Guest post by Jenny Young
Recently I’ve been thinking about how only a few short years ago I didn’t understand the concept of relational outreach and yet I now expect people in the ministry I serve in to just “get it.” With this mindset, I begin to get angry, discouraged, and negative. I am left asking the question, “Will ______ever understand the impact they can have on someone’s life through relational outreach?”
Within the last week, I have found myself thinking and feeling this way. At SOAR, we started open gym basketball for adult women on Monday nights as an outreach. Our vision is to provide a place for women in the community to participate in basketball in an environment that focuses on daily life through encouraging, challenging, and building redemptive relationships. At the beginning of launching this outreach, I met with 5 other women who I chose would help propel this vision. Each of them stated they wanted to use basketball to build relationships with other women. Over the last several months, we have had as many as 13 women at one time and as few as 1. Most of the women who come want to get exercise and have been fine with six to eight women coming each week. On the other hand, a few women who I think get relational outreach are getting angry that not enough women are showing up to play five on five and to get exercise. In my opinion, their anger is due to a goal that has been blocked. They have a need that is not being met. The sight of inviting and investing in relationships is not on the forefront of their mind. So I ask myself the question, “How do I equip these women in understanding the vision we have for our open gym?” “Will they ever “get it?” It took me 20+ years to hear about this type of outreach and can’t expect that everyone gets it.
Lord, I pray that each one of us including myself does not lose sight of wanting to train and equip people in our ministries who don’t get whatever the “it” maybe that we would like for them to understand. May I be patient and loving to the women I’m leading and serving in this new vision of relational outreach.
