What if ministry looks a lot like friendship?

​I met a friend for breakfast last week in Wilmington. My friend works for a ministry that looks after the homeless and tries to protect the women among them from sex trafficking.

As she has described her work to me, it's sounded very challenging. More than once I've thought, that is not work I could do.

After breakfast we went for a walk through the downtown area. We hadn't gone far when she spotted people she knew. She said, let me introduce you to some of my friends.

We crossed the street. And when we approached a group of four homeless people hanging out together on a bench, they all smiled. Their greetings made it clear just how happy they were to see her.

And me. They were happy to see me, too.

It wasn't lost on me that this was my friend's day off. A day she wasn't getting paid to look after the homeless. A day she wasn't getting paid to introduce them to her friend or me to hers. A day she could have seen them from across the street and headed the other way.

It wasn't lost on me that as she's described her 'clients' at work as friends, she's truly meant it.

These people were her friends.

It also wasn't lost on me that I believe that's the first time I've actually spent time with the homeless in their home.

The streets.

I've handed the man on the corner a five dollar bill as I drove by. I've put money in the collection basket at church. I've said yes when the cashier asked me to round up to buy a thanksgiving turkey for the needy. I've done a lot of things in the name of serving Jesus and in the name of ministry.

But maybe that was the first time I stood on a downtown street with a homeless man listening to him proudly tell me about his new job. And maybe there was no greater gift I could have given him in that moment than being someone who wanted to hear it.

Curt Thompson says "we come into the world looking for someone who is looking for us." Is one of the greatest pains of the homeless found in their belief that no one ever again will show up looking for them?

When my friend showed up to her homeless friends with joy, with her exuberant - I'm so glad to see you guys - they looked found.

Jeremiah 29:13 says "you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

I'll be honest, that experience on those streets with those homeless friends, them hanging out with their friend and my friend - it challenged me.

Most days I feel like I'm seeking God with all my heart. I do. But many days, in spite of that, I feel like I'm not totally finding him.

Maybe I'm not often enough seeking in the right place?

Maybe God isn't always found in the collection plate or in the rounding up, maybe he's found in the friends we have on the streets.

Watching my friend walk those streets, shouting out greetings to friends that not another soul was shouting out to, stopping at a park bench to laugh with friends no one else was stopping to laugh with, she reminded me of a man I've read about in the bible.

The man who walked street after street making friends with the friendless. The man who approached the judged without judgment. The man who sought out the evicted to invite them in.

The man who challenged us, and continues to challenge us, to never forget that no matter what our ministry, if it looks more like client than friend, we might not be seeking with all of our heart.

What a beautiful opportunity we have in this time, because more people than ever are feeling friendless.

Maybe we all can't do ministry, but we can all certainly do friendship.