Variety is the Spice of Life

It's amazing to me how so many different individuals came together for God's purpose in Kenya.  Our mission team consisted of medical/dental personell and service personnel. It consisted of men and women. It consisted of 20 something, 30 something, 40 something. It consisted of Anderson campus, Florence campus and Charleston campus.

Yet, to serve, we served as one. Our leader, David Nimmons, referenced 1 Corinthians 12-30:

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues[d]? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

And so within the body of Christ, we had our hands and feet and eyes and ears, yet we all came together. Diversity became commonality, a shared purpose. It was fascinating to see and be a part of.

Jane was a member of our teaching team, yet she spent a morning moving rocks and helping with the water tank project up by the school building. That's where she was needed.  Andy, the campus pastor at Charleston, spent time at the dental clinic disinfecting instruments, yet he was part of the construction team. We moved where the body needed us.

What conclusion can I draw from this? That we all have a purpose in God's kingdom. That purpose may change as the body's needs change. That doesn't make us any more or less valuable because the body needs all of its parts.