Touch

Four summers ago I was leading our Road Rules mission trip to Houston for the night. We stayed at St John’s United Methodist Church. St John’s is right in the middle of town and is lead by Pastor Rudy Rasmus. Maybe you have seen Pastor Rudy’s Power Hour on TV. St John’s has made a commitment to the homeless population and boy they are doing a great job. Pastor Rudy, who himself was once homeless, has written a book titled Touch. I see the book sitting in my office but have yet to read it. Some others who were on that trip have. The book is about the importance of physical touch and how Jesus used this in His ministry.
Even though I have never read the book, I live inside the pages of it every day. I carried the concept into my ministry. I usually touch every youth that comes on a Sunday night. It’s my way of saying I value them. I do it with my kids in Sierra Leone too. Each day begins with me walking into class or the nursery to just touch them. Maybe it’s a tap on the head, a reaching out and squeeze of their hand, a pat on the shoulder, or, what has become the Uncle Andrew trademarks, the 5 and the tickly finger to the ribs. I see the impact just a touch has. Their faces light up. They know they are valued by me. I really like going to the nursery and just pulling the finger out with the threat of a tickle and the little ones scream with joy and run around.
Each day also brings a new form of touch from me in my words. I don’t think time spent talking with me is worth a whole lot. Maybe a few laughs and an “Oh, I can’t believe he said that,” but that’s about it. However, I have discovered that the conversations on the back porch with the cooks, the housekeepers, and the laundresses have been very meaningful to all of us. The times I spend saying hello to all the teachers when the kids walk out, and the arrival “How de sleep?” questions for the staff, and the Krio lessons from the former presidents security have developed a bond. I remember that before I came I thought it was funny to have me be the person who would relate to the staff. God knows best, I guess! It has been a blessing for me to learn from them, to laugh with them, to laugh at them, and share in their life. I hear each day, as they count down the number of days I have left, that I have touched them and they do not want me to leave. But they have touched me too! It’s the rye smiles, the making sure I have eaten, the questions of why I am not married (I ask that one myself), and the harassment for my return. I feel safe to say that the staff and I have ministered to each other.
Then there are the kids. They touch me, all the time. It is hard to play football with the boys while a girl has each arm and another is hugging you around the waist to keep you from running. However, I’m not half bad at it. My back has gotten stronger and it’s not from just carrying my bag every day, but rather it’s the boys who climb on me like I’m a jungle gym. I like feeling my knees get hugged by the little ones when I am not watching, or the constant playing with my hair that amazes them because it grows all over my body. Most of all I like the hugs from the older ones who go to school outside the center each day, when I walk to meet them or when they arrive back. I like the little hands that wrap around my fingers and the smaller hands that fit just right inside mine. I feel God ministering to me. I feel his love in their touch. I hear Him saying “I am with you. I haven’t given up on them and I haven’t given up on you.”
There are so many stories in the Bible of Jesus touching people, but I will end with the one about the woman who touched Him. In Mark 5:24-34 a woman who has been suffering for 12 years touches Jesus and is healed. I have had the opportunity to touch Him while I have been here too. Am I healed? I don’t know. I am not even sure what all my life was sick with. I can say that I have been made more whole, and I hope God has touched others through me in the same way. Today, I pray you choose2B the touch that changes someone’s day.