We made it again to Skoolie Swarm in Florida! This annual event has become a family reunion of sorts for nomads like us who live part-time or full-time in self-converted buses, vans, trucks, campers, ambulances, cars, and whatever other vehicle you can think of. For the past 8 years, Swarmers have gathered to enjoy games, fireside chats, learning times, shared meals, community events, and most of all, each other. Just like you would make room for someone new joining your campfire circle, the Swarm motto is “Widen the Circle”, and this culture of love and acceptance shows up everywhere at Swarm. There are no strangers there, just friends you haven’t met yet.

For the past 3 years, Dave and I have attended Skoolie Swarm. After our first experience here, we felt that this group of people was part of why God called us to be on the road full-time. So each time we are headed back to Swarm, we spend time in prayer, asking God to show us the opportunities that He has for us to speak with or pray with others. This time at Swarm, although there were times that we did speak with and pray with people, God had a bigger purpose for me, something He wanted to teach me.

There were several times during the week that different people looked for and found Dave and me, excited to see us again. That in itself is not unusual, as we, too, had many friends we sought out while we were there. (With about 200 rigs at the event, it can take some time to find who you are looking for.) What was unusual was that there were at least 4 people who sought us out and spent a good amount of time with us at this Swarm that I barely remembered ever meeting before. They were talking like we were buddies and I was thinking, “What’s your name again?”

You may be thinking, “Well, Cherie, you do meet a lot of people on the road. It’s understandable if you don’t remember them all.” But this was different. These were all bus people, so them meeting us in the past was not a “Cool! You live in a bus!” one-of-a-kind moment for them like it may be for many we meet. They weren’t people we had prayed with and God touched in a significant way. Rather, it was simply our time together with them that had obviously had an impact on them. And I had little to no recollection of it!

So is my memory just that bad? I know my memory is far from perfect, but that’s not it. God was showing me something.

As I pondered this recurring phenomenon, God started to reveal the lesson. Ministry is not what we DO. It’s who we ARE. We tend to put ministry in boxes. For example:

• I serve at a soup kitchen.
• I minister to the homeless.
• I am a Sunday School teacher.
• I help victims of domestic violence.
• I run a weekly Bible study.

And the list goes on. While all of these things are good and necessary and may certainly be something that God has called many of us to do, our ministry stretches way beyond the soup kitchen or Bible study. It is the very essence of who we are.

Dave’s and my “ministry” is meeting the needs that God puts before us, which more times than not, ends up in us praying with the individual and God touching that person with His peace or healing or comfort or love or whatever is needed at that moment. But when I thought about these 4 people who sought us out at Skoolie Swarm, I realized that there was ministry that happened in the past times we had been with them that I was unaware of. Dave and I weren’t consciously meeting a need, but something in our time together ministered to their hearts and did so enough to draw them back for more. That “something” has nothing to do with us. It’s Jesus.

Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

It is said that we are the sum of the 5 people we spend the most time with. Children act like their parents. Hang with the wrong crowd and you will likely start making some poor choices. Spend some time in the south and you just might start saying “ya’ll” when you speak. It’s the same thing with Jesus. As we truly follow Christ, spend time with Him, lean into Him, talk with Him, learn more and more about who He is, and grow in our trust in Him, we become more like Him.

We don’t have to strive and legalistically try to be like Jesus. (We all fall short anyway.) Instead, as we spend time with Jesus, our old self dies little by little, day by day, and Jesus in us is revealed more and more. Religion tries to change us from the outside in. Jesus transforms us from the inside out.

The more we spend time with Jesus, the more He will naturally be evident in our lives. And that’s what ministry is. It’s Jesus touching people’s lives, meeting their needs, bringing them hope, love, encouragement, healing, strength, power, comfort, conviction, and more. It’s not us trying to act like Jesus. (That’s the outside in.) It’s Him revealed in us as a natural by-product of our time with Him (from the inside out.)

So while some of us may “have a ministry”, our real ministry is us – each one of us, every day, every place we go. Wow! Even as I write that, it’s convicting. If I want to impact the world for Jesus, it’s dependent on the time I spend with Him because it’s Him who does the impacting, not me. How much time am I spending with Jesus? How much opportunity do I give Him to rub off on me, change my heart, and transform me? And when I am spending time with Him, am I doing it to check it off my list for the day (outside in) or am I enjoying getting to know Him and soaking up every last drop of His love for me (inside out)?

If you are discouraged, wanting to share Jesus and feeling like you don’t have what it takes or don’t have a “ministry”, take heart. The title or official position isn’t what matters. Lean into your relationship with Jesus and do your life. God will give you moments of overt ministry as well as plenty of undercover ministry opportunities that you may not even be aware of. The more you hang out with Jesus, the more He will be revealed in you and the more you will touch the world. Your ministry is YOU.

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In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.   ~ Romans 6:11

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.   ~Colossians 3:1-4