Anticipate :: Devo #11

Anyone Serving Anyone
“Who is my neighbor?” We are approaching our last month of preparation. One of the things we have to do is to sharpen up our “performance” of the story of the Good Samaritan. Our intent is to provide children the opportunity to see Jesus’ teaching on attitudes of service in terms with which they can identify – our “Samaritan” is a Haitian.

It has been my experience that a good way to learn a lesson is to be responsible for teaching it. What are we learning about Jesus’ message as we prepare? Read Luke 10:25-37. We see in verse 29 that the “teacher of the law” has asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” The response is the story of the Good Samaritan. In his response, Jesus teaches that one must be ready to serve without regard to social, political or economic considerations.

We practice the skit so that the story is presented in a way that will capture the children’s attention and deliver the message of a servant attitude. Our Spanish should be passable and the actions carried out to deliver the lesson. This is effective teaching, one of many ways in which we can serve during our week in the Dominican Republic. But through all of this, what are we learning? Will we allow Jesus’ teaching to have an impact on our view of service?

Prayer
Pray that our understanding of the servant heart grow as we prepare to enter a world much different than the one we live in every day. Pray that we not be distracted by these differences, but will see the opportunities for service afforded us. And, it is OK to pray that our preparation for the skit results in it being effective in delivering the message to the students!