“You show that you are a letter from Christ…..written not with ink but with the spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”  2 Corinthians 3:3

 As I write this column, I am preparing to lead a team of eleven to Tanzania on a medical/VBS/pastor’s conference mission trip.  My team is a mix of professional people, some have experienced missions trips and some are purely excited, enthusiastic young people, none of whom have ever been to Africa!  As I contemplate these first timers, I consider the important things to tell them as they prepare.  Should it be to take flashlights, mosquito repellent, malaria pills and close-toed shoes, or would it be prayer and trusting God for everything as we attempt to carry out the Great Commission?

2 Corinthians has some interesting foundational points to ponder!  Chapter 2:12 says “the Lord has opened a door for me,” a door of opportunity to minister with our hearts, hand and feet and be the face of Jesus to the people of Tanzania.  We will minister to believers, Muslims and native people not acquainted with the person of Jesus Christ.  How to approach the situation?  What do our face and actions tell about us?  Are we the aroma of Christ to everyone we meet?  “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.  To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.  And who is equal to such a task?”  2:15-16.  My young friends are apprehensive as they face a task and country totally foreign to them, but they can be the “aroma of Christ” to everyone they meet, from the time they board the plane until they return home.  We can minister to the physical and spiritual needs with a smile, loving touch and warm welcome.  We can do our jobs with a cheerful attitude, a desire to serve with attention to even the smallest patient who comes through our clinic.  When we’re called of God to serve Him, every job is an opportunity to show His presence in our lives.  No task is too small or too big, we are the fragrance of life!

But who is equal to such a task?  My young friends wonder if they are capable of teaching a room full of 70 squirming, active children or doing triage in a medical clinic with little advance training?  No, none of us are competent, our competency comes from God!  “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant….” 3:6.  If we are in a situation foreign to us and don’t know what to do, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us, He’s always at our elbow!  We can ask Him for help at any time!

So what does it mean to be a “living letter?”  We have this treasure in “jars of clay” because His light shines in our hearts with the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ….. the power to do His work comes from God and not from us!  We have the privilege to shine the light of Christ in the darkness.  Let us go forward as one of His Ambassadors, a living letter with the Spirit of the living God, written not on tablets of stone, but tablets of human hearts! 

Your friend, Jean