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Grace is a Sandwich

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by Abbie Thiebaut, EM Summer Staff in New York City

New York Mission Trips

How do you measure seven weeks? This is the question I have found myself pondering over the past few days. My time in Harlem could probably be measured in the number of times I cooked spaghetti in preparation for the incoming mission team's arrival dinner. It could certainly be measured in the cups of coffee that I've sipped, chugged, or otherwise clung to during the late nights and early mornings. And it could be measured in the Kids Clubs that the mission teams hosted or the meals served in soup kitchen. But none of these quite sum up my experiences.

The past seven weeks can most accurately be measured in love shared—because that's really what my summer was about. Learning to love and be loved by God and people.

On the back of a bathroom door somewhere at the Manhattan Citadel of the Salvation Army there is a poster that reads, "To love one another is to know God." The reference is taken from 1 John 4:7-8 and it completely and accurately summarizes a large part of my experiences in Harlem and the way that I would hope to do ministry in the future.

The verse states, "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

To know love is to know God. If you don't know love, you don't know God.

Everything must start with love and end with God. Love is the bridge between being lost and knowing God. The passage goes on to explain that Christ was that love. Christ-followers are called to embody that bridge and to love people.

New York Mission Trips

At the end of the day, that is exactly what I was doing this summer and what the Salvation Army does all the time. Whether through meals, a glass of water, or a meaningful conversation, we were working to love our neighbors—to show them Christ by whatever means we had. I have come to realize that it was never about the number of mouths we fed or thanks received, but rather, about the love given.

And loving wasn't always easy or fruitful. The teams and I would often become frustrated by attitudes of entitlement from those we were providing services to. But really, I would argue we are all the same when it comes to accepting Christ's love.

If loving starts with a conversation, then showing grace starts with a sandwich.

Each day before soup kitchen all available staff and volunteers would gather around the food cart and pray for those that would be impacted by this meal ministry. On one occasion, I remember Ms. King, one of the office staff, praying that the individuals would receive and know the grace that they were receiving. This prayer flipped my attitude and changed my heart. It made it easier for me to serve the ungrateful patrons, it made my heart grateful for everything that I had been served.

Because none of us deserve anything at all. We're all sinners. You. Me. The man who cussed me out when I offered him water. The children who attended our Kids Clubs. Regardless of our status or position on this planet, we're all just sinners in need of grace that can only be given through a loving and merciful God.

To those I encountered at the soup kitchen, grace is a sandwich. To me, it can be seen in many other ways. Grace is a warm cup of coffee on a cool fall morning. Grace is late summer nights with uplifting friends. Grace is the air that I breathe. I am infinitely blessed in ways that I can't understand.

I am a needy, helpless, child continually coming back to a limitless God asking for abundant grace and love, and I have never been refused despite my attitude of entitlement or occasional feeling of superiority. And really, regardless of the circumstances that got us to where we are today, we're all just children, running to God and asking for our immediate and most pressing needs to be satisfied.

I am grateful for my time in Harlem, the people that I met, the lessons that I learned, and the ways that I was served. It was an encouraging, humbling, and life-changing experience that I was always carry with me. I hope that on occasion, I was able to be a bridge of love to someone on the journey to amazing grace. But really, I know I have received more grace in this lifetime than I can ever give away.

New York Mission Trips

New York Mission Trips


LEARN MORE | Bring your team on a Mission Trip to New York City or apply now for the EM Cross-Cultural Internship to serve like Abbie!
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