll sure as heck show them.

Maybe it’s because I was the kid of a youth minister who spent her entire childhood doing the grunt work of the church’s outreach ministry. Or that doing ministry work gives me this weird, unexplainable high that makes me feel accepted, like I’m fitting in with the popular clique for once in my life. But that doesn’t give justice to the outreach ministry work I do. The feeling is much deeper than being accepted by the “in” crowd.

In reality, it’s the spiritual aspect that gets me to keep coming back for more. Because when I serve others, I put in so much effort and love into my task that the person on the receiving can’t feel anything else but love and support. In a sense, it’s like I become the embodiment of Christ, giving love and compassion and mercy to those who need Him the most. Just as I need Christ on an almost momentary basis.  I’m giving everyone the chance to feel as loved by God as I do. It’s humbling and shows me how much I am loved even when I believe that I’m not loved or don’t deserve it.

That’s what I enjoy about Samaritan’s Purse and their outreach ministry Operation Christmas Child.  You have one shot to show children how much they are loved. You have one chance to tell them about God and how much He loves them.

Operation Christmas Child isn’t a cause that you can say “Oh, yeah, I’ll donate a couple dollars when the offering plate goes around,” and forget to drop in your $5. You can’t make back payments or put it off until next year when you get your Christmas bonus and 2% pay raise. You have an immediate need in front of you. You have one job, one mission, one chance, to take action.

You pack a shoebox full of gifts to give to a child living in a country, a continent, which you’ll probably never visit in your life. Your goal is to put every experience you have ever had during your childhood Christmases into a single package for a child to open for the first and, most likely, only time in their lives – children who have been abused, orphaned, riddled with cancer and HIV/AIDs, and have never heard about God or Jesus Christ. You have one chance to make them a gift so spectacular that it not only makes up for all of the Christmases they missed out on, but tells them how much they are loved by someone who they will probably never meet. It’s a daunting task, to say the least. But every year, without fail, I step up to the challenge.

In hindsight, I’m a bit embarrassed by some of my earlier boxes and some of the things I put in them. I regret not spending the extra $3 to get the bigger box of crayons or putting in the extra handful of candy. But that’s one of the best parts of Operation Christmas Child. It’s a learning experience as much as it is a ministry. The shoeboxes are as unique as the people who pack them. The ministry helps you grow and expand outside of your comfort zone. It forces you to sacrifice and do for others before yourself. It makes you see yourself and others through the eyes of God and witness how truly loved you are.

So, yeah, I’ll admit it. All of those years of stuffing thousands of plastic Easter eggs late at night with my mom for the church egg hunt the next morning did do something to me. It got me started in a life filled with ministry work. It made me need a challenge like Operation Christmas Child. Because next year, I just won’t show fifteen kids how much they are loved. Next year, at least twenty kids will get a box from me. And twenty five kids the next year.

Like I said, I’m a doer, not a talker. That’s why I love mission work. I can show someone how much they are loved, not just tell them about it.  Because God didn’t just say how much he loved us, He showed us by giving mankind His own son to die for our sins. And since I can’t atone for the sins of the world, I’ll do what I can in the meantime.

Her beautiful perspective has energized many around her to take a look and serve in ways that transform lives.  Thanks Courtney