Sermon Illustrations
Tsunami Relief a Lesson in Ministry
Tsunami relief agencies working in the same village in the Indonesian region of Aceh have experienced varying degrees of acceptance.
One group offering financial assistance also provided blueprints for fishing boats. The blueprints spelled out and diagrammed everything down to the last bolt, telling the fishermen exactly how to construct a boat and boathouse.
Another relief agency admitted to the fishermen that they didn’t know much about boat building and asked the fishermen for help.
In response, one fisherman said, “Thank you for the trust you have put in us. Those other guys think they know it all, but they don’t even understand that you have to build the boat shed longer than the boat so that when it rains the boats do not fill up with water and get the tools all wet.”
The meticulous blueprints provided by the first relief agency called for the construction of a 10-meter shed to house the boats. However, the boats were designed to be 13 meters long.
When members of those two relief agencies talk about Christ, which group do you think gets the better hearing?