In the early 70's, I spent a very wonderful time in a Deaconess community. It is situated in Northern Germany in the city of Bielefeld. It was founded over 150 years ago, originally to care for people with epilepsy. It soon developed into a community spread over a large area and containing facilities to accommodate many ministries. There was a large general hospital and several others of a specialist nature. There was a home for mentally challenged, an orphanage and a shelter for street people. There were residences for students attending the nearby university. All this and more was administered by the Deaconesses, I believe over 1000 of them, plus lay staff.
One of the founding principles of Bielefeld is their belief that everyone in the community whether staff or patient should have an opportunity to minister to someone. The reverse of this is also emphasized. Whoever has the privilege of ministering, should give other people the privilege of ministering to them. One example of this was a man who was a writer and had lost all his limbs. They had a young girl who needed help with her studies. He was able to perform this ministry for her. She in turn ministered to him by taking down his dictation of poetry and other writings. On a one to one basis there were workshops where people with various skills could create beautiful and useful things to sell. This needed the establishment of little shops. Did you ever think of a shop as being a ministry? These people did. It was their ministry to the craftsmen who made the things they sold and was also a ministry to the people who would buy them.
Someone out there reading this is going to say to me "I work in a store -does this mean I have a ministry?" Yes, it does. Try to think of it that way. Think of your customers as people to whom you are ministering. It will give you a whole new outlook on your job. There are some callings where this concept is easier is comprehend, the wide field of medicine is obvious. How about law, banking, plumbing, teaching, building? All these and many more can be real ministries. If you do not think you can really minister in what you do, then perhaps there is more thinking and praying to do.
The Deaconesses also taught - the last ministry is to be ministered to. This is often the hardest one. We have grown up in a world where independence is honoured but there comes a time when we have to reach out and say -please care for me. Remember Jesus said -"unless you change and become like children, you never will enter the Kingdom of Heaven." (Matt. 18:3)
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